Past Catalyse Event
ACAT accredited 2-day workshop in CAT Supervisor Training plus follow-up reflective group meeting (Module 2 of ACAT’s Accredited Supervisor Training Pathway)
A two-day workshop led by Mark Evans and Sarah Littlejohn
Hashtag: #CATsup24
Dates: Thursday 17 and Friday 18 October 2024 (plus follow-up reflective group meeting)
Time: 9:30am to 5:00pm
Venue: Chamberspace, Elliot House, 151 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WD
Fees: ACAT member :: £295.00
non-ACAT member :: £305.00 NB please see details below about ACAT membership and ACAT Accredited Training
The fee included lunch and refreshments.
Overview of workshop
This training was particularly designed for CAT Practitioners or CAT Psychotherapists thinking of training in supervision in order to become an ACAT Accredited Supervisor. It fulfilled Module 2 of the ACAT Supervisor Training pathway. The workshop was also a valuable opportunity for experienced CAT supervisors to look more intensively at their practice as part of their own CPD.
All attendees receive an attendance certificate following the event, for their CPD records.
ACAT Accredited Modular Supervisor Training
The usual pathway for training as a CAT supervisor is that you are:
- an accredited CAT Practitioner or a CAT Psychotherapist
- a current member of ACAT
- You have completed (or are working towards) 16 CAT cases under supervision, including 8 CAT practitioner training cases and 8 cases completed following training. These cases will normally have been seen within the three years prior to application for Supervisor Training.
- You have prior experience of offering clinical supervision (this may be sufficient to fulfil Module 1 requirements)
Participants could attend this workshop either prior to applying to begin Supervisor Training, for example, before completing their 16 cases. Or they could attend it having met all the above criteria and having made an application to commence Supervisor Training. In either case, the workshop was an option for the a mandatory component to be completed before Module 3 of the pathway, which involves running a supervision group.
For ease, you can download the most up-to-date summary of requirements for ACAT’s Modular Supervisor Training here.
What did the two-day training include?
The training offered an opportunity to develop relational supervisory competencies. It drew on Deborah Pickvance’s book ‘CAT supervision: a relational approach’ (Routledge, 2016). This book explores the relational approach to CAT supervision and challenges in the supervision relationship.
The training focussed on:
- key aspects of supervision
- building a supervisory alliance
- use of self
- parallel process
- working with process in the room
- supervision of development of CAT tools
- dynamics in supervision groups
- enactments and ruptures in supervision, and
- ethical issues
Methods included mapping relational patterns common in supervision, with experiential exercises, and small group reflection. The trainers presented core ideas and demonstrated skills. There was opportunity for role play, and mapping of particpants’ personal supervisory style.
This course concludes with a follow-up reflective group to build on the learning and internalisation of the relational supervision skills. Participants collectively agree a date for this.
Who was the workshop for?
- CAT practitioners, or those nearing completion of practitioner training
- Those considering, or working towards completion of, training to become an ACAT-accredited supervisor
- Experienced CAT supervisors wishing to refine their skills and practice
Please note that any CAT work that is used as part of an ACAT accredited training needs to have been completed whilst you are an ACAT member as this indicates abiding by ACAT ethics and CPD policies. This applies to the work conducted as entry to apply (e.g. the additional eight cases). Attendance at this workshop will only support progression through the CAT supervisor training pathway if you are an ACAT member. You can apply to rejoin ACAT if you are no longer a member.
Some feedback from the last run of this event (Nov/Dec 2023)
“The trainers created a safe, creative atmosphere which was conducive to nurturing interest and ideas relevant to this training. It felt re-affirming of the reason I chose to train as a CAT and reconnected me with the values at the centre of this approach so thank you!“
Facilitators
Mark Evans originally trained as a general practitioner before qualifying as a psychiatrist, then a consultant medical psychotherapist. Subsequently, he completed training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and then became a CAT psychotherapist in 2000. Mark has supervised trainees with a variety of experience and backgrounds, including for CAT practitioner training, for over twenty years. Alongside this, he was a principle trainer for Catalyse until 2020. He has a particular interest in CAT applications of the ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ (including in supervision). Mark completed a randomised controlled trial of CAT with bipolar disorder which was published in 2016, and has subsequently published a chapter related to this in the recent Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Analytic Therapy.
Sarah Littlejohn originally trained as an integrative psychotherapist and qualified as a CAT Practitioner in 2001. Sarah went on to be accredited as a CAT Psychotherapist, and is also an accredited supervisor and trainer. She’s a lead trainer for the Catalyse Practitioner Training and provides supervision for Practitioner trainees and others working with CAT. She has been a past chair of ACAT’s Training Committee and is currently co-chair of the Catalyse Executive. She is particularly interested in how CAT provides a framework for the early formulation of complexity, and uses of the therapeutic relationship.
Location
The two-day workshop took place at Chamberspace, Elliot House, 151 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WD
The follow-up half day takes place remotely, via Zoom.
