In this blog, Rhona Brown shares reflections on Sarah Douglass’ presentation at the Oxford Handbook of CAT launch event, ahead of Sarah’s full CPD day on CAT in the Perinatal Period taking place in Manchester on 20 June 2025.

One of the highlights, for me, of last April’s launch event for Brummer, Cavieres’ and Tan’s Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Analytic Therapy was the second presentation. This was led by Sarah Douglass on her chapter ‘CAT in the Perinatal Period’. As a trainer co-delivering an early practitioner training day on infant development and the social self for the Catalyse practitioner course, it was helpful to hear Sarah transpose Daniel Stern’s (1995) ideas on ‘The Motherhood Constellation’ into CAT tasks. In this she drew on specific CAT tools and approaches relevant to the challenges in parenthood of maintaining a baby’s survival and growth while attending to the parent’s own needs in order to do so. Throughout, she referred to the therapist’s task of “keeping two in mind” in supporting this endeavour.

In the first half of our practitioner training day Kate Fox and I introduce the work of Stern alongside other early developmental theorists relevant to CAT, including the late Colwyn Trevarthan. We refer to the close parent-infant observation developed particularly by Beatrice Beebe. However what Sarah packed in to her 40 minutes’ presentation slot brought to life what Kate and I only manage to touch on in a full morning.

Since adding CAT to her existing portfolio of clinical psychologist skills, Sarah has specialised in the perinatal mental health area. This was firstly as lead psychologist in a specialist perinatal mental health team in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. More recently she took up a role in Cardiff developing psychological services for baby loss and staff support. This work is based in Wales’ first psychological service in maternity. The specialised nature of Sarah’s role integrates not only CAT but other approaches like Video Interaction Guidance (VIG). This is another therapeutic tool aimed at supporting warmth and attunement in parent-infant interactions.

In last April’s presentation, Sarah drew on Alison Jenaway’s work on parenting and baby mapping. Additionally she referenced classic psychoanalytic literature like Fraiberg, Adelson and Shapiro’s (1975) Ghosts in the Nursery. For me, what really brought her session to life were passages she shared from mothers who’d made use of CAT in pregnancy & the perinatal period. Their moving testimony & reflections formed part of the Oxford Handbook chapter. She imparted a sense of profound optimism about the capacity for growth, change and relational enrichment even when parents were tackling significant mental health and other challenges.

Sarah graduated as a CAT practitioner from our 2015-2017 training cohort, prior to there being an established equivalent in South Wales. She now contributes to her local course as a marker and trainer. As an ACAT accredited CAT Supervisor she also supports South Wales and Catalyse course trainees working in perinatal services. At our 2019 conference she offered a workshop on what was an emerging area of work at that time. We’re delighted that she’s now returning to the north to run this full day on CAT in the Perinatal Period on June 20th.

The day will be of benefit to both trainee and qualified CATs. Many other non-CAT therapists may be working in this area, perhaps acting as perinatal champions in other talking therapies services. Sarah will include an accessible orientation to CAT in the context of perinatal work, for all. By bringing together those interested or already working in this field, the day will act as a gathering point for a growing community of practice in perinatal CAT.

We also expect that the day may be of interest to therapists and trainers working in any clinical area where the impact of early parenting relationships and transgenerational influences are key. After all, as Sarah ended with at her London session, a heartening paraphrasing of Vygotsky may apply in a preventative vein to many areas of therapeutic work. “What a client does with their therapist today, she will do on her own and with her infant tomorrow”.

For more details and booking options, go to https://catalyse.uk.com/cpd/cat-in-the-perinatal-period-20-june-2025/

The bad news: both of David Harvey’s’ CAT as a Tool for Leadership’ events in January and February are now fully booked up. If you weren’t quick enough to secure a place but want to attend another then do let us know. It’d be useful to hear whether you are interested in an in person or online repeat.

The good news: we have not one, but two, new CPD events in the calendar for 2025. First up is Kathryn Pemberton, one of our training team for the Practitioner Course. She will lead a day on CAT and Eating Disorders on Friday 21st March in Manchester. This will be an opportunity to think creatively with colleagues about this area of work. Kathryn will share her approach from assessment to follow up sessions, through to team enactments. She will draw on her own specialised practice in this area. The day will provide space to think about both process and content in therapy, and reflect on use of self in clinical practice.

Next up, Jenny Marshall and David Harvey are co-leading a day on CAT Reflective Practice: Skills for Facilitation on Thursday 8th May in Manchester. Reflective practice has become a staple of using CAT in support of teams and services, and there is much demand for it from a number of sectors. However even seasoned CATs may have found that while offering this as an intervention, they may not have had an opportunity for CAT-specific learning around the area. Alongside her trainer role with the Practitioner training, Jenny has of course co-authored a book specifically about applications of reflective practice in forensic work. David penned a chapter for this too. They will bring their collective experience, and help you reflect on the RP facilitator role. You can practise skills in a safe learning environment with colleagues. The day will help you create your own development plan going forward, whatever your level of experience.

You can book on to one or both by following the links above. We look forward seeing some of you there.