Past CPD Event
The 6-Part Story Method: A creative tool for assessment and engagement in therapy
A one day online workshop led by Dr Kim Dent-Brown, Chartered Psychologist
Date: Friday 27 March 2026
Time: 9.30 am – 4.30 pm
Online: Via Zoom platform
Fees: ACAT member :: £130.00
non-ACAT member :: £145.00
[You or your employer could request to be invoiced. This incurs an additional £20 fee.]
Overview
This workshop was a practical, experiential day of learning about the 6-Part Story Method (6PSM) and its application in Cognitive Analytic Therapy in particular. The method uses a simple set of instructions to enable the client to create a new, fictional story which they then tell to and explore with the therapist. The themes, personalities, roles, obstacles and problem-solving evident in the story can be useful pointers to material that might be helpful to both the client and the process of therapy. By the end of the day participants had created and shared their own six-part story. They had also acted as an active listener to help a partner tell their own story.
All attendees receive an attendance certificate following the event, for their CPD records.
Aims and learning outcomes
The event aimed to outline ways to use the 6PSM, with consideration of time points when it may be therapeutically useful. For example, you can explore its role
- in assessment and reformulation
- when getting beyond snags and traps
- as a resource for exploring exits
- when reviewing therapy, and
- in supervision and consultation
Although most of the content was experiential and practical, some theory was presented briefly. Kim provided references and links to peer-reviewed research publications on the 6PSM.
Participant had opportunity to gain skills, knowledge and experience to enable them to start using the 6PSM in their own practice, after a period of familiarisation and experimentation. Through experiential learning and the theoretical grounding offered, the day equipped attendees with the foundations required to use the 6PSM as part of their CAT practice. They would be able to make use of a creative tool of great value in helping clients generate and access creative imagery and metaphors, with all the helpful therapeutic opportunities that these can offer. As a supervisor the day supported helping work with 6PSM material brought by supervisees in the course of their clinical work. Learning about this technique on an online training day helped illustrate how it can be helpfully employed in remote therapy, as much as in face-to-face work.
Service managers may have valued what this day offers to their staff and service users. The technique adds an evidence-based modality to therapies offered to clients, broadening the acceptability and accessibility of existing approaches.
The day included presentations, pair work, small group work and large group discussion.
Who is it for?
This day was relevant for:
- CAT practitioners and CAT psychotherapists
- trainee CAT practitioners (who will not already receive this training as part of their Catalyse CAT Practitioner course)
- other qualified therapists with an existing understanding of how CAT works and its underlying theory
- Therapists open to creative, humanistic approaches and/or dreamwork who would have been likely to find the day useful
- CAT Supervisors interested in supporting supervisees’ use of this creative method
*Please note that the day duplicated content included at the end of year 1 CAT Practitioner training for the Catalyse course over the last few years. It may have served as a refresher for those who have previously received that training. For trainees and graduates of other CAT Practitioner courses the learning may have been more novel.
Facilitator
Dr Kim Dent-Brown, now retired, was formerly a CAT practitioner in the NHS. He has been using the 6-Part Story Method in therapy, supervision and training for over thirty years. He initially trained as a Dramatherapist which was where he first learned the technique. Working in a consultation service for people with a diagnosis of personality disorder provided his introduction to CAT, and he went on to complete CAT practitioner training. He won a Churchill Fellowship to study the 6PSM with its originators in 1999. Kim was later awarded an NHS research fellowship to undertake a PhD into the method. After gaining his PhD, Kim combined NHS work with a research post at the University of Sheffield, before ending his career as a full time Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Hull. He has been teaching the 6PSM to CAT trainees on the Catalyse practitioner training for over 20 years.
Kim published a chapter on ‘Adapting the six part story method to CAT‘ in the Oxford Handbook for Cognitive Analytic Therapy in 2024. He has authored several other publications on the the approach.
Group Size
A maximum of thirty participants could attend this workshop.
Online event
The day took place over the Zoom platform.
Booking
If you required invoicing, there was an additional charge of £20.00. (Please note that for invoiced applications, if the paying organisation has not settled the invoice within 60 days of the invoice date, the delegate will be liable for payment of this fee.)
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