The 5-Session CAT Approach: Skills Training ~ 1 – 2 July 2019

• Enhance understanding and skills to help work with service users who are unable to make use of individual psychotherapy and often have significant risks and instability in their lives.
• Provide knowledge and skill in this approach, develop effective ways of team working with this client group, whilst also focussing on aiming to ‘do no harm’

The ‘5-Session CAT approach’ has been developed by adapting therapeutic skills to work in a containing way with these difficulties. It is different to ‘doing CAT therapy’ and uses different emphases and approaches. This Skills Building course provided:

• An introduction to the approach and the key skills
• The chance to observe the skills being used
• The chance to practise the main skills with feedback from the trainers

Skills included:

• Working with the service user and staff to develop ‘here and now’ CAT reformulations and to inform case management
• Working with presenting risks, developing shared goals, and collaboratively agreeing ways that that the service user and care co-ordinator will work together. This would include developing plans for change, a contract with the service, and how endings will be planned and managed.

The training was particularly designed for those who provide direct work with service users and indirect consultancy as internal consultants, or are planning to begin.  Their likely professional background would be a clinical psychologist or another mental health worker whose role includes consultancy work.  The skills used in the approach are also well suited to being adapted to a variety of different contexts and can inform other kinds of work.

It was essential that participants had sufficient CAT knowledge and skills to be able to focus on the purpose of the course.  This Skills Training was best suited to CAT practitioners, those in training or who have completed a work-based placement in CAT and have had supervised practice of at least one CAT therapy.

The clinical case examples are drawn from adult secondary level mental health services (community) and considered complex, with a history of trauma.  If used, a ‘diagnosis’ may be some form of ‘personality disorder’.

The 5 session CAT workshop is continuing professional development (CPD), which is intended to enhance and develop skills within one’s own professional practice (e.g. mental health nurse, clinical psychologist, GP, psychiatrist, social worker).  Attendance is NOT a CAT qualification, and does not equip people to practice cognitive analytic therapy or CAT formulation. In attending, those who are not qualified in CAT are using CAT ideas but not doing CAT.  CAT skills graduates with some prior training can use it to enhance their CAT skills.  Anyone can use CAT ideas or supervise anyone in their core role, using CAT ideas if they wish, but attending CAT CPD does not make them CAT qualified.

Facilitators:
Dr Angela Carradice Angela is a consultant clinical psychologist working in the NHS and private practice. Her NHS work has been in both inpatient and community services. Angela has held a number of leadership roles including leading on CAT and PD across the CMHTs in Sheffield. In private practice, Angela provides teaching and training (mainly on working with teams and/or directly with service users who experience complex difficulties) and clinical supervision (for both direct and indirect work). Angela is a CAT practitioner and CAT supervisor, whose work has also been influenced by systemic thinking and organisational psychology. Her passion is to work as an integrated team member using CAT to meet the needs of the context in which she works. This has involved developing ways of using CAT indirectly, as well as providing individual CAT therapy for service users.

Dr Dawn Bennett Dawn Bennett is consultant clinical psychologist. In the NHS she has worked in in-patient and community services in adult mental health and as clinical lead. Dawn is a CAT psychotherapist and CAT supervisor. She is Director/Co-ordinator of the two year Catalyse Practitioner Training course, and also has a lead role in ACAT’s Training Committee. She has run CAT skills courses for generic mental health workers in community and in-patient teams and is interested in promoting psychologically informed care. In addition she has conducted research in areas of therapist skill and competencies particularly in the area of the therapeutic alliance. She is currently working on a project in CAT competencies.