Education

Cognitive Analytic Therapy practitioner courses

Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) is an integrated, time-limited therapy that was originally developed by Dr Anthony Ryle in the UK. The CAT model is collaborative and flexible and can be used as a relational framework and as an individual therapy.

In individual therapy, CAT allows the therapist and client to work together to make sense of the patterns of thinking, feeling, behaving and relating to facilitate change. CAT can be used as a treatment for a wide range of disorders including depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, eating disorders, substance abuse and psychosis.

Working with people with complex problems, multiple systems involvement and co-occurring problems, including personality and eating disorders, can often feel challenging, and can lead to unhelpful responses and to staff tensions and feelings of burn out. Relational formulation (informed by the CAT model) can assist clinicians to reflect on the client within a particular context, to understand the origins of the client’s problems and to better reflect on the helpful and unhelpful system and clinician responses to the relational patterns commonly played out.

Relational formulation can provide a useful reflective model for teams even in settings where CAT is not used as an individual therapy. It has been demonstrated to assist teams to work together collaboratively and innovatively, and to provide a non-blaming language for teams to use with clients, families and other professionals to avoid colluding with maladaptive patterns that might make things worse.

Our CAT workshops and training courses are provided by staff with experience in our Helping Young People Early (HYPE) clinical care program. The HYPE program has been using CAT in early intervention for young people with borderline personality disorder since 2000.

Workshops and training

• CAT practitioner training: year one
• CAT practitioner training: year two
• Introduction to CAT supervision workshop
• CAT supervision masterclass

Have a question? Get in touch to discuss training opportunities and customised packages.