ACAT Email Newsletter 2 - August 2010

I’ve recently returned from the ACAT Annual conference at Hertfordshire University – an immensely enjoyable and successful two days.  Good lecturers and a great range of workshops.  Several people commented on the friendliness of the ACAT conferences, and I think that this is a real feature – alongside a great deal of fun and the chance to catch up with friends and colleagues.  If you were unable to make it this year, you will be able to catch up on the four main speakers as we were able to record their presentations which will be available as podcasts on the website once the technicalities have been sorted.  Thanks to Jackie Baker and Alison Jenaway, Sue van Baars and Frances Free for all the work they put in to making it a successful event.

You may well be wondering why on earth there is a strange photograph of the UK to your left with what appear to be small pins attached – not the usual mug shot!  One of the ideas behind the new website information is that we would have a better idea about where CAT therapists work – not just those who work privately – but those who work in the NHS or in other non-statutory services.  There would be no record of individual names made available beyond those who work privately, but it would allow us to build up a picture of CAT services across the country.  With the newly announced changes to the commissioning of services in the NHS, it was felt even more important that we are in a position to publicise what CAT does and where services exist. The map was therefore put up at the conference and the picture you see began to emerge.  We also put together a questionnaire about this and the issue of Statutory Regulation.  Thanks to all of you who completed the questionnaire.  After some deliberation it was decided that the most efficient way of gathering the information about CAT services was to ask people to include some information on their place of work at the same time as they paid their annual fees – we will aim to keep questions to a minimum but it will be extremely helpful to have an accurate record of CAT services across the country – just imagine what the map will look like with 800 pins attached! 
Advance notice for your diaries:  next year’s ACAT conference will be a one-day event, on Friday 1 April 2011 in London – venue to be confirmed.  The ACAT International Conference will be held in Krakow, Poland on the second weekend in September.

Please ensure that if you have information or submissions for the next Exam Board that they are received by Shirley Akgun by 3 September.

 

Contents
Information from the committees
- NEW APPOINTMENTS IN ACAT
- Inside ACAT
- The Training Committee and Exam Board
- ACAT and Sheffield Hallum University (SHU)
- Plans for New Website

Other news
- ACAT around the regions and Special Interest Groups
- A brief summary of ACAT Training, Events and Workshops 2010-2011

NEW APPOINTMENTS IN ACAT

New trainee representative: Dr Petros Lekkos
Dr Petros Lekkos has now joined Council as the new trainee representative.  Petros is a psychiatrist in London and is in the first year of the North London course with Shirley Akgun.  He will be overlapping with Robyn until the end of August to ensure a smooth transition and help him find his feet in the organisation.  He has some great ideas for increasing trainee involvement in the organisation!  It is great news that he is joining us and from all of us we would like to extend him a very warm welcome.
 
Petros writes: “I am currently a year 1 trainee on the North London Practitioner course and I am also a Specialty  Registrar 5 in General Adult Psychiatry training at the UCL/ Royal Free Higher Training Scheme in London with a little over a year left to complete my training.
 
“I have a wide experience in representing my colleagues in different settings from local hospital committees all the way to deanery level and I have experience in organising trainees' days; I was one of the six-strong committee that organised the first ever annual trainees’ day in London deanery in 2008 (an event for all 1000 trainees in psychiatry in London) that was a great success and now a regular feature on the deanery calendar.  If I am offered the opportunity to represent my co-trainees, I believe I will bring enthusiasm and hopefully a lot of ideas. It would be nice to see a separate trainees section on the ACAT website; it would be great for us to have a page or two in the newsletter, an event or two at the annual conference, a way of involving us trainees in research projects.”
 
Many thanks to Robyn Vesey for the time and energy she has put into the role of trainee representative.

Chair of the Membership and Public Services Committee: Mark Walker
Mark Walker, who is co-trainer on the Oxford course, has agreed to take on this voluntary role starting in June and Mark Westacott writes: “I am delighted that he will be joining us.  There are a number of reasons for developing this role, particularly the need for us to keep a focus on the public benefit objects as we become a charity and also the need to ensure that members are given value for money.”
 
Mark’s background is in nursing during the late 80’s and he went on to do CAT training at UEA in 1998-9.  He works part time in the NHS as a psychological therapist in secondary care and part time privately, focussing primarily on trauma.  He is a co-trainer with Eva Burns-Lungdren on the Oxford Course and is a CAT supervisor for Oxford and the Midlands.  In his spare time (!) he is a Tai Chi and Qigong instructor and with a background in Buddhist psychology, is interested in integrating body work with CAT ideas.
 
National External Examiner for Supervision Training:  Jane Stevens
We are pleased to let you know that Jane Stevens has been appointed as the National External Examiner for Supervision Training.  This is an important position – applications for supervision training are submitted to Jane as well as interim and final reports. 

Jane original training was at Guy’s/St. Thomas’, and she is a CAT Psychotherapist and Supervisor working part time in Primary Care and in a private Psychiatric Hospital running CAT groups and doing individual work.  She was the co-trainer with Sally Gray on the CAT Practitioner training on the Southampton course 2007-2009.  Naturally enough she is interested in training and trainees and wants to explore potential links between our supervisor training and the UKCP Accredited Supervisor programme.  Jane gets away from it all by a recent development – river rowing.
 
Organisational Moderator:  Richard Cleminson
One of the recommendations made in the last review by the UKCP was the appointment of an External Moderator whose function is to advise and assist the organisation to develop and maintain their training and accrediting processes.  We are pleased to let you know Richard Cleminson has been appointed to this post.   He brings a wealth of experience to ACAT and writes “I work as a psychotherapist in private practice in Brighton.  I trained as a biodynamic psychotherapist with Gerda Boyesen, but now I would describe my current practice as integrative body psychotherapy drawing on a wide range of approaches according to client requirements. I gained an MSc at Surrey University in psychotherapy with individuals, groups and organisations.  I was appointed a Fellow of the UKCP in 2009.
 
“My background as a Chartered Engineer, senior manager and management consultant provided a range of experience that I applied in the UKCP over the last few years. I have served as UKCP delegate for 10 years and held several post within the UKCP and  HIPC: a member of the Registration Board, an assessor,  Chair of HIPS , Trustee of the UKCP and Chair of the planning group for the new UKCP shape.  I have championing the suffrage of individual registrants to become full members of the UKCP and a single registered title for psychotherapy.  I bring to ACAT a broad knowledge of the UKCP and the likely requirements of the Health Professions Council if they become the Registrar for psychotherapy and counselling. Perhaps my biggest contribution to ACAT is a common sense approach to the provision of psychotherapy and the lateral thinking that the gift of dyslexia brings.”
 
SHU/ACAT Liaison Administrator: Tia Roos
Tia Roos (pronounced Rose) has been appointed as the Sheffield Hallam University/ACAT Liaison Administrator.  This post is designed to support Dawn Bennett in her SHU/CAT work.  Tia will be working in the Dorchester office on Tuesdays 9-5 and started in May.

Inside ACAT
One of the first questions I had when I took up my post as Liaison Officer last year was ‘how does the organisation work?’  I had been a member since 1995, I had no idea of the function of the committees or how you got involved.  As I am beginning to find out, I thought it might be helpful to take you inside ACAT.  We have had some recent new appointments (see details in this newsletter), so I have put together a map of the structure of ACAT so you can see where things fit together.  Over the next few editions of the newsletter I shall look at each of the committees that contribute to running ACAT. 



The Training Committee and Exam Board

Anna Jellama, Course Director for Newcastle, Tyne and Wear; Dawn Bennett, ACAT/SHU Liaison and Sarah Littlejohn, Chair of the Training Committee, at the conference

If you are reading this article, there is a fair chance that you have been represented at some level at this committee – for example, having your name put forward for accreditation!  In essence the Training Committee is responsible for developing a national strategy for all levels of CAT training and accreditation, i.e. it includes practitioner, psychotherapy and supervisor training, and skills training courses.  It approves, monitors and audits the national training programme (based at St. Thomas’ Hospital) and ensures that national standards of training are maintained.  The Examination Board is the accreditation body of ACAT for individual trainees, trainers and supervisors. The Board also monitors and audits national standards of marking.
 
Who is on the Training Committee?
At the time of writing there are currently ten training courses and 161 trainees.  The courses are run by CAT Psychotherapists and Practitioners – people just like you and I who have been through CAT practitioner training at some point in their careers.   All Course Directors are members of the Training Committee and Exam Board, and they are joined by the Chair of ACAT, me (Liaison Officer), Dawn Bennett who is the link person between ACAT and SHU and Sue van Baars, ACAT’s administrator.   At the time of writing Sarah Littlejohn is Chair of the Training Committee but she will be standing down this September.  Other essential roles are held by Val Fretten who is the Vice-Chair for Supervision Training, Shirley Akgun is Vice-Chair for the Exam Board and Sally Ann-Ennis is the Vice-Chair for the Accreditation of Prior Learning.  Jane Stevens is the newly appointed National External Examiner for Supervision and reports to the Exam Board.
 
As ACAT has joined forces with Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) for the validation of courses, a representative from SHU also attends the Training Committee and Exam Board for aspects specifically related to these courses.
 
What work does the Training Committee do?
The Training Committee and Exam Board meet three times a year in London.  The agenda is invariably packed - Course Directors come from as far away as Scotland and as near as North London so it is important that the committee is tightly chaired – Sarah has done a great job of keeping everyone in order but making sure that everyone gets the opportunity to air their views.  All current courses are asked to give a brief update on their situation – where they are in the training, how trainees are getting on with assignments, any potential difficulties looming.  Discussions are held about trainees who need to take a break from training for a number of reasons (you would be surprised how many ‘kittens’ are produced during CAT training!), and sometimes there are discussions about people applying for courses who have a range of experience other than CAT and to what extent this counts towards an application for training. 
 
The work of the Training committee over the last year or so has also been taken up with the Quinquennial Review – this is the review of our organisation undertaken by the UKCP which enables us to carry on particularly with IRRAPT (the Psychotherapy training course), but has an impact on the Practitioner training.  It demanded an enormous amount of work by a number of people including the Course Directors – but a special mention must be made for Dawn Bennett, Sarah Littlejohn, Hilary Beard and Susan van Baars.  We survived a day in London and at Holland House in Evesham with the team from UKCP and are digesting the report and working out what we need to do as an organisation to meet the recommendations made.
 
Over the next year or two the Training Committee will be grappling with the implications and practicalities of Statutory Regulation.  We will make sure that you are kept informed of developments and ramifications!
 
How do new courses get established? 
There is guidance and advice available on setting up Practitioner Courses - you’ll find this in the Training Handbook (CAT Practice>Official ACAT Documents>ACAT Training and Accreditation).  In the first instance it is a question of establishing local contacts and a group of other CAT colleagues in order to put together a proposal and determine whether a new course is practically and financially viable.  It is crucial that contact is made with the Chair of the Training Committee at this early stage to discuss the intention to set up a course – there is a lot of work involved in preparing a submission and the person making the proposal will be invited to attend a Training Committee meeting to discuss the potential course.  Once the groundwork has been done a formal proposal will be written which gives a detailed outline of information which would include details of the training group running the course, the philosophy of the course, admission criteria, the syllabus and teaching structure.  This submission forms the basis of the Training Handbook for the course.  There are many other aspects which are also required at this stage so it’s not for the faint-hearted – but suffice to say, given that there are currently ten courses running, people survive and thrive on this experience!  Approval has to be gained from the Training Committee – the new Training Group will give a presentation about their proposed training and answer questions and will then be asked to leave the room while a final decision is taken – this requires the approval of at least 2/3rds of those present.
 
How do people get in a position where they are formally training others in CAT?
As with the advice on setting up Practitioner Courses, there is also guidance on the kind of experience Lead Course Trainers should have, so if you have aspirations to formally lead the teaching on a training course, these are the requirements you should be aiming for – but don’t be daunted, many people start teaching by talking to colleagues about CAT, being asked to do a presentation about their work and giving case studies.  My personal experience was that when I had to explain the CAT concepts to colleagues, I understood them better and was better able to explain them to my clients!
 
Lead Trainers should have experience of teaching, supervision, clinical work and psychotherapy knowledge generally and should carry the responsibility for teaching the core course material and the development of Trainees skills.
Lead Trainers need to fulfil a number of requirements in order to become approved by ACAT:

  • They must be an experienced CAT practitioner with over 3 years of clinical experience post qualification.
  • Be an ACAT approved practising CAT supervisor with at least one year of experience as an accredited supervisor.
  • Have current membership of ACAT.
  • Have had a period where they have co-facilitated (at least 16 hours) with an experienced lead trainer.
  • Had their teaching observed (at least 2 training sessions) and been "signed off" by an experienced trainer (the trainer will also look at trainee feedback sheets or have discussion with trainees as part of this).
  • Have maintained their CPD in relation to the theory and practice of CAT and related therapeutic approaches.
 
Over the last few years, one weekend a year has been organised for trainers and supervisors to get together to have the time to connect and talk about ideas for training, resources and current issues.  Jane Blunden and Vicky Petratou are organising this in London for 19/20th September this year.  If you are a supervisor or involved in training others in CAT perhaps you will think about coming to this weekend – details on the website soon. 
 
A related role within the Training Committee is that held by Dawn Bennett who has provided the link with Sheffield Hallam University in recent developments.  She writes about her role below, and gives a summary of the history of this connection.

ACAT and Sheffield Hallum University (SHU)
A summary and update – Dawn Bennett ACAT SHU Liaison Role

History
Historically the majority of ACAT Practitioner Trainings have been sole awards accredited only by ACAT. There were two exceptions, firstly, the South East/Norwich course which had been hosted by and validated by University of East Anglia (UEA). At that time Dr Mark Westacott was involved in clinical psychology training at UEA and acted as Course Director for the ACAT course. The course came to an end in October 2008 when Mark moved on and there were no other CAT therapists in the Department to step into the role. There were also financial challenges in the university which meant that the course could not be run without a minimum cohort of sixteen trainees.  The Oxford course established within Oxfordshire NHS by Eva Burns-Lundgren was designed as a University credit-rated course (Oxford Brookes University) in 2006. This emerged out of a recognition that funding providers needed nationally recognised qualifications as benchmarks to justify expenditure, and also built on pre-existing collaboration and training links between the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire NHS Trust and the local university.  It also enabled CAT accredited staff to go on and build on their qualification via the university modular system to obtain further HE degrees. Both courses established these links to ensure that trainees came away with a university accreditation and to benefit from the quality control processes of the university and raise the standing of CAT qualifications in the outside world.  At UEA there were also benefits in terms of forging links with the clinical psychology training course there and increasing the amount of CAT-related research that was undertaken in the department.
 
The value in having University validated courses led ACAT to consider this route for all other course centres. It was initially the work of Debby Pickvance, Dawn Bennett, Ian Kerr, Mark Westacott and Jim Turner which took this forward forging a link with Sheffield Hallam University (SHU). Proposals for validation of CAT Skills courses, CAT Practitioner and an MSc by research were developed in 2007 and a validation event was held in Sheffield that year. Following that considerable work was undertaken by Mark Westacott and ACAT Council of Management as the two organisations came together and the draft contract was discussed and modified. The move of courses to offering the joint award occurred in waves and is still progressing.  CAT Practitioner trainings now offer a Post Graduate Diploma (PG Dip CAT) and there are already a number of trainees undertaking the MSc in CAT by research dissertation. The following practitioner courses are currently offering the joint ACAT/SHU award:
 
  • ACAT North; Stirling (Scotland); Reading; Newcastle, Tyne and Wear; North London; London St Thomas’; Brighton; West Midlands. Southampton and Somerset.
 
CAT East have recently joined the ACAT collaboration with SHU rather the reopen the contract with UEA, and the Oxford course from 2010 will similarly be part of the SHU provision. There are plans to develop a course in Cornwall from 2011 which will also be linked to the SHU provision.  The Dublin course will fall within ICATA – the International organisation. They may seek university validation in the future.
 
Links with SHU
Our main link with SHU has been with James Turner. James is a nurse, who did the ACAT North course before moving to SHU as a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing. This link has been vital in allowing a good understanding of CAT as a model, our training philosophy and key values. James, along with Doug Emery and Jan Denton are Link Tutors and one of them is attached to each course. They can be approached by course staff and will do biennial visits to ensure a relationship with each course centre. Val Keating is a central figure for SHU as Val attends the joint ACAT/SHU Exam Boards and deals with issues of assessment and quality.   
 
The CAT MSc
The CAT MSc has attracted interest with a number of people across the UK starting research modules and projects. There are postings on the ACAT site informing prospective trainees about the MSC and inviting members to put themselves forward as MSc supervisors, a joint role with SHU academic supervisors.  James is the SHU tutor responsible for the MSc (James.Turner@shu.ac.uk)
 
My role – and the CAT Gong!
My role as ACAT SHU liaison was established just prior to the start of the first courses and initially was to gather together the training literature from across the courses to produce a series of generic tools, forms and materials that became a standard generic course handbook. It allowed all courses to meet the course requirements of a new modular structure but to hold onto what had worked well for all courses up until then but adapt to the new university regulations and assessment formats. We wanted each course to be able to draw on the standardised materials as their starting point but to adapt their course for local needs and to reflect their own training style and expertise. I expected my role to end as courses came on stream and everyone became familiar with the new system.
 
However, we have found that there was much to do, many queries and some understandable anxiety about the changes and requirements. We discovered there was value in someone from ACAT acting as a central place for all concerns to do with training and university regulations. My role remains one in which I am responsive to issues raised as new courses join and addressing questions from SHU regarding how we teach, evaluate and the systems ACAT already have in place to address quality. We have established a system of course review such that ACAT appointed moderators appraise individual courses (through a visit, meeting trainees and seeing written work) and the SHU appointed External Examiner (Professor Hilary Brown) has a broader role ensuring standards across all the courses.  There is a large volume of reporting of our progress/trainee assessment and quality of the courses as each module needs to be reported on.  As an illustration, as there are 4 modules per year for each course, if we have 8 courses running at any one time there are 32 reports per year - it can get quite unwieldy.
 
Recently we have appointed Tia Roos who works one day a week from the ACAT office as SHU administrator and this will be an enormous help.  I think my role is mainly one in which I am a resource for course directors.  I receive, ask SHU or slowly learn the answers to many questions, such as can people from non SHU courses APEL (accreditation of prior experiential learning) their training to receive a diploma?  Can you do the MSc if you don’t have a CAT diploma?  It is an interesting role, I enjoy being in regular contact with ACAT colleagues across the county. My favourite moment was after a cascade of information and University regulations to all the course directors, Sally-Anne Ennis contacted me and said she saw me as needing a CAT Gong which I could hit every so often to say ‘enough bureaucracy’!  We are trying to juggle the new era of needing to join the validated trainings route with the task of keeping at the heart of our training what drew us all to CAT – the relational core of the model.
Dawn Bennett
 
I hope this overview of the Training Committee will give you some insight into some of the work of undertaken, how people get to be involved and what kind of decisions are made on our behalf.   I hope it might also inspire you to get involved in training and to play a part in the future of ACAT.
Plans for New Website

Thank you to all those who completed the website questionnaire recently; the information supplied was extremely helpful and is being taken forward in the planning of the new website.   I thought you might be interested to see some of the results of your labours.
 
We had a total number of 136 responses with a very good balance of practitioners, psychotherapists and trainees – see below

Practitioner 59
Psychotherapist 25
Trainee 40
Friend of ACAT 7
Life member 2
Retired 1
Of whom were:  
Supervisors 29
Researchers 6
Trainers 18

The most common uses of the website listed were; finding information related to resources and document downloads, training information, accessing the library, and finding out about CAT events .
 
45 found it easy to use, 77 reasonably easy to use and 14 found it difficult to use. 
 
Some of the things people liked related to the access to resources – whether they were from the library, downloadable documents or specifically for training courses.  It was generally perceived as friendly and open, and the ability to book training and conferences on line was appreciated.  
 
The most common difficulties and dislikes related to finding documents because they sometimes appeared in multiple locations, and difficulties with the search function for the library.  We had some feedback from clients, most often through therapists, and there were mixed opinions about the information available for people seeking therapy.  Generally there was a consensus that the site was primarily designed for members and that the public information should be improved and written in a user-friendly way. 
 
There were many ideas for improving the website and I am glad to say that we had already begun to think of most of them before we got the survey back – it’s a great relief to know that I was thinking along the same lines as the majority of members but all your ideas were greatly appreciated and I hope you will see many of them emerging on the new site.
 
Jon Sloper (the website designer and builder) put forward a proposal to the Trustees at the June meeting, alongside the work I had also done on revising the site content and I am very pleased to let you know that the proposal was approved and we are looking to have the new site in operation before Christmas.  The idea is that it will have a much more public orientated face – whether it is for clients seeking information about CAT and wishing to find a therapist or for professional healthcare workers who might be thinking of referring or wishing to know more about the model and research base.  I am planning to gather information about CAT in the NHS whether at primary, secondary or tertiary level – the original plan was another questionnaire but you may have read in the introduction that it is now planned to gather the information when you renew your membership.

ACAT around the regions and Special Interest Groups

Reports from some regions and special interest groups appear below but this is not an exclusive list.  Are you organising events for members in your region or special interest group?  Get in touch and let me know what’s happening?  Tell me about your CAT services or about future meetings.   Email me – Maddy.Jevon@acat.me.uk  I’ll look forward to hearing from you.

The Practice of Cognitive Analytic Therapy with People with Learning Disabilities Conference 28th May 2010

The CAT Special Interest group, left to right, Ann Bancroft,  Jackie Drohan, Ellie Atkins, Pam Mount, Nicola Murphy, Michelle Anwyl, David Wilberforce, Julie Lloyd, Phil Clayton and
Val Crowley.
 
This conference presented a range of examples of the usefulness and productive applications of CAT in services for people with learning disabilities including working with individuals and staff teams. It was aimed at people working in learning disability services including psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, nurses, care managers, creative therapists, support workers and CAT therapists, and others who are who are interested in how CAT can be used in learning disability services.
 
The conference took place in the Centre for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Mental
Health at the University of Birmingham. This facility was perfect for the purpose of the conference; intimate, inclusive, very well organised (by Julie Lloyd et al) and contained within a discrete environment, allowing dialogue and proximity to like minded individuals. There were 50 clinicians in attendance, each committed to the notion that CAT is accessible to people with an intellectual disability (learning disability).
 
There were presentations from clinicians working with patients in all domains of the health service including working directly with individuals, with carers, staff teams and in forensic settings.
Val Crowley opened the conference proceedings and talked about the ten year history of the CAT special interest group of which she was the founder member.  Ann Bancroft then talked us through the newly revised psychotherapy file for use with people who have a learning disability.


Julie Lloyd (left) shared her ideas about her work with carers who work and live with people who have a learning disability and Nicola Murphy explored the CAT approach in working with people who sexually offend.





David Wilberforce (left) brought some heartfelt stories to the conference about the problem of being cared for, for those people who find the notion of having to rely and depend on others in their daily lives as being a struggle between dependency and independence  -  ‘How to get your shoelaces tied for you’.
 
Ellie Atkins described working in a group for men with a learning disability and autistic spectrum disorder particularly around emotional recognition and the bullying to bullied reciprocal role.

Michelle Anwyl, Pamela Mount and Phil Clayton (below) present the benefits of using CAT formulations with staff teams in secure settings.

An evaluation form was given to each delegate and the feedback was very positive.
We are hoping that we can share the conference products by approaching a publisher with a view to bringing the collection of articles into book form.
 
In closing, this was a very exciting and positive conference which we feel should be repeated. The SPIG members would like to thank each other in true healthy reciprocation but also slip a healthy admiring glance towards Julie Lloyd for her key organisational prowess.
 
CAT Forensic Special Interest Group
The second meeting of the CAT Forensic Special Interest Group took place on 30th April at Athena House in York. The meeting was hosted by Sue Ledwith from North Yorkshire and York PCT.
 
In addition to the business meeting, the day included a presentation by Sue Ledwith and Lindsay Jones on CAT and the recovery model, which produced a great deal of lively debate. Reflecting on the day, Sue commented that "I felt that the day helped me to explore and understand issues that were very relevant to using CAT in a forensic setting. We were able to have a humane and open debate about the similarities and differences between the Recovery and CAT models and how they are implemented with our client group. The day was thought provoking and engaging."
Phyllis Annesley, Chair of the group, stated that “The day was well attended and well organised.  It was great to have opportunities to meet and talk with people using CAT in many different forensic settings.  The afternoon presentation was excellent and evoked lively and interesting debate and discussion”. 
 
There are now over forty CAT clinicians on the mailing list, and the meeting was attended by nineteen clinicians from all over the UK, demonstrating a real commitment to the group. The next meeting will take place on 5th November 2010, hosted by Susan Mitzman at Ashworth Hospital.
 
Please contact Phyllis Annesley, Chair or Lindsay Jones, Deputy Chair to be added to the email list or if you want further information about the group.
Phyllis.annesley@nottshc.nhs.uk
Lindsay.jones1@nhs.net
 
South, Mid and West Wales
South, Mid and West Wales met in July for a lively discussion on CAT and attachment.   Future meetings are agreed as followed: 
13 October 2010:  discussion on how CAT is informed by systems theory - Susie Black
12 January 2011: Case discussion - Rachel Akande.
Further dates (topics to be arranged):  13 April 2011, 13 July 2011 and 12 October 2011.
All meetings are 10-12 at Archway House, Ty Glas Avenue, Llanishen, Cardiff.   Details from Clare or Louise.
Contacts are:
Clare.fisher2@wales.nhs.uk
Louise.dodd@wales.nhs.uk
 
 
NECAT
North East Cognitive Analytic Therapy
NECAT was started 4 years ago to provide continuing professional development to North East CAT psychotherapists and to develop and consolidate a CAT network in this area. At an early meeting NECAT agreed on a philosophy of encouraging local talent and initiative as well as welcoming input from CAT therapists from outside our immediate area. We now have approximately 84 psychological therapists on our database - a mix of CAT therapists and interested non-CAT clinicians - and aim to run two workshop events a year. Last October Lawrence Welsh presented his research on The Fourth R: Researching the Reformulation and we have recently enjoyed Dr Jane Blunden's input on The Dynamics of Group Supervision.
 
Dr Chess Denman is scheduled to come and talk to us on Sexuality: a biopsychosexual approach on Wednesday November 3rd 2010 (12pm - 4.30pm). This workshop will be held in central Newcastle upon Tyne which has good rail and metro links. Anyone who would be interested in joining our NECAT network or attending the workshop on Sexuality on 3rd November, please contact Henrietta Batchelor (profjonbat@blueyonder.co.uk) or Caroline Dower (carolinedower@hotmail.com)
 
 
Do you know who else is involved in CAT in your region?  In order to help you to build local CAT networks, regional lists can be accessed from the website.  To view the listings from your geographical area log on to the website and look for ACAT members in your region.  The website will show if you are included in the list – to opt in you only have to click on the ‘click here’ link.  If your name does not appear it is possible that your details do not include information about your region.  To update your records, go to your home page and the first paragraph will give you a link to your personal records.
 
This information is only available to current members, and will only show your name and an email link (if you're on email). We hope this will help you to get to know, and keep in touch with, other local ACAT Members and strengthen the local CAT presence in your area.

A brief summary of ACAT Training, Events and Workshops 2010-2011

ACAT CPD Events
Manchester
22nd Sep 2010
The Relational Heart of Cognitive Analytic Therapy
Leader: Jason Hepple
For further details and booking information please see www.acat.me.uk/acatevent.php?event_id=568
 
Manchester:
14th to 15th October 2010
Developing Consultancy Skills in Mental Health Work – A Cognitive Analytic Approach
Leaders:  Dr Dawn Bennett and Dr Angela Carradice
For further details and booking information please see www.acat.me.uk/event_admin.php?event_id=536
 
London:
6th November 2010
Drawing Diagrams with the Client
Leader:  Steve Potter
CPD Advanced Skills Training
Further details at www.acat.me.uk/event_admin.php?event_id=570
 
London:
19th November 2010
Seminar of Repertory Grid Applications and an Update of use of Dialogical Sequence Analysis
Leader:  John Bristow
For further details and booking information please seewww.acat.me.uk/acatevent.php?event_id=580
 
London:
15th October 2010
6 Part Story Method
Leader:  Kim Dent-Brown
For further details and booking information please see www.acat.me.uk/acatevent.php?event_id=577
 
London:
17th and 18th September 2010
Supervisors and Trainers Event
Organisers:  Jane Blunden and Vicky Petratou
For further details and booking information please see www.acat.me.uk/acatevent.php?event_id=569
 
ACAT Supervisor Training
Cropthorne, Worcestershire:
2nd to 4th February 2011
Relational Skills in CAT Supervision
Leaders:  Steve Potter and Philippa Gardner
For further details and booking information please seewww.acat.me.uk/acatevent.php?event_id=575
 
Manchester and London:
A Series of Five Supervisor Training Days 2010 – 2011 – Dates to be confirmed shortly but tentatively:
Saturday 2nd October 2010
Friday 26th November 2010
Saturday 22nd January 2011
Friday 25th March 2011
Saturday 21st May 2011
Leaders and workshop titles to be announced shortly and listed on the website
 
 
Forthcoming conferences
The 18th National ACAT Conference - 2011
Friday 1st April, 2011  ||  London
Regent’s College, NW1
“CAT in a Cold Climate”
A one day conference followed by ACAT’s AGM.  Details to be posted on the ACAT website soon
 
 
The International CAT Conference hosted by the International CAT Association (ICATA)
Autumn 2011  ||  Poland
Details to be posted soon.
 
For further information and details of introductory days, skills and practitioner training see www.acat.me.uk/training.php

The Newsletter
Time seems to have flown by since the first edition of the Newsletter – I hope this will provide a little entertaining reading during your summer holidays!  We already have meetings of all the ACAT committees planned for this and next year so I can see my schedule for this publication laid out over the succeeding months - please let me know if you have any ideas for articles or information you would like to know about ACAT. 
 
If you would like to contribute a brief article or a longer item, I shall be preparing the next edition during October so please send articles or photographs to me by 31 October.
 
A final thought – we would like to include client’s own reports on the website of what it’s been like to have had CAT.  Do you have any clients who have written articles for you or would be willing to do so?   If so, and they would be happy to have them on the website please do let me know – email me at maddy.jevon@acat.me.uk  
 
Many thanks,
Maddy

 

Petition to NHS England - The Case for Funding Training in the NHS 2021 Alert!
ACAT's online payment system has been updated - click for more information
ACAT Calendar for March
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Mo
Tu
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1
2
3
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5
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7
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10
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1313th March 2024
CPD Event: Twelve easy ways to use writing therapeutically - offered by Map and Talk
14
1515th March 2024
CAT Supervisor Training: ACAT: Supervisor Training Module 6 What is a Healthy Supervisor
CPD Event: ACAT: Supervisor Training Module 6 What is a Healthy Supervisor
16
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1818th March 2024
CPD Event: ACAT: Trainers and Supervisors Meeting
19
20
21
2222nd March 2024
CPD Event: Innovations in mapping and writing - offered by Sussex Partnership NHS Trust
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
3131st March 2024
CAT Introductory Event: On-demand Introductory Course to Cognitive Analytic Therapy - offered by Learn with CATO

Contact Details

ACAT Administration Manager:Maria Cross

ACAT Administrator:Alison Marfell

ACAT Financial Administrator:Louise Barter

Postal Address:ACAT
PO Box 6793
Dorchester
DT1 9DL
United Kingdom

Phone:Click for details

Email:admin@acat.me.uk

Office Hours:Monday to Friday
9am to 5pm

News from ACAT

Click to read all news

Our Next 19 Events

31st March 2024
On-demand Introductory Course to Cognitive Analytic Therapy - offered by Learn with CATO

1st April 2024
Somerset CAT Practitioner Training (in-person)

17th April 2024
ACAT: Relational Skills in CAT Supervision Residential

17th April 2024
ACAT: Relational Skills in CAT Supervision Residential

19th April 2024
Embodiment of Reciprocal Roles – offered by Caroline Dower

25th April 2024
ACAT: Oxford Handbook of CAT CPD Event

26th April 2024
Creating a Tapestry – Weaving Together EMDR and CAT - offered by Catalyse

26th April 2024
CAT Scotland CPD Day and AGM - offered by CAT Scotland

29th April 2024
ACAT Two Day Introduction to CAT Online

14th May 2024
Safety and CAT: Containing Distress to Manage Risk - offered by Catalyse

21st May 2024
ACAT: Two Day Introduction to CAT - Online

3rd June 2024
Skills Swap Session

18th July 2024
ACAT National Conference 2024

19th July 2024
Annual General Meeting

2nd September 2024
Brighton CAT Practitioner Training

6th September 2024
Cognitive Analytic Consultancy (CAC) Mapping the Dynamics of Care - offered by Catalyse

10th September 2024
ACAT: Two Day Introduction to CAT - Online

1st October 2024
South London CAT Practitioner Training

1st October 2024
Catalyse CAT Practitioner Training

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