Web-site restrictions

ACAT is moving to a new website shortly. Due to unforeseen technical issues, the launch has been postponed briefly until Tuesday, 6th May.

In preparation, this website no longer lets members renew their membership. ACAT Administration are likewise unable to process membership renewals until the new site opens.

Please do not update any personal details on your member/friend profile, as changes at this point will not be transferred to the new site.

Thank you for your patience, and we look forward to welcoming you to a new website after the Early May bank holiday.

What is CAT?

CAT stands for Cognitive Analytic Therapy; a collaborative programme for looking at the way a person thinks, feels and acts, and the events and relationships that underlie these experiences (often from childhood or earlier in life). As its name suggests, it brings together ideas and understanding from different therapies into one user-friendly and effective therapy.

It is a programme of therapy that is tailored to a person’s individual needs and to his or her own manageable goals for change. It is a time-limited therapy - between 4 and 24 weeks, but typically 16. It is available in many parts of the NHS. There are also private CAT therapists across the UK and overseas.

At its heart is an empathic relationship between the client and therapist within the therapeutic boundaries, the purpose of which is to help the client make sense of their situation and to find ways of making changes for the better.

What are the origins of CAT?

CAT was developed in the early 1980’s by Dr Anthony Ryle at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London. CAT developed as a public health response to the mental health needs of a busy inner London area, and this concern with access and equity remains at the heart of the model. He felt it important to offer a short-term focused therapy for use in the health service; a therapy that integrated the best of different approaches to people’s problems and that could be researched and refined with the growing experience of clients and therapists. 

Forming a trusting relationship with your therapist which allows you to work together to explore the difficulties you are facing

CAT is about:

  • Forming a trusting relationship with your therapist which allows you to work together to explore the difficulties you are facing
  • Identifying your current problems and how they affect your life and wellbeing
  • Looking at the underlying causes of these problems in terms of your earlier life and relationships
  • Understanding how you learned to survive sometimes intense and unmanageable feelings by relating to others and yourself in particular ways
  • Identifying how these patterns may now be holding you back
  • Discovering the choices and ways of doing things differently (‘exits’) that are available to you to make your life better for yourself and those close to you
  • Finding out how you can continue to move forward after the therapy has ended
     

Follow the links in the column on the top right hand side of the page for more detailed information about Cognitive Analytic Therapy, with personal accounts and how to find a therapist.

UK Council for Psychotherapy
ACAT Calendar for May
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88th May 2025
CPD Event: CAT and Reflective Practice: Skills for Facilitation - offered by Catalyse
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1717th May 2025
CPD Event: EDI Race and Culture CPD workshop - offered by CAT Cumbria
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2222nd May 2025
CPD Event: ACAT: The embodiment of reciprocal roles as a reflective
2323rd May 2025
ACAT Annual Conference: 29th ACAT National Conference
ACAT AGM: Annual General Meeting
ACAT Annual Conference: ACAT National Conference 2025
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25
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31

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

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