Course Description:
Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) is a time-limited psychotherapy (typically 16 to 24 sessions) that integrates theories from cognitive psychology, psychoanalytic psychotherapy (primarily object relations), and ideas derived from Vygotsky and Bakhtin (dialogic theory). It is an integrative model that helps us understand the links between relational patterns from the past and present, and how these influence our everyday lives.

Understanding the development of personality—and recognising that aspects of personality are socially constructed—is central to CAT. The tools of therapy, including the reformulation letter, psychotherapy file, procedural diagrams, and dialogic sequence analysis, are particularly helpful in conceptualising and managing complex presentations within a relational framework.

CAT is a relational model developed within the NHS in the UK to meet the rising pressures and demands of both services and patients. It involves developing an active, collaborative therapeutic relationship with the patient and is particularly suited to work in NHS and mental health settings.

CAT is now used in many countries around the world to treat patients with complex presentations, both in acute hospital settings and in community environments, including community mental health teams and third-sector organisations. It is a trans-diagnostic approach and can also be used in contextual and team formulations, consultations, and group work.