The 29th ACAT Annual Conference takes place on 23rd May 2025 in London.
The year's conference is a one-day, non-residential event. You can find all the details in the sections below.
The 2025 conference is organised by Alison Jenaway, José Rodriguez, Krystina Jacobs and Anna Kaufman.
Please contact alison.marfell@acat.me.uk for any booking or other conference queries. Return any booking forms, including details of accessibility or dietary needs, to Alison at this address also.
Everywhere we look today there seem to be troubled relationships and an inability to maintain compassion and disagree respectfully. From the Individual level, where our relationships with food, possessions and social media seem out of control and damaging, to couples and families where Domestic Violence continues to be a major problem, to organisations that are becoming increasingly polarized and unable to contain difference. And last, but by no means least, our relationship with the planet we live on and the backlash from nature when we have abused our delicate ecosystems. As CAT therapists we have powerful tools to understand and reflect on the origins of these troubles and on their impact, but do we also have tools that can help?
In this one day conference we hope to shine a light on some of these areas and tentatively suggest how individuals, couples, groups, organisations and perhaps even countries might be persuaded that improving their relationships could be helpful.
No pressure then … do come and join us with your own unique viewpoints so that those of us in the CAT community can practice what we preach!
National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Society Building
8 All Saints Street
London
N1 9RL
NCVO is an accessible venue, located just eight minutes’ walk from the excellent transport links of King's Cross, St Pancras and Eurostar stations
The programme can be found here: 29th ACAT Conference Programme
Details of workshop options and an online booking form for confirmed delegates to indicate their preference, can be found at this link: Workshop Options and Booking
In an era where digitally mediated networks appear to make connection so much easier, why is it that we’re more relationally disconnected than ever? In this keynote talk, Dr. Aaron Balick explores how technology—from dating apps and social media to pornography and AI—reshapes our capacity for interpersonal intimacy. Frictionless communication alongside access to a seemingly endless choice of others can shallow relational depth and undermine the capacity for deeper interpersonal complexity. From the tantalising transformational object that lurks behind the Tinder profile to the always-available AI companion that understands you better than anyone real – today’s tech is engineered to bypass the difficult but necessary work required for developing authentic mutual relating and intimacy. Attendees will gain fresh insights into the unconscious dynamics that underlie digital mediated relationships and equip them to better incorporate this understanding in their work with their clients.
Dr Aaron Balick is a psychotherapist, author, and thought leader exploring the psychological impact of technology on relationships, culture, and work. With a background in depth psychology and psychoanalysis, Aaron brings an insightful and engaging perspective to how digital culture shapes our emotional lives. His acclaimed book, The Psychodynamics of Social Networking, unpacks the unconscious forces at play in our online interactions, while his self-help work translates complex psychological ideas into accessible wisdom. As a sought-after speaker and consultant, he works with organisations to build emotionally intelligent workplaces and helps audiences navigate the challenges of human connection in a tech-mediated world.
Victims of abuse are changed by their experiences. How does this change occur, and can we use cognitive analytic theory to explain this process? This talk will present a new CAT conceptualisation of the process of change that occurs in victims of abuse. The new conceptualisation has been created from Rosemary Parkinson’s recent doctoral research conducted with women of high educational and socio-economic status who have experienced solely subtle abuse in their intimate heterosexual relationships. Through therapist understanding of this process of change clients can be helped to realise what has happened to them. Such realisation is the first step to enabling them to make an informed decision about their futures.
Rosemary has been a psychotherapist for nearly 30 years and is a CAT therapist and supervisor. She has worked as a therapist in GP practices, setting up and running primary care therapy services, in the University of Cambridge Staff Counselling Service, latterly as the head of service, and in private practice. She recently completed a doctoral study into the experience of subtle abuse of women of high educational and socio-economic status (HESES) in intimate heterosexual relationships. The study followed her identification of women presenting in therapy with depression, anxiety, anger and low self-esteem, whose symptoms were caused by subtle abuse from their partners. Rosemary’s doctorate at the University of East Anglia used interviews with victims of abuse and therapists to investigate the phenomenon of subtle abuse of women of HESES. Today’s talk focuses on a CAT understanding of the process of change that occurs in victims of subtle abuse which Rosemary has developed from her doctoral work.
Picking up the conference theme of Troubled Relationships I will present my research on anxiety in young adults. Anxiety, in our culture and in our consulting rooms, both emerges from and contributes to significant disruption to our sense of connectedness to the world and our capacity to engage constructively with the world. Crucially, anxiety is also the quality of our self-to-self relationship. CAT theory, and my developing integration of phenomenological and enactive approaches, informed the research. Whilst this was not research on a recognisably-CAT intervention, the findings illuminate exciting avenues for the development of CAT theory and CAT methods.
Caroline Dower is an Integrative Psychotherapist with training backgrounds in Cognitive Analytic Therapy, Integrative Psychotherapy and Developmental Somatic Psychotherapy. Caroline is a former Consultant Psychotherapist in the NHS and the former Head of Counselling and Mental Health Services at Durham University.
She is conducting academic research on the embodied relational experience of anxiety in young adults, based at Durham University. Caroline has a private practice for therapy, supervision and training. She has offered workshops on embodied approaches in the UK, Finland and Australia, and is a Teaching Assistant on the Developmental Somatic Psychotherapy course based in New York.
Intercultural couple relationships are on the rise, in the UK and all over the world. Although intercultural couples have many strengths and resiliencies, they also face unique challenges. In this presentation, I will provide a theoretical and research overview of intercultural couples and the themes and processes in clinical practice. I will use clinical vignettes and extracts from films to highlight the challenges that intercultural couples experience. I will end by an exploration of visual and representational methods in clinical practice.
Dr. Reenee Singh is a Consultant Family and Couples Systemic Psychotherapist, with over 30 years of clinical experience. Reenee was the former CEO of the Association of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice and the former Editor of the Journal of Family Therapy. She is currently working at the Child and Family Practice in London, where she is the founding Director of the London Intercultural Couples Centre. She has written and edited four books and teaches all over the world. You can find out more about Reenee and her work through her website: www.reeneesingh.com or through her Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reenee_Singh
The 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) takes place between 12.10 and 13.10 on the day of the conference. You can see full details and updates regarding the AGM at its dedicated page at this link.
Booking closes on 2nd May 2025
Cheques must be received by 25th April 2025
Book your place by going to the Annual Conference Events listing.
ACAT can offer a limited number of discounted spaces available for trainees who are currently self-funding their practitioner or psychotherapist training.
Please contact alison.marfell@acat.me.uk for further information.
Please provide details of any dietary requirements (including vegan, vegetarian, allergies etc) at the time of booking. You can do this by emailing alison.marfell@acat.org.uk after making an online booking and payment. If you are booking via invoice or cheque then please tell us any dietary requirements when you complete and return the Booking Form (see bottom of this page).
Please inform us of any access requirements (eg hearing loop etc) at the time of booking. You can do this by emailing alison.marfell@acat.org.uk after making an online booking and payment. If you are booking via invoice or cheque then please tell us any access requirements when you complete and return the Booking Form (see bottom of this page).
Please specify any facilities that may be required in order for you to attend this event.
For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998, the data controller in respect of your personal data is ACAT. Your data will be used to administer the event to which you have subscribed and to notify you of future events.
To cancel a conference booking, notice of cancellation must be given by email to alison.marfell@acat.me.uk
If you cancel at least two calendar months prior to the start of the conference you will receive a refund of your delegate fee minus a £25 administration fee.
If you cancel less than two months before the event you will not be entitled to a refund.
No refund will be made for non-attendance at the event.
ACAT may consider name changes for attendees if sufficient prior notice is given. Please inform ACAT at least 5 working days prior to the event by phone or email.
ACAT will endeavour to deliver events as advertised but there may inevitably be occasions where, in exceptional circumstances, we have to cancel an event. In the case of event cancellation delegates will either be offered an alternative date or a full refund.
ACAT cannot refund any advance, non-refundable travel or accommodation bookings. Please consider this when making arrangements to attend. Please note also that ACAT will not compensate for time spent travelling or away from the place of work.
If a Force Majeure event (war, riots etc) forces cancellation or postponement, ACAT shall assume no liability whatsoever.
ACAT reserves the right to change programme content and presenters.
Any feedback provided by delegates may be used by ACAT in marketing future events unless you advise us otherwise. Any comments will be quoted anonymously.
