Cognitive Analytic Therapy is used with a variety of client groups and across different clinical specialisms.
Find out more about some of these different areas by clicking on the boxes below.
Pregnancy, birth and the perinatal period (up to eighteen months after a child is born) can be a time of great transition and challenge. CAT can be useful for parents in this crucial period especially in helping address intergenerational issues. Read more here.
CAT is increasingly used in settings with young people and their families, often where there are multiple agencies involved. Read more here.
CAT is a well-established approach in work with individuals, families and systems where a person has a learning or intellectual disability. The model can be adapted to individual needs. It is also well suited to helping staff and teams understand and respond helpfully to behaviours that can challenge.
CAT was developed as a transdiagnostic, safe and containing time limited therapy for people who have complex interpersonal difficulties, often as a result of challenging and traumatic early experiences. You can read here a therapist's reflection on how the model supports her and clients with these sorts of difficulties, often attracting a diagnosis of 'emotionally unstable personality disorder' (EUPD).
CAT reflective practice has been used to help organisations and staff work more helpfully with people who have multiple and complex needs including homelessness, criminality and substance use. In some of these services the CAT approach has been adapted as a therapeutic offer to people who may otherwise struggle to access mainstream mental health services.
While not included in the most recent NICE guidelines for eating disorders, CAT was previously recognised as a useful therapy for this range of difficulties. You can read more about the small evidence base and ways in which CAT has been adapted for this client group but clicking here.
Some NHS Talking Therapies Services (formerly IAPT) provide CAT or CAT-informed approaches for common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Researchers have evaluated a manualised approach to CAT Guided Self Help (CAT-GSH) for anxiety, and a similar approach for depression is in development. Read more here.
A growing area is the application of CAT, sometimes in combination with other models, as an early intervention following self harm. Read about the most recent research in this area (the RELATE study) here.
Cognitive Analytic Therapy ideas have been applied in a range of Physical Health settings, often where people present with long term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, pain disorders and with persistent symptoms which don't yet have a medical diagnosis. It has also been used in cancer and oncology settings. Read more here.
Read more about how cognitive analytic therapy has been used in work with people, families and staff teams around them, as they grow older.
"Coming to couples therapy is courageous. It often starts a new dance which values and recognises the transformative power of how shared vulnerability creates connection."
