CAT Supervisor Training

CAT Supervisor Pathway for Practitioners

The usual pathway for application for training as a CAT Supervisor is that

• You are a CAT practitioner or a CAT psychotherapist, and a current member of ACAT.
• You will have been accredited as a CAT practitioner for a minimum of two years.
• You have prior experience of offering clinical supervision.
• You will have completed an additional eight cases following accreditation as a CAT practitioner, usually within the three years prior to making an application.  These cases will have been supervised by an accredited or trainee CAT supervisor. 
• Where this has not been possible for all eight cases, the person who provided supervision must have extensive experience of CAT practice and supervision in general, or this may have been provided through well-managed peer supervision. Please see the information provided in section 3 of the Handbook or contact the Vice Chair for Supervisor Training to discuss your situation.
• You may apply to APL your prior CAT experience by writing to the ACAT Vice Chair for Supervisor Training with a log of your CAT experience.

Modular Programme

Supervisor training is an apprenticeship and follows a modular approach in which an apprentice supervisor creates a training plan with a senior supervisor from a series of six modules, to include a minimum of ten contact days as part of the overall training portfolio. Application for accreditation includes submission of an assessed 4000-word reflective essay.

Modules 1 and 2 

The first two Modules are

• Prior knowledge, skills and experience of offering clinical supervision, and
• Attendance at an ACAT accredited Relational Skills Supervisor Training Course

These are mandatory for ACAT accredited supervisor training, comprising six contact days. 

Module 3

This stage involves setting up and running your own training supervision group for a minimum of 6 months, supervising 3 to 6 complete CAT cases, under the supervision of your senior supervisor. You should aim to meet
with your senior supervisor for a minimum of ten times for an hour monthly.

Use the supervisor competences checklist with your senior supervisor and use the supervisee feedback forms with your supervisees. Submit a 4000-word reflective essay on your experience of the training and the training
supervision group. Details are available in the Supervisor Training Handbook or as downloads from the website.

Modules 4 - 6

Apprentice supervisors select from Modules 4 - 6, i.e.

• Further learning and development
• Attending an ACAT Trainers’ and Supervisors’ Event
• Attending the “Healthy Supervisor” CPD Day where possible

to make up the additional four contact days' requirements. The modular approach is described in the Handbook and accepts ‘credits’ for prior generic training in supervision (Module 1) that an apprentice supervisor has attended.

How do I begin supervisor training? 

You will need to

• Identify a senior supervisor.  They will be a current member of ACAT who has been accredited as a CAT supervisor for at least three years.
• Make an application to begin CAT supervisor training outlining your personal training plan.
• Arrange for payment of the fee - currently £350, or £200 if following the psychotherapist pathway (for accredited CAT psychotherapists).

Once approved you will work through your training plan, supported by a senior supervisor.

Please note that although this is the usual pathway for supervisor training, you may not be able to proceed in this way due to various factors, for example

• You may attend Module 2 prior to completing the eight cases due to the timing/availability of the course or because funding is available.
• You may choose to attend Module 2 purely as CPD, as you are not sure if you will apply to train to do the full supervisor training apprenticeship at that stage.
• There may be a delay in setting up and running your own group.

Supervisor training may therefore run over a longer period of time and reflect a more varied route.  These situations are discussed in the Handbook and you can get in touch with the ACAT Vice Chair for Supervisor Training with queries about your situation.

Training Pathway for CAT Psychotherapists

The ACAT CAT Psychotherapy Training fulfils Modules 4 - 6 of the ACAT Supervisor Training. CAT psychotherapists wishing to train as an ACAT accredited supervisor are required to complete only Modules 1 - 3 and submit a reflective statement.

Module 1

Submit the ACAT Supervisor Training application form.  Detail prior training in clinical supervision, and experience of providing supervision.  This can be used as credit, and may meet the necessary competences of Module 1. (Payment of £200 fee to ACAT on application to commence training.)

Module 2

Attend an ACAT accredited Relational Skills Training and complete a short reflective statement (1000 words) of your experience of the training shared with your senior supervisor and submitted with your application. (Payment of additional fee to course centre.)

Module 3

Supervise three to six complete CAT cases within a two to three member supervision group, with the supervision of your senior supervisor (minimum six hours' supervision over six months). Use the supervisor competences checklist with your senior supervisor, and use the supervisee feedback forms with your supervisees. Both are available in the Supervisor Training Handbook or as downloads from the website.

See section 2.1 of the Supervisor Training Handbook for full details of this pathway.

The Supervisor Training Handbook

You can download the Supervisor Training Handbook and separate appendices from the Members' Resources area of the website. The Handbook contains information about the training from the application and planning stage through to completion.  It also includes all the forms and guidance that you need along with the assessment and review process.    

Module 2 ACAT Supervisor Training

Module 2 is an ACAT accredited course for trainee supervisors which runs approximately every six months. Trainee supervisors need to attend this course prior to running their own supervision group. They are usually offered as a residential course over 2.5 days (e.g. in Evesham) or non-residential (e.g. in Manchester or London) as a two-day training with a half-day follow-up arranged with the group. 

Details of forthcoming Module 2 courses are published regularly in the Events section of the website.

You can send queries relating to applications or the training pathway to the ACAT Vice-chair for Supervisor Training via Maria Cross maria.cross@acat.org.uk