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Dudley. J, 2022, Meet the Chair of ACAT, Reformulation 55, p. 63
(Questions put by Alison Jenaway)
AJ How did you discover CAT?
JD I was working in The Victory Centre, a group work centre in Exeter, and it was talking to a psychologist who oversaw placements for various counsellors on training courses. He suggested CAT after I’d talked about what I’d been looking for in a psychotherapy model.
AJ What is your day job?
JD Professional Lead in a Specialist Eating Disorder Service in Devon Partnership NHS Trust, but……I’m about to retire on 19th December. Then I’ll be immersed in the Qualifying Course in Group Analysis (which I started in September). It has crossover with CAT in some ways
AJ Who has had the biggest influence on your CAT journey?
JD That’s a tricky one! I think ‘biggest’ would be everyone on my IRRAPT training: both Hilary and Steve Potter who contained and set the scene, but all the cohort had a profound influence on me. My supervisors, supervisees and patients have brought me nearer to a better understanding of myself as a psychotherapist, while academically, I’ve drawn much from the writing of Tony Ryle, Mikhail Leiman, and, outside of CAT, Phillip Bromberg, and Winnicott, who I see as kindred spirits.
AJ What made you want to get involved in the management side of ACAT?
JD Again, it grew out of IRRAPT and the feeling of being part of a community. I started to gain a sense of my authority and seniority as I took on various positions within the Trust where I was working. I then thought I had something to offer ACAT, and wanted to try and give back something to the organisation which had given so much to me.
AJ What have been the best bits of being involved as a Trustee and as Chair?
JD I think seeing the growth and development of ACAT has been so good. I was chair of the Ethics Committee for a while and I really enjoyed the quasi-legal work of investigating complaints, which in turn would lead to revising the code in light of new and unforeseen, situations. The sense of things always evolving in the area of Ethics is fascinating (my first degree was in philosophy). I am so pleased our petition to HEE was successful, and the fruits of those efforts are being realised now. I am excited about ACAT working with a new website designer, and the scope this will bring for CAT to become more accessible to anyone who wants to find out more, and to a new easy-to-use and accessible website.
AJ What have you found most difficult?
JD In many ways I think this inevitably connects with what has been good, in that it’s been hard work getting the valuable and important things completed, so this has inevitably sometimes felt hard. Part of that is down to time commitments for me – given I work full-time, and my role as Chair is not within my NHS time, then time for ACAT can sometimes infringe on my personal and family time. It’s also sometimes felt hard to secure new people to become trustees. We had two new Trustees voted in at the AGM in Newcastle which was great, plus they are both just brilliant, but I do think we need more people to ‘step up’, and I’d really like anyone reading who may be interested to get in touch! (sorry bit of a plug).
AJ What should ACAT do if it were given a million pounds to spend?
JD Quick answer – recruit a chief operating officer to help us decide how to invest/spend wisely. Definitely give more bursaries for training!
AJ Where would you most like to be right now?
JD In my camper van heading to the Dolomites – or better still to be there! Or cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats’. Or sitting in some warm sun, in the lakes, with a glass of wine celebrating a long walk or run just completed/survived. As you can see, I’m not short of ideas on this one…..