Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) is a time-limited, therapeutic approach that seeks to make sense of people’s difficulties through the lens of their relationships with themselves and others, in a collaborative way.  Key to this is an understanding of how the ways in which we have been treated early on have shaped our current patterns and expectations of relating to ourselves and others, and how some of these patterns may be at the root of, and perpetuating, our distress.  Beyond offering a framework for understanding the origins and maintenance of individuals’ distress, CAT seeks to enhance individuals’ capacity to become mindfully aware of otherwise habitual patterns, and support them in discovering and experiencing new, more helpful ones.  As part of this process, the therapeutic relationship is often looked at and used as a platform for understanding and experiencing familiar and unfamiliar ways of relating.

CAT is not a prescriptive, predesigned approach.  In facilitating change, CAT creatively integrates interventions tailored to meet individuals’ needs, and support them towards their goals.  These may include, exploration, mindfulness, challenging thinking patterns, and building skills in developing new ways of relating to self and others.