Client Groups and Specialisms

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 and is 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. Read 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.  Some have adapted the approach as a therapeutic offer to people who otherwise struggle to access mainstream mental health services.

Jamie Kirkland, Karen Shannon and Andrea Daykin provide an overview of how applications of Cognitive Analytic Therapy have developed in the forensic field.

"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."

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.  Read more about ways CAT has been adapted for this client group.

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, with a similar approach for depression in development.

"CAT has taught me that my life does matter and that I am worthwhile and important as a person. I didn't know what to expect when we started and I did not think that it would make much difference. However, as the time went on, I could see things more clearly and where I could start to make different choices, helping me to feel better about myself and caring for (my husband)"

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.

CAT ideas have been applied in a range of Physical Health settings, often where people present with long term health conditions like asthma, diabetes, pain and persistent symptoms which don't yet have a medical diagnosis. It has also been used in cancer and oncology settings.

CAT offers a compassionate way of exploring the experiences of people facing challenge through neurological conditions, focussing on how they relate to themselves, their condition and others – including family, friends and professionals they work with.