The Reciprocal Role Deck
Bring Your CAT Sessions to Life - Explore Reciprocal Roles, name Intolerable Emotions, and Recognise Patterns with the Reciprocal Role Deck
The Reciprocal Role Deck is a clear, flexible tool designed to help therapists, supervisors and teams make sense of the relational patterns that shape complex clinical work.
Whether you’re formulating, supervising, teaching or running reflective practice, The Reciprocal Role Deck gives you a shared, visual way to explore what’s happening between people without the pressure of always needing to get mapping by putting pen to paper.
What's inside
A total of 53 cards
✅ 26 x Common Reciprocal Roles
✅ 18 x Intolerable Emotions cards
✅ 2 x Dry-wipe Blank Role cards
✅ 2 x Traps, Dilemmas and Snags cards​​​
✅ + A Protective Deck storage case
What the deck helps you do​​
Map Reciprocal Roles quickly
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Move from vague impressions to a clear, visible reformulation you can work with.
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Spot Traps, Dilemmas and Snags
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Lay out the key patterns that keep clients, teams or relationships stuck.
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Deepen conversations
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Intolerable Emotion cards help keep the felt experience central and validated.
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Support supervision and teaching
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Ideal for group discussions, reflective practice, case mapping and training sessions.
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Create shared language
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Helps teams organise their thinking and stay aligned when working with complexity.
Who it's for
Developed over three years initially for training purposes, the Reciprocal Role Deck quickly proved its value in clinical settings.
The cards are suitable for:
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Clinicians – including CAT Trainees, Practitioners, and Psychotherapists, for enriching client work.
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Supervisors – especially effective in group supervision, helping explore patterns and relational dynamics.
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Educators & Trainers – a practical tool for teaching CAT concepts in an engaging, hands-on way.
Whether in training, supervision, or therapy, the deck supports clear, interactive exploration of roles, emotions, and relational patterns.
How it works
The Reciprocal Role Deck is intuitive and flexible—simply draw and explore the cards to uncover relational patterns, emotions, and roles.
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A short series of instructional videos will be coming soon, showing practical ways to introduce the cards, facilitate discussions, and adapt exercises across therapy, supervision, and training settings.