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"I often tell my patients that until you notice something about yourself, you cannot change it. In this sense, therapy is about talking with a trusted person to think about what troubles you in your life and why it always feels as though history repeats itself."

I am a Cognitive Analytic Therapist, (sometimes called a CAT Therapist) which means I practice a specific form of time-limited psychotherapy, that happens weekly for a total of 16 or 24 sessions.

Whether your difficulties are with your work, friendships, family or romantic interests (or all of them), getting stuck in repeating relational and behavioural patterns, makes starting afresh and doing something differently, really hard to do.

To see my "I Want Great Care" review page from previous clients, click HERE.

Private therapy with...

Hayden Stothard

Accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapist and Clinical Supervisor

The History of CAT

Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) was first developed in the U.K in the early 1980's by the late Dr Tony Ryle, while he was working at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

CAT attracted a lot of attention as it aimed at translating many of the psychoanalytic approaches into a model that would allow a wide range of healthcare professionals to practice it. It did this by simplifying the jargon that was often a barrier to patients and condensing it down into a time-limited offer, that previously made psychotherapy unreachable for many people privately or equally, less desirable to the NHS for wider adoption.

At it's core, CAT is a relational, brief form of psychotherapy that helps patients to understand how their early attachments with significant others has shaped the way that they relate to the world now, and the cognitive and behavioural patterns that live on, that no longer help but keep them stuck.

What makes Cognitive Analytic Therapy different?

CAT is very different to CBT. I'm not going to focus too much on your symptoms. For example, you may suffer with anxiety, but instead of teaching you a technique to tolerate the anxiety in the moment, we will focus on finding the route of the problem and what has been causing it from the beginning.

CAT is very different to Counselling. We will work together over the course of 4-6 months, methodically exploring your history and creating your therapy map, a shared document that we use to draw out your relational patterns with other people and your own mental health. You can then use this in between your sessions to increase your awareness and work on your goals.

CAT is different to traditional Psychotherapy. I'm an active participant in your therapy sessions as I will ask you questions, I will tell you what I am wondering about and even how something might have made me feel. In CAT, we believe that to have a good experience of therapy, you have to build a real and trusting therapeutic relationship between the client and therapist. This is what enables us to think together about what has been troubling you in your life and why it always feels as though history is repeating itself.

We also use specific CAT tools. In addition to the therapy map we create, I will write a letter to you within the first 6 weeks that I will then read to you. This letter will include some of your history and how it ties into the goals that we have identified for your therapy.

At the end of therapy I will read you a final goodbye letter as well, outlining what we have achieved in your sessions and what you might wish to continue working on in the future.

These are all tools that you can then refer back to in the future once therapy is finished.

**New for 2024** You will receive a free copy of "My Cognitive Analytic Therapy Diary" to accompany you during your therapy. ( You can read more about it at www.cato.training/mycatdiary )

Why chose a time limited therapy?

Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) is offered as either 16 or 24 sessions. After we have met on 4 or 5 occasions, we decide the total number of sessions together once we have explored some of your history.

One of the reasons behind limiting the number of sessions is that it helps keep the momentum of therapy going. There is a potential to put things off when something is open-ended, so by counting the sessions, it encourages you to try out new ways of relating while you have the support of me as your therapist.

In CAT, we also offer follow up sessions, that clients usually access around a month after their final session. This gives you the opportunity to reflect on how it has been since ending therapy and ask any clarifying questions or make a plan for anything you might need in the future.

"It's my job as your therapist, to help you notice these

patterns and to start making changes in your life"

About me:

Prior to qualifying as a Cognitive Analytic Therapist, I have worked with people in healthcare since 2006, when I started my initial training as a Learning Disability Nurse. I also went on to train as a dual registered Mental Health Nurse in 2012 and I have worked predominantly in the community with children, families and adults in the NHS.

I trained as a Cognitive Analytic Therapist in South London (Formerly St. Thomas') between 2016 - 2019 and have full accreditation from the UK Association for Cognitive Analytic Therapy (ACAT).

I am appointed as the Co-Vice Chair for the Board of Trustees at the Association for Cognitive Analytic therapy, our governing body in the UK.

Clinical areas of interest:

Cognitive Analytic Therapy is a trans-diagnostic therapy, which means it can effectively be used with any presentation, so this list is not exhaustive, but I do have some particular areas of clinical interest in which I apply CAT;

Autism
Borderline Personality Disorder
Childhood Trauma
Narcissism
Parents/Carers
Professional development and entrepreneurism

As a Registered Nurse & Therapist, I abide by the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) code of conduct, as well as the code of Ethics and Practice set out by the Association of Cognitive Analytic Therapy.

As part of these codes of conduct and to ensure I provide the best quality service possible, I regularly access clinical supervision and engage in Continued Professional Development (CPD) activities.

To check my current NMC registration status, please click HERE.

My consulting room

Availability:

I currently practice privately on Monday and Tuesdays (all day), Thursday (am) and Friday (am) each week.

Appointments can be in-person or online, with some flexibility possible with prior discussion.

My ethos is to charge fairly and in doing so, to provide quality therapy over quantity. I achieve this by intentionally limiting the number of clients that I will work with at one time, to make sure that I can hold your story in my mind fully.

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Find out about My CAT Diary