In Dialogue blog
Cognitive analytic therapy values working collaboratively with people, understanding their story and how it fits with how one sees themselves in the present world. We all have past stories that describe who we are and where we come from, stories that we want people to know or ones that we would rather forget, shake off.
This blog shares articles and stories that may resonate with you and how you see yourself in the world, in relation to others and may help you see yourself and others in a different way.
Useful links
Cognitive Analytic Therapy
- The Association for Cognitive Analytic Therapy (ACAT)
- The Australian and New Zealand Association for Cognitive Analytic Therapy (ANZACAT)
- International Cognitive Analytic Therapy Association (ICATA)
For carers and supporters
For young people
Additional links
Psychotherapy – whats it about?
At In Dialogue we get quite a bit of nervous new comers who, understandably, are cautious about therapy. This video from school of life is useful.It says we are not born knowing how to live life and therapy can help one become more self aware so they can feel more confident in living life and
‘Being faithful to ourselves’ – it’s OK not to be in the moment
In this age of mindfulness we can be even more pressuring of ourselves to stop and feel and feel true, whatever this means. Mindfulness is a great tool but it is also OK not to be in the moment as perhaps we have learnt to cut off or be less in tune to cope with
Befriending anxiety
Stepping back from anxiety and trying not to fight it is one way of feeling more at peace. This article is interesting in how it describes anxiety and how our response in not stopping and listening may make things harder. In Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) we do consider how we relate to an anxious state
Listening to podcasts – a different voice
Here at In Dialogue we often get clients tell us what is helpful. Recently I have had a few people suggest the podcast ‘No Feeling is Final’ by Holly Eastly ABC. I had a listen and was struck by how she explained the extreme self critical voice and how it gets airplay through fear, just
Our relationship with work
Our work/career can give us purpose and is often part of our identity. This article was a useful way to check in about our relationship with our work. It mentions that we can be trying to find comfort through our work and if this is our only way of getting this perhaps we can check
Sharing our story through art
This article caught my eye as art therapy is gaining more evidence. Therapy is about making sense of things with another person who is non judgmental and can help us reflect on things we couldn’t by ourselves. Expressing ourselves through art may be another way of sharing and understanding our experience. It can help us
Therapy in doing
I have been struck this week by how many people find their own way of coping through activity and hobbies or their own mindfulness in things they enjoy. I was listening to a pod cast about the famous writer, Marian Keyes, who has a long episode of depression and found baking helped her get through
Finding the words
One of the ways in which therapy fosters healing and change is by putting into words our experiences – the fleeting thoughts, the felt emotions – which prior to this often hovered under our awareness but impacted us none-the-less. We love the idea behind this, to expand our repertoire of describing our experiences by looking
Raising a parent
One of the commonly identified roles of a parent is that of a teacher; raising your little one to play nice, know the alphabet, and a never ending list of other skills, information and customs. This letter from a mother to her young son is a lovely reminder that, as with all relationships, they are
Embracing mediocrity
We can be bombarded by advice about what we “should” be doing do make us happier, better, more successful. We at In Dialogue often advocate for less doing, and more being, through reflecting on ourselves, our unique mix of traits and preferences we can choose a path that suits us. In this lovely piece the
Recovering from perfectionism
This is a lovely post at Ramona where a “recovering perfectionist” talks about first accepting imperfection in the world and moving on to accepting imperfection in themselves. https://ramonamag.com/2017/03/11458/
Some tips on how to argue effectively
Some of us bottle up feelings until we feel like a shaken lemonade bottle, ready to explode. At these times we can let off steam but then feel guilty as we have felt we have gone over the top in our blame of the other. It can be useful to notice what we are fearful
Our inner dialogue
I agree with this article, that our inner speech has been influenced by the voices we grow up with. In therapy we can start to be aware of this inner speech and either add a voice that is more moderate or helpful or by just being aware of our inner dialogue can allow us some
Cognitive Analytic Therapy – it’s beginning
This is a lovely obituary of Tony Ryle, founder of Cognitive Analytic Therapy that informs our work at In Dialogue. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/15/anthony-ryle-obituary
