About this Event
Independently run, the CAT [Cognitive Analytic Therapy] and therapy focus of The Film Atelier has been running since 1st May 2022 specialising in creating a safe relational space for local and near local regulars conflicted with mental health challenges.
We have worked in the National Health Service and the health sector for over 25 years and have witnessed an increasingly deteriorating health provision in the community for locals who struggle with mental health conflict beyond their individual therapy appointments.
Since opening, we have completed our first cohort small therapy group who attend weekly therapy sessions with a trained former NHS consultant psychiatrist and psychological therapist specialising in Cognitive Analytic Therapy working in the community.
What is this?
This is a 1 hour therapy session group where the participants undertake 16 sessions of regular weekly attendance at 4pm on Mondays. The commitment is important before signing up.
What happens?
This a small group facilitated by a mental health professional [CAT therapist] who does not do therapy on you: the aims of the group therapy process are for participants to learn and grow through each other and empower one another in a safe and regulated way with clinical support.
Who is this for?
CAT is termed a 'relational therapy'. This puts the person at the heart of the therapy; not Medic*tion; not diagnoses; nor beliefs and thinking theories. It employs relational growth: growing together to support one another safely within the boundaries of a therapy (as opposed to unboundaried online internet chat groups with no therapeutic beacon) to grow members of a therapy group to become help and support for one another through mental health conflict.
No diagnosis or mental illness is necessary: most people benefit from growing relational skills and developing greater competencies as a form of resilience to stay healthy in the face of uncertainty and future adversity.
Who is this not for?
Clients with an existing mental health care should not consider abandoning their existing care package for entry into this supporting CAT group therapy approach. We offer community mental health weekly group support and require clients to stay safe, well and boundaried in between times; heavily conflicted clients should continue to avail of their emergency crises teams and mental health providers in the NHS. Complex care clients who have multidisciplinary care packages from health professionals should consult their provider to help decide if a community group therapy support can be of use. We do encourage prospective attenders to make contact and discuss briefly whether this is suitable on a person by person basis.
What happens in a session?
The early sessions of a CAT block of therapy which lasts for 16 sessions focusses on therapeutic factors (forming bonds with one another; trust; managing confidentiality; therapy expectations and hopes and "mapping" - a way of sketching, drawing or sharing what feels safe in a group, to talk about and hold on the paper and mind to build on this to reflect and grow awareness and then change (through exploring psychological strategies and coping alternatives). The process of Reformulation is specific to CAT: we all live by formulas (which others make up for us, or us unto ourselves, knowing and unknowingly) and becoming aware and reforming these in the group to 'reformulate' is the start for changing for the better. The group works to establish cohesion, coherence and bonding with one another. For this reason, we prefer participants to be local to Catford SE6 and the Lewisham area, rather than miles away where there is no geographical connection or shared space outside of The Film Atelier. The session works towards ending after 16 sessions of growing relational skills beyond emotional intelligence.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Film Atelier, 314 Sangley Road, London, United Kingdom
GBP 10.00