Paul Johanson

Do you ever feel anxious, stressed, stuck, confused or overwhelmed by emotions? Do you struggle in your relationships with those close to you? Do you long for a safe space where you can feel listened to and where you can untangle the knots in your heart and head? I am an accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapy Practitioner and qualified Social Worker with over 15 years experience working in the NHS in a range of settings, from serious mental illness through to cancer and palliative care services. I can help you with a range of issues, including relationships, stress, anxiety, depression and more complex emotional and psychological problems. I also offer EMDR for trauma and other issues.

What is Cognitive Analytic Therapy?
Cognitive Analytic Therapy (or CAT) is an effective way of working together to see more clearly the way a person thinks, feels and acts, and the events and relationships that underlie these experiences (often from childhood or earlier in life). As its name suggests, it brings together ideas and understanding from different therapies - particularly CBT and Psychodynamic therapies - into one user-friendly and effective therapy.

• See video clip at the foot of the page for my brief description of CAT

It is a programme of therapy can be tailored to your individual needs and to your own manageable and realistic goals for change and growth. It's usually a time-limited therapy - between 4 and 24 weeks, but typically 16; however, courses of therapy can be longer, or even open-ended, depending on your needs and what you choose.

Is CAT the right therapy for you?
Because CAT focuses on relationships - the ways in which we relate to ourselves and others - it's effective with most (if not all) types of difficulties and problems. It's particularly useful for untangling complex, knotty problems so that we can see more clearly how you've ended up where you are and where you're getting stuck - the problematic patterns of your relationships. CAT relies on a close, trusting working relationship between therapist and client so that we can recognise together and name these difficult relationship patterns as they happen in your life - and in the therapy room - so that you can begin to connect your cognitive (or ‘head’) understanding with your emotional (or ‘heart’) understanding.

The process of change comes from naming, experiencing, sharing, recognising and understanding these patterns. Developing awareness allows new, healthier relationship patterns to be born. The relationship between the client and therapist itself models this more accepting and respectful way of relating.
I integrate EMDR into CAT sessions as required. Sometimes using this powerful technique can provide significant shifts in the way difficult situations and emotions are dealt with.

Crisis
Intrusive thoughts
Confusion
Worry
Spiritual crisis
Religious issues
Family court issues
Criminal justice issues

Individual sessions: Cognitive Analytic Therapy EMDR £80 for 50 mins.

Couples: £90 for 1 hour; £130 for 90 mins