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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (EDIC) 

ACAT’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (EDIC) is a sub-committee of the Board of Trustees and Council of Management. 

Its terms of reference are

• To report to the Board of Trustees and Council of Management of ACAT on issues of equality and diversity within ACAT and with a view to facilitating equal access to CAT therapy and ACAT training courses within the NHS and other settings.
• To act as a hub for dialogue about how to address issues of diversity and equality in our theory, our curricula, and our training programmes.
• To consider the needs of particular groups who have been marginalised within the theory and practice of psychotherapy and specifically CAT.

• To put in place sensitive but informative monitoring so that ACAT can make evidence based decisions about the extent to which we are addressing diversity and equality issues in our teaching and training and recommend positive steps to address barriers in our courses and curricula and encourage innovation.

• To support individual practitioners and psychotherapists through the development of resources, scholarship and research on these issues.

• Other projects as agreed by the Board of Trustees.

Who is involved? 

The current Chair of the EDIC is Dupe Adu-White. She is supported in her role by other members including Rhona Brown, Jane Cawdron, Angela Coshland, Julie Lloyd, Lawrence Welch, Lorraine Welch, and Christina Wilson.

Get involved 

If you would like to find out more about the work of the EDIC, or would like to become involved in this work in any way, please contact us through the ACAT office at admin@acat.me.uk.

EDC 2020 update 

In a report to the last AGM in October 2020, members of the EDC highlighted how the COVID 19 pandemic, the death of George Floyd, and the public and institutional responses this prompted again highlighted ongoing and long-standing racial and social inequalities. Currently, the EDC

• has engaged with members and shared developments across a range of areas at the Inequality CPD event in London in November 2019

 https://www.acat.me.uk/event/1064/equality+and+diversity+workshop+2019-11-29.htm

• is working towards reviewing and updating the Psychotherapy File so that it is more inclusive and reflects aspects of identity and characteristics highlighted by tools such as the psychosocial checklist
• supports and promotes the Equality and Diversity survey so that ACAT has
  • both a clearer idea of representation within the membership and
  • an initial indication of any areas in which members have experienced discrimination, or have specific needs which are not well met
• links with the Inequality and Diversity Special Interest Group for members
• attends to UKCP/HIPC developments and requirements around equality and diversity issues, and
• invites members to collaborate in developing a statement of intent around antiracist practice.

Equality and Diversity CPD 

The UKCP HIPC committee guidance on Equality Diversity & Inclusion (2020) recommends “a minimum of 5% CPD training hours should be devoted to EDI per year for any practitioner, but especially for those in a position of responsibility for teaching or supervising students.” All ACAT members are therefore encouraged to take advantage of opportunities for CPD around E&D issues. These could include training and CPD relating to:- sex/gender; sexuality/sexual orientation; race, ethnicity, and culture; ability/disability – physical and mental health/social marginalisation; socioeconomic status (SES)/classism inherent in society; age; religion/belief system/spirituality; pregnancy and maternity; language and power e.g. asylum seekers, migrants, and refugees.

We will update this page with news of forthcoming CPD opportunities through ACAT and its related networks.

ACAT’s first Black History Month event Talk Listen & Share took place online on 28 October 2020. It was organised jointly by the Inequality & Diversity SIG and the EDC. The event was chaired by Jessie Emilion and Dupe Adu White. Three members from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds shared their experience, Discussion took place amongst more than forty members attending.

In November 2019 a day conference took place in London to bring together interested members on the theme of Beyond Aims In/Equality: Embedding Thinking Space & Action in CAT Training & Practice

It was one of our first CPD workshops where participants gathered to specifically address a wide range of areas where inequality and discrimination are apparent. Participants shared tools which may be useful in allowing CAT to be a more accessible and inclusive therapy for people with disabilities and intellectual difficulties. We reflected on accessibility of CAT for communities which traditional services have struggled to reach. We heard about service provision in non-western settings where CAT thinking helped to manage challenges, Participants discussed ways CAT can develop to be more inclusive of societal and political issues which have an impact on the clients we serve.

Updated September 2022

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