Clinical supervision · Online across the UK

Carl was my CAT supervisor in a secondary care NHS service during my final year as a trainee counselling psychologist. He provided regular, clinical, group supervision and a safe space to think about complex cases that presented to the service, while also teaching the CAT model from scratch. This was also a space to think about my own specialism and future career progression. It was the most stimulating, but also containing aspect of my 3 year training, cementing my own interests in working with individuals presenting with interpersonal difficulties. I have since continued to work in secondary care, drawing on his teaching as a solid foundation. Carl was a wonderful supervisor. While consistent and boundaried, he was also thorough, flexible, dynamic and always found time to help, despite the many demands I imagine he had of his time. Carl remains my first choice for any future private CAT supervision.

Carl has been an incredible supervisor and a great mentor throughout the biggest part of my doctoral training. Very supportive, with in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge in relational therapeutic models, such as CAT.

Whilst in my second year of my doctorate in Counselling Psychology I started a placement within the NHS integrated therapy service. Having never practised in a CAT modality I was very nervous to start. Carl was my supervisor for which I attended weekly supervision. Carl not only taught me the CAT modality in an informative and detailed manner, he also sparked my interest to continue to train within the CAT model.

I have been practising for 4 years in private and NHS settings and I can honestly say he is the best supervisor I have had. He is very relatable and you feel comfortable to ask him questions. Carl is very knowledgeable in his field which means you get guidance, information and support at all times, not only clinically but with professional development. Carl’s supervision style really helped me conceptualise and formulate the clients’ problems in a way I have never done before. The skills Carl has taught me inform my practice to this day and I can’t recommend him enough.

While on doctoral training I was lucky enough to be on placement applying Cognitive Analytic Therapy under Carl’s supervision for a year. Carl taught the CAT protocol simply and clearly but also showed how this approach could be used to understand and conceptualise any client’s difficulties – extremely useful techniques I have used ever since.

Having now qualified and beginning private work alongside the NHS, Carl is the first person I sought out as a supervisor even though CAT is not the primary modality I use. His insight and experience gained from many years working at a senior level in secondary care NHS services means that there is very little he doesn’t know about working with clients' emotions, behaviours and relational patterns and he wastes little time in cutting through to the essence of the problem. Furthermore, he is also able to offer guidance with relation to NHS career development and progression if needed. I would unreservedly recommend Carl as a clinical supervisor.

I was supervised by Carl in my final year of training on the Counselling Psychology Doctorate. Carl is an empathic, diligent and pragmatic psychologist who brings a wealth of experience to supervisory practice. He was instrumental in helping me learn and develop using Cognitive Analytic Therapy. I found Carl’s range of experience, particularly in both CAT and MBT, to be very helpful when working with a range of challenging client presentations. He was able to make complex theory accessible and guided me in bringing this theory to bear in practice. Carl also encouraged me to develop further than I would have initially pushed myself in my training. Carl’s support and gentle guidance made the final year of the doctorate a joy to journey through and he went the extra mile in offering help with career development for life beyond training. I would wholeheartedly recommend Carl as a clinical supervisor.

I am a qualified Chartered Counselling psychologist and was supervised by Carl for almost 2 years in a Band 7 role. Carl is honest, hardworking, professional and incredibly knowledgeable. There was not a single occasion where he didn’t offer some insight or guidance that was invaluable to my clinical work. In addition to supervising me, Carl provided me with in-house training in Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT). He was always clear, informative and flexible in enabling me to develop my understanding and use of this modality; and in allowing me to weave it naturally into my own style and delivery. I think it’s important to add also, that Carl genuinely cares about your individual and professional development; I feel he has played an enormous role in guiding me forward as I have progressed in my career and I know that he offers the same guidance and input to his other supervisees. I cannot rate him highly enough and recommend him unreservedly to any training or qualified clinician.

Carl has been the best clinical supervisor I have had whilst training to become a counselling psychologist. He has been reliable, approachable, understanding and kind. His sense of humour put me at ease straight away. Carl has encouraged me to better myself and improve my therapeutic work with clients. I have learned a lot from Carl about being a competent therapist. I endeavour to take the learning I have gleaned through supervision and take them with me as I embark on the next chapter in my life. Lastly, Carl has helped me realise the kind of supervisor I would like to be in the future. I highly recommend Carl as a supervisor.

Carl was my clinical supervisor when I was completing my Counselling Psychology Doctorate. He was a pleasure to work with. He is a very enthusiastic and highly skilled Psychologist. Carl works holistically and is sensitive to cultural diversity, the supervision was thus tailored to my idiosyncratic needs, impacting my work positively. Carl is sensitive to compassionate care and has the commitment and courage to provide honest, transparent and fair supervision, which has been empowering and thus fostered my development of reflective clinical practice. He is an interactive communicator, an empathic listener, he is observant and has the unique ability to bring humility to clinical work. Carl works professionally and ethically in accordance with HCPC guidelines and I have no hesitation in recommending Carl for his clinical supervision skills and as a person with the utmost integrity. He is and will be for many years to come a real asset to the field of Psychology.

I attended clinical supervision with Carl for a year during my Counselling Psychology Doctoral training. I had a very positive experience both in terms of having a reflective space and one where I could build my knowledge on the Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) model. I always felt that Carl could quickly notice and advise on areas to consider developing in during our meetings. I found him to be an honest and pro-active supervisor and he was always offering advice for my future professional development in the mental health field, which I very much appreciated. I would definitely return to him for further supervision and guidance on my clinical work in the future.

Carl was my internal supervisor for a year when I was on placement in an NHS service where I used Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) to work with clients.

I particularly looked forward to our weekly supervisory sessions; they were intellectually stimulating, professionally stretching and really enjoyable. Carl also effortlessly created a containing, warm and safe, collaborative environment whereby I was able to be myself and openly share the struggles I faced with the model and the clients, invariably leaving the session feeling supported, enthused and more confident in moving forward.

His love of the model CAT and his level of knowledge was evident, our sessions left me with a thirst to learn more and to undergo further training in this model. Carl also had the ability to make what can be a challenging model theoretically, more accessible. He would go the extra mile to provide relevant reading when helpful or find ways of representing the key ideas graphically making it much more user friendly. When I finally do get round to formally training in CAT I hope Carl has availability to act as my supervisor again. I wholeheartedly recommend him as a supervisor and I would of course also refer clients to him.

I was very fortunate to have Carl as my clinical supervisor in the final year of my Counselling Psychology Doctoral training. Working in a modality that was new to me, Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT), and with a lot of complexity and risk, Carl was present and attuned to any questions and uncertainties I would bring about my work and he showed genuine commitment to my- and my fellow trainees’ learning. He truly cared about our all rounded learning, as therapists as well as our future role in the wider profession. He was open and generous with his knowledge and encouraged humour and humanism in the team and the work. Carl was direct and honest in his communication and he was remarkably attuned to the clients’/patients’ difficulties, recognising their processes and needs through all their complexity and always staying with what the client/patient was bringing, never assuming nor being protocol-driven. These characteristics meant that there was space for ‘safe uncertainty’ as I was learning a new approach, and significantly developed my ability to conceptualise clients’/patients’ difficulties in a way that has shaped all my therapeutic work, even when not working through CAT. I also learned how to explore and hold risk in a way that has enabled me to feel more confident in working with risk. I would highly recommend Carl as a supervisor!

I am a trainee counselling psychologist in my final year, and I recently consulted Carl on a one-off professional matter. What drew me to him was his extensive knowledge across various therapeutic modalities and his experience in a range of NHS services. I was very impressed at how responsive and on the ball he was. His many years of experience made his advice particularly insightful, and I would absolutely consult him again in the future.