Psychotherapist

Job responsibilities

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Plymouth CAMHS Therapies pathway. We are looking for an experienced Psychotherapist who will undertake assessments and intervention with young people, and their families in relation to a range of complex emotional, psychological, and behavioural problems. Namely psychoanalytically informed long and short-term interventions within the psychotherapy pathway

Our aim is to improve children and young people's mental health through the effective delivery of regularly, reviewable longer and short-term psychotherapy interventions using the Anna Freud I Thrive framework to inform and provide safe, effective, cost efficient, timely and accessible services that are in accordance with national and local priorities and responsive to the needs and views of local children, young people and their families.

CAMHS services are changing vastly and demands for the service are high. The post holder is expected to embrace change and be flexible in their approach following service developments.

The post holder will provide a qualified, high-quality specialist psychoanalytic child psychotherapy service to individuals, carers, families, and groups, within and across CAMHS pathways, in line with best, evidence-based practice.

This post holder will work directly with children and young people as well as providing training and consultation to parents, carers, and staff in our partner agencies. The pathway will work within the locally agreed demand and capacity model which is determined for each staff member through the job planning process.

The post holder will also provide clinical oversight within the pathway. This will include working with Children and Young people who are living in and responding to demanding circumstances and will be both complex and challenging.

Other dimensions:

To be responsible for the oversight and management of the CAMHS psychotherapy waiting list alongside the CAMHS pathway manager.

To use analytical and judgment skills and be responsible for taking clinical management decisions in complex clinical issues.

To provide consultation and advice about psychoanalytic and child psychotherapy issues to other members of the team/service and other professionals working with service users.

Take a lead with team safeguarding processes and supervision.

To offer supervision to child & adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapists, psychological therapists, trainee psychological therapists and psychological practitioners as appropriate.

To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of professional practice within the service/pathway.

To contribute to and take responsibility for local service developments and implement policy changes as the psychotherapy lead.

To undertake audit and research relevant to the pathway.

To manage an autonomous caseload for children and young people who are experiencing highly complex and persistent mental health difficulties including exposure to domestic violence and other trauma.

To provide formal, highly specialist assessments of children and their parents/carers, to inform and assist in planning care pathways, both within the CAMHS and with other agencies, considering relevant evidence base research, theory practice and highly complex processes which have shaped the child, their parents/carers and family.

To provide individual short- and long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy for children either individually or with their parent/carers with the focus of the work being based in parent/child relationships.

To provide highly specialist, psychoanalytically based assessment and treatment to families who may be highly dysfunctional, with complex and persistent problems.

To provide psychoanalytic group work, including providing training to other professionals in psychoanalytic group work practice.

To participate in regular review and ongoing discussion of cases in treatment with other members of the multi-disciplinary team and where appropriate, co-ordinate and organise network meetings with professional members of other agencies.

To be responsible for continually monitoring and evaluating risk to / from children and young people in own caseload and during supervision / consultation discussions. This may be due to Child Protection concerns; emotionally led behavioural issues or other risk behaviour in their parents/carers

To be responsible for the application of a range of theoretical and practical knowledge acquired over a significant period of time (e.g., developments in psychoanalysis, child development, attachment theory, neurobiology, systems theory, and group work.

To exercise autonomous professional responsibility based on the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics of the Association of Child Psychotherapists.

To contribute directly and indirectly to a specialist psychoanalytically informed understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group, their parents / carers, and families.

To be responsible for a highly specialist training, internally and externally on a particular area of clinical specialism.

To provide highly specialist psychoanalytic supervision to colleagues within CAMHS including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, art therapists, and trainee psychologists.

To receive regular clinical and service-related supervision from your clinical supervisor, in accordance with good practice guidelines and the supervision requirement of Livewell Southwest

To gain highly specialist experience and training relevant to a specific area of clinical specialism.

To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training, and supervision.

To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the Clinical Pathway Manager

To take part in the LWSW annual appraisal and individual performance review programme.

To devise and develop research programmes relevant to the treatment methods of psychoanalytic psychotherapy as appropriate within CAMHS

To promote and undertake audit as appropriate within CAMHS Audit Programme

To utilise theory, literature, and research to support evidence-based practice in all areas of clinical practice.

To participate and lead in the development of specialist services both within CAMHS and externally with other agencies

To support and enhance the continual quality initiative towards improving services for service users.

To be responsible for contributing to the development. Implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Service, in conjunction with the Clinical Pathway Manager.

To participate in activities of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services as appropriate and required.

To maintain accurate and up to date records of clinical activity

To ensure appropriate, safe, clinical environment for children in treatment including provision of appropriate play materials.

To be part of a team of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists who provide services to the CAMHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

To maintain and develop links with other Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists in the region.

To collaborate with colleagues in the multi-disciplinary child and adolescent mental health services in the planning and provision of services.

To liaise and collaborate with colleagues from various professions in health, education, and social services as well as the voluntary sector.

To report to the Clinical Pathway Manager and other service managers as identified.

To communicate sensitively with children and young people, with their families / carers, to ensure the highest quality of care.

Take a lead with team safeguarding processes and supervision and processes, this will include undertaking safeguarding supervision training.

Circumstances

Essential

• Valid driving licence
• Ability to travel across Plymouth
• Able to work evenings up to 8 pm and weekends if required.
• Ability to work flexibly (hours of work and duties) both as an individual and with other colleagues in LWSW and with partner agencies.
• Able to undertake the demands of the post with reasonable adjustments where required.

Desirable

• Car owner/driver or suitable alternative transport to enable you to undertake the job. It is unlikely that public transport will meet this requirement.
• Adjustments can be considered in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act.

Qualifications

Essential

• Recognised Qualification in Child/Adolescent Psychotherapy (equivalent to Doctorate Level Degree)
• Eligibility for membership of the Association of Child Psychotherapists
• Evidence of current CPD as recommended by professional body.

Desirable

• Breakaway/
• Management of aggression training

Understanding

Essential

• An understanding of the system of health, social care, education and third sector for children and families.
• Understanding which supports the implementation of quality and patient safety, health and safety legislation, local and national policy around safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
• Understanding of performance management and the role this can play in the delivery of excellent and effective services.
• Mental Health assessment skills
• Well established case management skills

Desirable

• Knowledge of the key strategies and policies affecting childrens mental health services and how that is located into a wider strategic picture of child health and well-being.

Experience

Essential

• Clinical experience as a Child Psychotherapist within CAMHS
• Extensive knowledge of normal and abnormal child development and other relevant theories, practices, and research in the field of child and adolescent development
• Substantial experience in working in multi-disciplinary, multi-agency context
• Knowledge of Child Protection legislation
• Knowledge of research methodology
• Experience of recent research and audit
• Knowledge about risk assessment and how to support all staff members in assessing and managing risk.
• Knowledge of the range of specific clinical and therapeutic skills relevant to working with children and young people aged 0-19 and their families.

Desirable

• Work with non-communicating children
• Keyboard / IT skills
• Experience of working with partner agencies
• Experience of working across the age range

Aptitude and Ability

Essential

• Able to maintain appropriate professional boundaries
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with patients, families and staff, about highly complex and sensitive matters in situations of potential conflict or psychological/emotional pain, and where mental health problems affect relationships
• Ability to express complex and multi-layered concepts in clear and appropriate ways across a range of contexts and where there may be considerable resistance, through reports, publication or public presentation
• Ability to contain and work with emotional distress both within the patients, their carers and within organisations, and to hold the stress of others
• Capacity to reflect and contain intense feelings that are evoked in oneself by exposure to highly distressing emotional material
• Ability to remain still and maintain intense concentration over long periods of time, in clinical settings where there may be high levels of distress, verbal or physical aggression or chaotic activity
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative way with colleagues
• Ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team with a varying theoretical perspectives
• Well developed communication skills both oral and written.
• Able to reason, including the ability to analyse, interpret, evaluate and draw assumptions from data and information. Able to utilise complex information to identify solutions.
• Able to analyse and find solutions to operational issues, providing solutions and motivating people to solving problems.
• Ability to communicate effectively (including sensitive information) verbally, adjusting language, style and content as appropriate to the audience.
• Sensitive to the needs of others and is able to deal with conflict and issues of poor performance in an effective and non confrontational manner.
• Has a strong degree of personal integrity and is able to reflect upon own actions and make changes where necessary.
• Self motivating and able to work on own initiative

Desirable

• Dealing with highly complex sensitive or contentious information where there may be barriers to understanding.
• Ability to work with ambiguity and in an immediate environment that is subject to rapid and fundamental change
• Ability to work with defined management arrangements
• Ability to work within Trust policies, procedures and guidelines.
• Ability to function independently
• The ability to maintain working partnerships with other organisations in the delivery of integrated care.
• Effective leadership skills that motivate and involve a team.
• Good organisational and time management skills with an ability to prioritise

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).