Job summary
The post-holder will work as a member of the multidisciplinary team in Westminster Perinatal Mental Health Service and will provide a qualified parent infant psychotherapy service to women referred into or under the care of the team. Under the supervision of a senior perinatal clinical psychologist and the senior parent infant psychotherapist, they will provide specialist psychotherapeutic assessment and therapy to service users and support and signposting to their families/carers.
They will provide advice and consultation on the care of parent-infant dyads to non-psychotherapy colleagues and to the professional network involved in treating and caring for women and their infants under the care of Westminster PMHS.
The post holder will be supported and supervised and will work autonomously within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures. They will utilise research skills for audit to support policy and service development; and may undertake research within the area served by the service and of relevance to women and their babies under the care of the perinatal mental health service.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will provide specialist psychotherapeutic interventions and will contribute to implementing care plans for women and their babies with a range of mental health and social and emotional difficulties, particularly focusing on providing evidence based psychotherapeutic interventions to both individual dyads and to groups which are adapted to the needs of women and babies in complex and varying degrees of illness and distress.
The post holder will provide advice and consultation on infant observation and infant mental health to non-psychology colleagues and to the professional network involved in treating and caring for infants and parents treated within the service.
The post-holder will be expected to attend weekly team meetings and case discussion forums. The post-holder will support the team in assessing the emotional and developmental needs of the infants of patients referred to the service, ensuring that their psychological needs and related factors such as for example the parental relationship are given due consideration within the care planning process.
The post-holder will liaise closely with relevant mental health services local to the patient, such as the CAMHS, IAPT, Early Intervention in Psychosis Teams, etc. so as to ensure efficient and seamless patient care pathways.
About us
CNWL has established a high-quality multidisciplinary community and liaison perinatal mental health service across five London Boroughs,
CNWL Perinatal Mental Health Service (PMHS) comprises specialist multidisciplinary perinatal mental health teams five boroughs served by the trust (Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster) enabling the delivery of evidence based perinatal mental health care through a coordinated multidisciplinary specialist approach across maternity, primary and secondary care, tertiary specialist services, social care and voluntary sector.
You will join a team that delivers specialist community perinatal mental health service (PMHS), which integrate maternity services, community and primary care services. We respond rapidly to presentations within the maternity context and address the risks to both mothers and infants of perinatal illness We focus on prevention, early detection with NICE guidelines and based in the community, close to mothers and babies.
The successful candidates will be highly motivated, energetic and passionate about delivering high quality care to patients acute and chronic psychiatric conditions in perinatal service, ensuring that assessment and interventions are provided in a sensitive, accessible and culturally appropriate way.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Primary Responsibilities
- Clinical:
- Provide assessments of referred parent-infant dyads based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources.
- To assist in the provision of an efficient, effective psychotherapeutic assessment and treatment service for babies of patients with moderate and severe, highly complex mental health problems, whose difficulties impact on parent-infant relationship. This may be as sole practitioner or in collaboration with other team members such as OTs, psychiatrists, psychologists and nursery nurses.
- The work will include offering observations and subsequent to these, opinions on formulation of infant mental health and relational difficulties between infants and parents seen within the perinatal service.
- To offer highly specialised perinatal and parent-infant clinical assessment and treatment in the Perinatal Service to distressed pregnant and postnatal women who are suffering from a wide range of disorders including antenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety as well as emotional difficulties associated with traumatic delivery, perinatal loss, and disturbed attachment and bonding.
- To offer psychotherapy and parent-infant psychotherapy as main treatment interventions including where indicated and appropriate the involvement of other significant care givers such as fathers.
- To provide advice and consultation to colleagues, to a variety of professionals and to members of a family's support network
- To contribute to assessments of women with perinatal mental health disorders including of precipitating and perpetuating factors within the parent infant/family relationships.
- Implement care plans for the formal treatment and/or management of an infants problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of psychotherapy interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, grounded in the principles and techniques of a relevant theoretical approaches. These will include long and short term interventions as appropriate to need.
- To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes which have shaped the individual, family or group.
- Provide specialist expertise, advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to women and babies formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
- Contribute directly and indirectly to a framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all women and babies treated within the service, across all settings and agencies providing services for women, their children and their families.
- To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual infants and parents, and to provide advice to other professions on risk assessment and risk management in relevant cases.
- Communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni and multi-disciplinary care.
- To work under supervision from the team lead, a senior perinatal psychotherapist/psychologist and with case management support from the consultant psychiatrist.
- Managerial
- Provide clinical supervision and performance management of perinatal psychotherapy trainees if applicable.
- To provide clinical supervision of nursery nurses if applicable.
- Be involved, if appropriate, in short listing and interviewing.
- Teaching Training and Supervision
- To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior perinatal parent infant psychotherapist or perinatal and where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
- Develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other MDT work as appropriate
- Contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of psychotherapeutic approaches and sharing clinical skills, as appropriate.
- Provide advice, consultation and training to professionals (including childrens social workers) working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings.
- To gain additional specialist experience and skills relevant to perinatal psychotherapy, and/or the service as agreed with the professional psychology and psychotherapy manager.
- To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision as appropriate.
- To provide or contribute to professional and clinical supervision of trainee and assistant clinical psychologists or trainee psychotherapists.
- Research and Audit
- To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
- To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where clinical and/or organisational matters need addressing.
- To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
- To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.
- To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.
- 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.
- To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in Perinatal Parent Infant Psychotherapy across the service.
- Administration and Clinical Recording
- To enter required data into the Trusts patient administration systems and to make use of data bases as directed by managers in the course of clinical duties.
- To use computer and computer software to prepare reports, presentations and documents relevant to working duties.
- To undertake administrative tasks in line with service requirements, making appropriate use of administrative support available.
- Standard
The post holder will complete the CNWL mandatory training programme annually within directed timescales.
The post holder will prioritise attendance at relevant multi-agency planning meetings such as Child In Need, Child Protection conferences, Professionals meetings and CPAs.
The post holder will work in line with CNWL policy and procedures at all times. These include:
- Confidentiality, Data Protection and Information Sharing
- Code of Conduct
- Capacity Assessments
- Equality and Diversity
- Health and Safety
- Infection Prevention and Control
- Finance
- Safeguarding Children
- Safeguarding Adults
- Sickness Absence
- Use of Information Technology
- Professional Standards and Performance Review
The post holder will fully participate in the Trusts Appraisal / Supervision Programme and work with their manager to ensure that they have a clear job plan and objectives.
The post holder will undertake any other duties as appropriate to the grade/role and work flexibly across Jameson sites to provide cover for short-term absences when required.
- Additional notes
- This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the postholder may be required to undertake other duties which fall within the grade of the job, in discussion with the manager.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Primary Responsibilities
- Clinical:
- Provide assessments of referred parent-infant dyads based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources.
- To assist in the provision of an efficient, effective psychotherapeutic assessment and treatment service for babies of patients with moderate and severe, highly complex mental health problems, whose difficulties impact on parent-infant relationship. This may be as sole practitioner or in collaboration with other team members such as OTs, psychiatrists, psychologists and nursery nurses.
- The work will include offering observations and subsequent to these, opinions on formulation of infant mental health and relational difficulties between infants and parents seen within the perinatal service.
- To offer highly specialised perinatal and parent-infant clinical assessment and treatment in the Perinatal Service to distressed pregnant and postnatal women who are suffering from a wide range of disorders including antenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety as well as emotional difficulties associated with traumatic delivery, perinatal loss, and disturbed attachment and bonding.
- To offer psychotherapy and parent-infant psychotherapy as main treatment interventions including where indicated and appropriate the involvement of other significant care givers such as fathers.
- To provide advice and consultation to colleagues, to a variety of professionals and to members of a family's support network
- To contribute to assessments of women with perinatal mental health disorders including of precipitating and perpetuating factors within the parent infant/family relationships.
- Implement care plans for the formal treatment and/or management of an infants problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of psychotherapy interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, grounded in the principles and techniques of a relevant theoretical approaches. These will include long and short term interventions as appropriate to need.
- To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes which have shaped the individual, family or group.
- Provide specialist expertise, advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to women and babies formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
- Contribute directly and indirectly to a framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all women and babies treated within the service, across all settings and agencies providing services for women, their children and their families.
- To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual infants and parents, and to provide advice to other professions on risk assessment and risk management in relevant cases.
- Communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni and multi-disciplinary care.
- To work under supervision from the team lead, a senior perinatal psychotherapist/psychologist and with case management support from the consultant psychiatrist.
- Managerial
- Provide clinical supervision and performance management of perinatal psychotherapy trainees if applicable.
- To provide clinical supervision of nursery nurses if applicable.
- Be involved, if appropriate, in short listing and interviewing.
- Teaching Training and Supervision
- To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior perinatal parent infant psychotherapist or perinatal and where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
- Develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other MDT work as appropriate
- Contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of psychotherapeutic approaches and sharing clinical skills, as appropriate.
- Provide advice, consultation and training to professionals (including childrens social workers) working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings.
- To gain additional specialist experience and skills relevant to perinatal psychotherapy, and/or the service as agreed with the professional psychology and psychotherapy manager.
- To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision as appropriate.
- To provide or contribute to professional and clinical supervision of trainee and assistant clinical psychologists or trainee psychotherapists.
- Research and Audit
- To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
- To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where clinical and/or organisational matters need addressing.
- To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
- To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.
- To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.
- 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.
- To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in Perinatal Parent Infant Psychotherapy across the service.
- Administration and Clinical Recording
- To enter required data into the Trusts patient administration systems and to make use of data bases as directed by managers in the course of clinical duties.
- To use computer and computer software to prepare reports, presentations and documents relevant to working duties.
- To undertake administrative tasks in line with service requirements, making appropriate use of administrative support available.
- Standard
The post holder will complete the CNWL mandatory training programme annually within directed timescales.
The post holder will prioritise attendance at relevant multi-agency planning meetings such as Child In Need, Child Protection conferences, Professionals meetings and CPAs.
The post holder will work in line with CNWL policy and procedures at all times. These include:
- Confidentiality, Data Protection and Information Sharing
- Code of Conduct
- Capacity Assessments
- Equality and Diversity
- Health and Safety
- Infection Prevention and Control
- Finance
- Safeguarding Children
- Safeguarding Adults
- Sickness Absence
- Use of Information Technology
- Professional Standards and Performance Review
The post holder will fully participate in the Trusts Appraisal / Supervision Programme and work with their manager to ensure that they have a clear job plan and objectives.
The post holder will undertake any other duties as appropriate to the grade/role and work flexibly across Jameson sites to provide cover for short-term absences when required.
- Additional notes
- This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the postholder may be required to undertake other duties which fall within the grade of the job, in discussion with the manager.
Person Specification
TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
Essential
- An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology.
- Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist or at the ACP as a Psychotherapist or equivalent PIP Professional accreditation.
Desirable
- Post-doctoral/qualification training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice such as couples work, CBT, groups etc.
- Formal training in Parent Infant Psychotherapy or Psychoanalytic parent infant psychotherapy.
- Member of the association of infant mental health (AIMH).
EXPERIENCE
Essential
- Assessed experience of working as a psychotherapist (honorary, trainee or paid) in a relevant perinatal or CAMHS setting.
- Experience of working in an adult mental health or perinatal service either during training or pre or post qualification.
- Experience of exercising clinical responsibility for clients' psychotherapeutic care and treatment, either as a trainee under supervision or as a professionally qualified care coordinator within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
- Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
Desirable
- Post-qualification experience of working in a CMHT or similar multi-disciplinary mental health team
- Experience of representing Psychology or Psychotherapy within the context of multidisciplinary care.
- Experience of supervising other mental health staff.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
Desirable
- Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, treatment resistant psychosis).
Person Specification
TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
Essential
- An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology.
- Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist or at the ACP as a Psychotherapist or equivalent PIP Professional accreditation.
Desirable
- Post-doctoral/qualification training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice such as couples work, CBT, groups etc.
- Formal training in Parent Infant Psychotherapy or Psychoanalytic parent infant psychotherapy.
- Member of the association of infant mental health (AIMH).
EXPERIENCE
Essential
- Assessed experience of working as a psychotherapist (honorary, trainee or paid) in a relevant perinatal or CAMHS setting.
- Experience of working in an adult mental health or perinatal service either during training or pre or post qualification.
- Experience of exercising clinical responsibility for clients' psychotherapeutic care and treatment, either as a trainee under supervision or as a professionally qualified care coordinator within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
- Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
Desirable
- Post-qualification experience of working in a CMHT or similar multi-disciplinary mental health team
- Experience of representing Psychology or Psychotherapy within the context of multidisciplinary care.
- Experience of supervising other mental health staff.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
Desirable
- Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, treatment resistant psychosis).
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.
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).
Additional information
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.
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).
