Job summary
Family and Systemic Therapist
Band 7 - 0.6 WTE
We are recruiting a permanent, Band 7 Family and Systemic Therapist to work within the Adolescent Mental Health Team in Newham.
We are looking for an enthusiastic, experienced and motivated Family Therapist to work in an established MDT within a busy and diverse Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. The post holder should have both expertise and a passion for working with adolescents and their families and for working with complex mental heath difficulties.
As a care coordinator within the AMHT, the post holder will support the care of adolescents with complex, and often risky, mental health presentations such as first-episode psychosis, severe depression, emotional dysregulation and complex trauma.
The post holder will provide evidence-informed family and systemic interventions with clients and also contribute to the formulation of systemic issues within the MDT.
Main duties of the job
The AMHT is a well functioning multi-disciplinary team within Newham CAMHS. The team is composed of a Mental Health Nurse, a Senior Systemic Family Therapist, Clinical Psychologists, an Occupational Therapist (being recruited to), a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist (being recruited to) and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. It is commissioned to provide early intervention in psychosis (EIS) for 13 to 18 year olds as well as to offer mental health care to young people presenting with high risk of severe life threatening self-harm. The team has recently been commissioned to increase its staffing which has created new posts.
The team model includes joint working as well as individual working with young people and their families. The team offers a range of interventions including therapeutic care coordination, systemic family therapy, individual therapy (CBT, psychoanalytical psychotherapy, narrative therapy) and psychiatric support. The team works within a Care Pathway model of service delivery within a multidisciplinary framework, holding weekly MDT meetings where all high risk cases are discussed.
The team works very closely together in a supportive and collaborative way. Its model incorporates a developmental approach in its formulation of young people's presentation and an understanding of adolescent personality development. Due to the nature and severity of their mental health difficulties, young people are often engaged in longer term interventions with the team.
About us
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations
Job description
Job responsibilities
For a more detailed job description and person specification please see attached JD & PS.
For contact details please see below.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For a more detailed job description and person specification please see attached JD & PS.
For contact details please see below.
Person Specification
Education/ Qualification/ Training
Essential
- Professional qualifications in systemic and family practice.
- Professional Registration.
- Evidence of continuing professional development.
Desirable
- To have further relevant training within the field family therapy, mental health or neurodevelopmental disorders.
Experience
Essential
- To have experience of working with children, adolescents and families.
- To have experience of using specialist clinical skills to carry out therapeutic and psycho-educational interventions.
Desirable
- To have experience of working in a child and adolescent mental health setting (CAMHS).
- To have experience of joint working and of being part of an MDT.
- To have experience of working with psychosis and high risk and complex health problems.
- Experience of providing care coordination within a Care Programme Approach.
- Experience of working with diversity.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- To have knowledge of psychosis and other mental health difficulties and their impact upon functioning and performance.
- To have an understanding of adolescent development and the impact of mental health difficulties during the adolescent period.
- To have highly developed interpersonal skills enabling therapeutic alliances to be developed and maintained with clients who have complex mental health needs2q2qq1.
- Ability to apply effective interpersonal and communication skills in both individual and group therapeutic interventions.
- To be able to adapt communication to young people who may have significant impairments in their communication or/and verbal ability.
- Ability to use sophisticated interpersonal and communication skills to work effectively within emotive environments and with distressing material
- Ability to exercise judgement, and make interpretations regarding complex issues
- Ability to communicate complex information to clients, carers and other professionals
- To be able to use supervision and support from colleagues to maintain safe practice.
Desirable
- To have knowledge and skills in working with young people with neurodevelopmental disordersTo have knowledge and skills in working with young people with neurodevelopmental disorders
- To have knowledge of current National legislation, policies and guidelines. (Mental Health Act 1983, NICE guidelines, National service Framework for Mental Health).
Person Specification
Education/ Qualification/ Training
Essential
- Professional qualifications in systemic and family practice.
- Professional Registration.
- Evidence of continuing professional development.
Desirable
- To have further relevant training within the field family therapy, mental health or neurodevelopmental disorders.
Experience
Essential
- To have experience of working with children, adolescents and families.
- To have experience of using specialist clinical skills to carry out therapeutic and psycho-educational interventions.
Desirable
- To have experience of working in a child and adolescent mental health setting (CAMHS).
- To have experience of joint working and of being part of an MDT.
- To have experience of working with psychosis and high risk and complex health problems.
- Experience of providing care coordination within a Care Programme Approach.
- Experience of working with diversity.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- To have knowledge of psychosis and other mental health difficulties and their impact upon functioning and performance.
- To have an understanding of adolescent development and the impact of mental health difficulties during the adolescent period.
- To have highly developed interpersonal skills enabling therapeutic alliances to be developed and maintained with clients who have complex mental health needs2q2qq1.
- Ability to apply effective interpersonal and communication skills in both individual and group therapeutic interventions.
- To be able to adapt communication to young people who may have significant impairments in their communication or/and verbal ability.
- Ability to use sophisticated interpersonal and communication skills to work effectively within emotive environments and with distressing material
- Ability to exercise judgement, and make interpretations regarding complex issues
- Ability to communicate complex information to clients, carers and other professionals
- To be able to use supervision and support from colleagues to maintain safe practice.
Desirable
- To have knowledge and skills in working with young people with neurodevelopmental disordersTo have knowledge and skills in working with young people with neurodevelopmental disorders
- To have knowledge of current National legislation, policies and guidelines. (Mental Health Act 1983, NICE guidelines, National service Framework for Mental Health).
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
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).
