Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist

Job summary

Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist (ACP)/ Psychodynamic Psychotherapist Working with Children, Young People and Families (M34)

The post: To undertake a minimum 0.4 FTE clinical work with young people aged 12-24, parents and carers in Open Door's core service.

Open Door is an NHS-commissioned voluntary sector organisation providing a range of free and confidential psychological therapies to young people aged 12-24, and a separate consultation service for parents of teenagers and young adults aged 12-21. Last year we worked with over 800 young people, parents and carers offering around 8,000 appointments.

Open Door is based in Haringey, North London. We are committed to providing a service across the borough from our main bases in Crouch End and Tottenham as well as in secondary schools and online.

Open Door offers treatment to adolescents and young adults on a brief, medium and longer-term basis. Whilst most of our Child & Adolescent and Adult Psychotherapists have undertaken psychoanalytic based trainings, we also offer CBT and Mindfulness Based Therapy and specialist trauma focussed therapies including EMDR. The clinical team currently comprises 24 therapists, many of whom are NHS trained and all of whom are professionally accredited.

Main duties of the job

• To provide an efficient, effective and highly specialist adolescent assessment and treatment service for young people, parents or carers. Treatment will be provided to some adolescents with severe, complex and persistent mental health problems.
• Psychoanalytic Child Psychotherapy remains our core profession. You will be expected to undertake a range of clinical work with adolescents and parents/carers. This includes brief, medium and longer-term psychotherapy as well as parent work. Weekly supervision is provided.
• To make complex clinical judgements and decisions, with the assistance of colleagues and managers, about risk factors and to ensure that links are established with other agencies, particularly those in the statutory sector, to reduce risks and share responsibility within mental health networks. To participate in multi-agency meetings including Child Protection Conferences, Child in Need, Team around the Family, EHCP meetings and annual reviews etc.
• To provide support for colleagues in team meetings and in difficult or emergency situations.
• To provide, when opportunities arise, consultation, training and advice for staff working in other specialist settings.

PLEASE SEE ATTACHED JD & PS FOR FURTHER DETAILS

About us

Open Door is funded by the NHS, Local Authority, charitable trusts, and donations. Though Open Door is part of the Single Point of Entry for professional referrals to Haringey CAMHS, we endeavour to ensure that all our services are as accessible as possible. Around 65% of young people refer themselves to Open Door.

Open Door works across all THRIVE quadrants / tiers 2-3, with the majority of service users (c80%) scoring in the moderate to severe range in validated outcome measures (PHQ-9, SDQ and CORE). Given the high level of severity and complexity of presentations, Open Door works closely with CAMHS, AMHS and Social Care to ensure the best possible care for its patients.

This is an exciting time to join the organisation. Open Door's reputation as a key provider of mental health services to adolescents and young adults in Haringey is very high. Service delivery, service in terms of appointments offered and young people seen, has reached unprecedented levels. Since the coronavirus pandemic, Open Door has been offering therapeutic interventions remotely via phone and video. Whilst most appointments are being delivered in-person, Open Door continues to offer a blended service based on clinical need, digital access, choice and safety.

For more information see our website www.opendooronline.org