CBT Therapist/Clinical/Counselling Psychologist band 7

Job summary

The CYP Eating Disorders Team is a multi-award winning, recovery focused, multidisciplinary community team. We are currently developing an intensive day service which is intended to reduce admissions and support young people and their families in the community by way of providing evidence based treatment via daily timetable of therapeutic input and meal supports. The 12 week program will be provided both virtually and face to face at our new premises in Radlett.

As a University Partnership Trust we offer excellent development opportunities supported with regular supervision.

Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust (HPFT) is committed to providing excellent health and social care with the vision to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist eating disorders services in the country.

The Trust has an outstanding track record of service delivery and quality. It provides services to over one million residents and is currently rated as "outstanding" by the Care Quality Commission.

We are looking to recruit for either a clinical, or counselling psychologist to join our team You will be an experienced Clinical or Counselling Psychologist in mental health. The role will suit someone who enjoys working flexibly and in collaboration as part of a multidisciplinary team.

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated and committed Counselling or Clinical Psychologist in Eating Disorders who is looking for a new challenge to support the development of a pilot service within HPFT CYP Eating Disorders which will provide intensive day treatment and reduce the need for out of area Tier 4 admissions. The successful candidate will have a professional qualification and registration and experience of providing evidence based treatment for eating disorders in a CYP MDT environment.

The successful candidate will work as an influential and integral member of a diverse multi-disciplinary team offering specialist assessment and treatment for young people and their families suffering with an eating disorder. This post involves clinical work, supporting team members with their clinical practice including a supervisory role and some clinical and management responsibilities to support the team Operations Manager, Specialist Clinical Psychologist and Therapies Lead.

You will be able to demonstrate clinical knowledge and interest in the area of eating disorders, and will have experience of working with this client group.

You will receive regular supervision and support and will be actively encouraged to participate in continuing professional development and be involved in service development.

About us

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is an outstanding organisation with ambitions to match. We are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from the Care Quality Commission , and our aim is to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country.

Our family of over 3500 members of staff provide health and social care for over 400,000 people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services, plus medium and low secure learning disabilities services.

The care we provide makes a fantastic difference to the lives of our service users, their families and carers - everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout.

Our Trust values are:

Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.

These values are at the core of who we are, everything we do, and how we do it

Job description

Job responsibilities

The post holder will be part of a multi-disciplinary team providing a high standard of service to children and adolescents with an eating disorder and their families/carers. The post-holder will work within professional guidelines and under the clinical/professional supervision of senior clinicians of own core profession The post holder will ensure the systematic provision of a specialist clinical / counselling psychology service to clients of the CYP Eating Disorders Community and Intensive Day Service multi-disciplinary team including contributing to provision of a specific model of evidence-based therapeutic intervention for young people with eating disorders and co-morbid conditions (for example Specialist provision of Child Psychotherapy, CBT, IPT) To provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy at the same time as offering advice and consultation on clients psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues, professionals from other agencies and to other non-professional carers The post-holder will provide clinical/professional supervision to pre-qualified psychologists. The post-holder will contribute to & undertake research, audit and evaluation for service development The post holder is responsible for the assessment of care needs and the development/implementation of care plans to meet the needs of children and young people with Eating Disorders and co-morbid conditions. The post holder will provide direct clinical interventions to children and young people and will also provide support, advice, consultation and training to a range of professionals across Hertfordshire. The post holder will work collaboratively with service users, Single Point of Access, GPs, Paediatricians, medical and nursing staff, dieticians, parents and carers, social care, education staff and other relevant providers. The post holder will work as an autonomous practitioner & will work closely with Tier 3 and Tier 4 services across the Specialist Enhanced Pathway, including eating disorder inpatient units, GAUs, Community Eating Disorder Team, DBT Team & Home Treatment Team

For more detailed Job and person specification please read attached documents

Person Specification

Knowledge, Training

Essential

Experience working as a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or CBT Therapist with clients with moderate to severe mental illness within a mental health setting. Current full registration with HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist or BABCP Post-graduate doctorate in clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, or fully completed training as a Counselling Psychologist Related academic qualifications to masters or doctorate level Experience of independent administration and interpretation in cognitive assessment Experience of research, service development and audit Substantial pre-qualification clinical experience under supervision to enable the post holder to take full clinical responsibility for their caseload

Desirable

Additional training and qualification in one of NICE recommended therapy modalities Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice

Areas of Experience, Knowledge

Essential

Experience of working with moderate to severe mental health problems with a wide range of client groups across the whole life course with presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for client's psychological care and treatment both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan Experience working within a multi-disciplinary team and inter-agency collaboration Doctoral level knowledge of clinical/counselling psychology including highly developed knowledge of developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, child and adolescent mental and a range of therapeutic models Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management with clients with complex problems, including specialised psychological interventions for difficult to treat groups (eg multiple mental health and/or physical health problems) Ability to demonstrate an area of special interest/skill and experience in an evidence based therapeutic intervention Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS and HCPC Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively and well, 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 Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups Able to plan own workload; and coordinate with other relevant staff in the delivery of clinical service Able to work at a high level of professional autonomy and responsibility, in a collaborative multi-disciplinary Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical / counseling psychology Knowledge of relevant legislation and its implications for clinical practice in relation to children/adolescents including Eating Disorders Experience of working within a multi-cultural framework Good presentation and teaching skills and ability to use multi-media materials for formal presentations to large groups Experience and knowledge of CYP-IAPT

Desirable

Experience of having published in either peer reviewed academic or professional journals and/or books Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups within CYPMHS and Eating Disorders

Communication Skills

Essential

Ability to work and communicate highly sensitive, contentious information effectively in a highly emotive or hostile atmosphere, and to overcome barriers to acceptance/psychological resistance to potentially threatening information Ability to work with children and young people whose behaviour is personally challenging Ability to establish and maintain professional relationships and boundaries with young people Ability to provide a therapeutic environment which contributes to young people's healthy development Ability to think clearly and express self Ability to assess reports and clinical information and provide clear and concise information tailored for different audiences

Analytical Skills

Essential

Able to prioritise work, to operate a waiting list, meet short deadlines and an unpredictable work pattern which requires regular revision of plans Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behavior

Physical Skills

Essential

Car driver (unless you have a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) IT Skills including Word, PowerPoint and Excel & use of Electronic Patient Record Systems Requirement to drive across the county of Hertfordshire Ability to move equipment (including case files, self-help materials, audio-visual equipment) between office base and other work settings Ability to sit in constrained position for client therapy and for computer work Ability to manage periods of prolonged concentration in client sessions and during computing tasks Ability to work towards goals agreed at Individual Appraisal with the Service Manager Able to sustain the intense concentration necessary for client assessment and formulation, group and individual therapy sessions, interviews Regular requirement to deal with distressing or emotionally charged situations

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