Specialist Mental Health Therapist - AHP

Job description

Job responsibilities

My job makes lives better by providing specialist assessment, formulation, and interventions to children and young people and their families within the Mindworks Surrey Specialist Services. The job will involve working in the New Leaf Service, supporting children and young people who are in care, who are adopted and/or under special guardianship and those young people who are care leavers, ensuring that an appropriate, timely and affective therapeutic service is delivered to these vulnerable groups.

THRIVE Model:

The new children's Surrey Health and Emotional Well-being Alliance incorporating the Surrey Well-being Partnership, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust, Barnardo's, National Autistic Society, Learning Space and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust are in an exciting and transformational phase of mobilising a holistic mental health and emotional well -being service for the children and families of Surrey embedded within the THRIVE model led by our Tavistock and Portman partners.

The Mindworks Surrey Specialist Services sits within the Getting More Help and Risk Support parts of the THRIVE model offering specialist intensive intervention to children, young people and their families/carers. The teams work is underpinned by developmental trauma and attachment theories, employing therapeutic approaches based upon evidence based practice and current research and is provided in collaboration with children, young people, parents/carers and the professional network.

Job Overview

NHS Competency

Level

SABP Leadership Competency

Communication

4

Strategic Leadership

4

Personal and People Development

3

People Leadership

4

Health, Safety and Security

3

Performance Leadership

4

Service Improvement

3

Personal Motivation

4

Quality

3

Equality and Diversity

3

Values

IT

2

Treat People Well

Statutory Requirements

Create Respectful Places

Professional Registration (HCPC, UKCP, NMC, Social Work England, BACP accredited)

Involve not Ignore

Open, Inclusive and Accountable

Qualifications required (essential)

Professional qualification in the following areas: Mental health nursing, social work, psychotherapy, arts psychotherapy (art and drama), occupational therapy, family therapy.

Good honours degree or equivalent.

Professional registration such as HCPC, UKCP, NMC, Social Work England

Further Training (desirable)

Post Graduate training/qualification or further training in trauma and attachment and specific to the needs of children and young people who are in care, leaving care, adopted or under special guardianship orders.

Further training in systemic therapy, DDP, group work, DBT, CBT.

Knowledge & Experience required

Minimum 3 years post-qualifying experience in the field of child and adolescent mental health.

Ability to demonstrate experience and understanding of the issues facing children in care, young people leaving care and children who are adopted and under special guardianship orders and who have experienced trauma.

Ability to demonstrate robust risk assessment and management skills with this vulnerable client group.

Experience of working with children and young people and their families/carers in a therapeutic context.

• Experience of working with multiple agencies and working in a multidisciplinary team.
• Some demonstrated theoretical knowledge of the evidence-based practice and models of working with attachment and trauma.
• Ability and experience of working with children and young people who have PTSD, Complex PTSD, self-harm, trauma, attachment difficulties, depression, anxiety and issues surrounding identity and displacement.
• Ability to work with children and young people who may have experienced significant trauma, including emotional, physical, sexual abuse and neglect, family breakdown and multiple placement breakdown.

Evidence of ability and willingness to communicate with young people and families/carers where engagement and language may be significant barriers, including working with interpreters.

Ability to be able to work with young people/carers/families who may be aggressive, hostile and emotional.

Ability to provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and/or contentious information where there are significant barriers to acceptance, which need to be overcome, sometimes in highly emotive atmospheres.

Ability to demonstrate resilience in an often challenging environment.

Knowledge of the legal processes and developments involved with children in care or previously in care, and their journey, would be valued.

Knowledge of the current developments in the field of adoption.

Knowledge of the Children's Act, Mental Health Act, safeguarding and associated legislation.

Ability to work independently in various settings across Surrey.

Suitable for someone who:

Is a qualified mental health professional with a passion for working within child mental health services, and in particular for children and young people who are, or have been in care, and/or have experienced trauma.

Key Relationships:

The post holder will be expected to build and maintain working relationships within Surrey Children's Services, Adult Social Services, Surrey community children's homes, Surrey Care Leavers' Service, Surrey Post Adoption Service, Children and Families Service, Youth Support Services, police, education and the voluntary sector. The post holder will also be expected to build and maintain relationships with SABP Children and Young People's Community Teams and SABP Adult Services (CMHRS) including Mindful Service, Crisis Team, Hope Service and IAPT.

Key clinical responsibilities

To provide specialist assessments and mental health interventions working in partnership at all times with children, young people and their families and carers.

To provide consultation, training and advice to professionals and external stakeholders working with children and young people in these vulnerable groups.

To outreach proactively to engage care leavers.

To support the team in safe clinical interventions, providing supervision, case management oversight and expertise in risk management.

To be able to overcome a variety of barriers to communication when working with children, young people and families/carers who may be very traumatised, anxious, vulnerable and have difficulty articulating their problems, requiring imaginative and sensitive approaches towards engagement.

To promote early intervention and active engagement amongst the network, being an ambassador for mental well-being and providing expertise in emotional and mental health across the system in order to effect better outcomes for children and young people.

To be responsible for managing and prioritising own workload of children and adolescents with emotional well-being issues and more complex emerging mental health issues often involving additional difficulties, such as self-harming, depression, trauma and attachment issues.

To be responsible for recording clinical work and communicating, both orally and in writing, in a skilled and constructive manner highly complex or distressing information.

To use age appropriate and sensitive language when sharing assessment and treatment plans with young people being mindful where the information may be unwelcome.

To exercise autonomous professional judgement and responsibility for professional practice.

To consider and assess all safeguarding concerns and to act on these in accordance with national and local safeguarding procedures.

To be committed to non-discriminatory practice, recognise and respect the protected characteristics of children, young people and families/carers. To be aware and mindful of the needs of children and young people from a wide range of racial, religious, cultural, social backgrounds, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability and additional educational needs.

Please see attached Job Description for further details.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• 1. Professional qualification in the following areas: Mental health nursing, social work, psychotherapy, arts psychotherapy (art and drama), occupational therapy, family therapy.
• 2. Good honours degree or equivalent.
• 3. Professional registration such as HCPC, UKCP, NMC, Social Work England, BACP Accredited.

Desirable

• -Post Graduate training/qualification or further training in trauma and attachment and specific to the needs of children and young people who are in care, leaving care, adopted or under special guardianship orders.
• -Further training in systemic therapy, DDP, group work, DBT, CBT.

Experience

Essential

• -Minimum 3 years post-qualifying experience in the field of child and adolescent mental health.
• -Ability to demonstrate experience and understanding of the issues facing children in care, young people leaving care and children who are adopted and under special guardianship orders and who have experienced trauma.
• -Ability to demonstrate robust risk assessment and management skills with this vulnerable client group.
• -Experience of working with children and young people and their families/carers in a therapeutic context.
• -Experience of working with multiple agencies and working in a multidisciplinary team.
• -Some demonstrated theoretical knowledge of the evidence-based practice and models of working with attachment and trauma.
• -Ability and experience of working with children and young people who have PTSD, Complex PTSD, self-harm, trauma, attachment difficulties, depression, anxiety and issues surrounding identity and displacement.
• -Ability to work with children and young people who may have experienced significant trauma, including emotional, physical, sexual abuse and neglect, family breakdown and multiple placement breakdown.
• -Evidence of ability and willingness to communicate with young people and families/carers where engagement and language may be significant barriers, including working with interpreters.
• -Ability to be able to work with young people/carers/families who may be aggressive, hostile and emotional.
• -Ability to provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and/or contentious information where there are significant barriers to acceptance, which need to be overcome, sometimes in highly emotive atmospheres.
• -Ability to demonstrate resilience in an often challenging environment.
• -Knowledge of the legal processes and developments involved with children in care or previously in care, and their journey, would be valued.
• -Knowledge of the current developments in the field of adoption.
• -Knowledge of the Children's Act, Mental Health Act, safeguarding and associated legislation.
• -Ability to work independently in various settings across Surrey.

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Employer name

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Surrey Mindworks New Leaf and STARS Service

Richmond Crescent

Epsom

Surrey

KT19 8PH

Employer's website

https://www.sabp.nhs.uk/working-for-us (Opens in a new tab)