Practitioner Psychologist, Psychotherapist & Psychological Therapist

Job description

Job responsibilities

This role is essential in providing a quality service to people seen by the Older Adults Community Mental Health Teams. Older Adults present with a wide range of mental health problems and benefit from psychosocial approaches that this post will be supported to deliver.

Job Purpose:

To provide specialist CBT to Older Adults with complex mental health needs including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes.

To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.

To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.

To promote service evaluation, audit and research.

To work as an autonomous professional within registration body guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by the policies and procedures of the service, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions with support of clinical supervisor

To be active in the provision of staff support within their area, including but not limited to Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve. To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate.

Main Responsibilities:

Clinical and Client Care

To provide specialist CBT assessments, formulations and interventions for clients (individuals, couples, families and social networks where the identified client has complex mental health needs) within in the Older Adult CMHT.

To provide culturally appropriate psychotherapeutic interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.

To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.

To provide reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users and their families.

To deliver evidence-based specialist CBT, monitoring outcome and modifying and adapting interventions as necessary, based on the highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, couple, family or group.

To promote psychological support for carers (or families as appropriate) of referred clients.

To act as care co-ordinator taking responsibility for initiating planning and reviewing care plans, CPA co-ordination and meetings.

To contribute to the generic duties of the CMHT including initial assessments and duty.

Contributing to team or service clinical functioning

To contribute to the effective working of the Older Adult CMHT and to a psychologically/psychotherapeutically informed framework for the service.

To contribute to the team or services delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.

To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.

To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients in order to develop and review care plans.

To liaise with the service/s MDT and other professionals.

Policy and service development

To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.

To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.

To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.

Care or management of resources

To take care of, and use carefully, the Trusts equipment and physical resources.

To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.

To ensure the cleanliness and safe functioning and use of equipment that will be used by clients or other persons.

To monitor and advise clients on the safe use of materials and processes.

To ensure adequate confidential and safe storage for artefacts produced during the therapy process in line with professional guidelines.

To be responsible for obtaining, storing and maintaining all materials and equipment for the provision of therapy in work setting within budgetary constraints.

Management and supervision

To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of a paid assistant if required, under supervision from a more senior therapist.

To supervise trainees within own area of specialism after completion of the relevant Supervision Training.

Teaching and Training

To provide occasional specialist training in psychological/psychotherapeutic approaches to care to other professions as appropriate.

To disseminate research/service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

Record-keeping and Information Governance

To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.

To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.

Research and development

To undertake regular complex service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.

Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior therapist according to discipline, professional body and Trust guidelines.

To maintain own Continuing Professional Development in line with professional body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and professional Standards for Continuing Professional Development.

To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.

To comply with professional body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency.

General

To travel to home visits if required and appropriate, and across the Trust when required.

To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.

To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations (such as challenging behaviour, abuse etc) and to support others involved in such situations through Trust-wide approaches including Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• A recognised post graduate qualification in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (or postgraduate level training conferring equivalent competences) OR Doctorate in counselling/Clinical Psychology
• Accreditation with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) or working towards it.
• A recognised qualification in one of the core mental health professions recognised by BABCP, e.g. mental health nursing, practitioner psychology, medicine, social work, occupational therapy or counselling AND current registration/accreditation with the core professional body, OR Evidence of having achieved the Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSA) route to BABCP accreditation. OR HCPC Registered Practitioner/Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
• Evidence of relevant continuing professional development.

Desirable

• Evidence of post qualification training in clinical supervision

Experience

Essential

• Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs
• Experience of assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature
• Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience
• Experience of developing and carrying out audit/research projects.
• Significant post-qualification/graduation experience including experience of individual and group therapy with people with complex mental health needs

Desirable

• Experience of working with Older Adults
• Experience of working in Secondary Care\CMHTs
• Experience of providing supervision to junior colleagues

Knowledge

Essential

• Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
• Knowledge of the theory of CBT and it's therapeutic application
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities
• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care to deliver CBT across cultural and other differences
• Knowledge of racial and other diversity issues and factors affecting access to mental health care

Skills

Essential

• To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information
• To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers (and for meetings such as CPA and case reviews where appropriate)
• To plan allocation of tasks to assistants/trainees as appropriates
• Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data
• Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups

Abilites

Essential

• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate
• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic meetings
• Ability to maintain concentration and to remain in restricted positions for long periods during observations, assessments and psychological interventions, and to deal with unexpected interruptions or changes during these
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Lewisham Older Adults CMHT

91 Granville Park, Lewisham

London

SE13 7DW

Employer's website

https://www.slam.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)