Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Highly Specialist Systemic Family Therapist

The closing date is 29 June 2025

Job summary

Are you an experienced systemic family therapist who wants to offer high quality clinical input as part of a friendly and experienced psychological therapies team in a national specialist service?

We are looking to appoint an enthusiastic Family Therapist with experience, passion and flexibility to work at our Medium Secure adolescent inpatient unit.

Bluebird House provides a 13 bedded Secure Forensic Mental Health Service for both male and female young people aged 12 to 18.

The postholder will work alongside other psychological therapy colleagues (psychologists, systemic practitioners, arts therapists and clinical nurse specialist) and a comprehensive multi-disciplinary team. The post contains a range of duties which include a combination of direct clinical work with young people and families, as well as work with other members of the MDT in promoting a psychologically informed environment through teaching, consultation and supervision. Bluebird House has a psychologically informed model of care based on attachment and trauma theory, and also draws from Non Violence Resistance (NVR).

You should have a good understanding of young people presenting with severe mental health and behavioural difficulties. You will need to be a confident practitioner, ideally with experience in forensic, inpatient or CAMHS services, and be adaptable to ever changing needs and pressures.

Main duties of the job

To provide a Family Therapy service to individuals, their families and carers, incorporating highly specialist assessment and treatment. The service may be offered either within the unit or on a more flexible outreach basis, following a Multidisciplinary Team Risk Assessment and according to clinical need. The postholder will provide a vital link between a young person's family or carers and the unit. They will also provide advice and consultation on systemic issues to colleagues across the unit and help other staff understand how aspects of family functioning influence a young person. They will provide supervision and management of trainee and qualified staff as required.

The postholder will be involved in ongoing service development, contribute to care models and policies for the unit. The post holder will work within the psychological therapies team within the service and promote a psychologically informed environment.

The postholder will work alongside other psychological therapy colleagues and a comprehensive multi-disciplinary team.

About us

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a newly established organisation, bringing together expertise from across mental health, learning disabilities, community, and physical health services. We are dedicated to delivering compassionate, high-quality, and accessible care to the diverse communities of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

With over 13,000 dedicated staff working across more than 300 sites, we place patients and staff at the centre of everything we do. Our goal is to create an integrated healthcare system that improves accessibility and ensures more consistent care for patients. By working together, we aim to improve patient outcomes, drive innovation, and meet the unique needs of the populations we serve.

Our Trust unites services from Southern Health, Solent NHS Trust, Isle of Wight NHS Trusts community and mental health teams, as well as Hampshire CAMHS, originally part of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. This transformation enables us to deliver more seamless care across the region, ensuring that patients receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

Join us as we embark on this exciting journey to shape the future of healthcare across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. We are deeply committed to our CARE values of compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence, and offer outstanding opportunities for career development, training, and collaborative working.

Date posted

30 May 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£53,755 to £60,504 a year based on full time hours

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

348-CFS-7662

Job locations

Bluebird House

Tatchbury Mount, Calmore

Southampton

Hampshire

SO40 2RZ

Job description

Job responsibilities

Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone - if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief or disability please initially contact the Trust's Recruitment team - detailed in the advert. The Trust will seek to resolve this issue wherever possible.

We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.

Job description

Job responsibilities

We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

The Post-holder must possess dual qualifications:
*a core professional qualification within Education, Health, Social Work or Management
and
*a post-graduate clinical Diploma/Masters Degree in Systemic Family Therapy from a training institute recognised by the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (AFT) or equivalent
The Post-holder must possess an active registration as a Systemic Psychotherapist with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

The Post-holder must possess dual qualifications:
*a core professional qualification within Education, Health, Social Work or Management
and
*a post-graduate clinical Diploma/Masters Degree in Systemic Family Therapy from a training institute recognised by the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (AFT) or equivalent
The Post-holder must possess an active registration as a Systemic Psychotherapist with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

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.

UK Registration

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

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Bluebird House

Tatchbury Mount, Calmore

Southampton

Hampshire

SO40 2RZ

Employer's website

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

Employer details

Employer name

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Bluebird House

Tatchbury Mount, Calmore

Southampton

Hampshire

SO40 2RZ

Employer's website

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