Job responsibilities
SPECIALIST TRAINEE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOTHERAPIST
JOB DESCRIPTION and PERSON SPECIFICATION
Job Title: Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist in Specialist Training
Grade: Trainee Child Psychotherapy, Band 6 spine point 22
Duration: 4 years 15.09.25- 16.09.29
Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours, with 3 sessions allowed for academic studies and 7 clinical sessions worked across 4 days per week
Professionally accountable to: Professional Lead for Child Psychotherapy
Responsible to: Service Manager & Service Supervisor
Base: Coastal CAMHS,
Worthing Hospital
Lyndhurst Road
West Sussex
BN1 Worthing Hospital
Lyndhurst Road
West Sussex
BN11 2DH
Liaises with: Staff of Specialist Outpatient CAMHS, Trust and related agencies (health, education, social services,
Voluntary sector, youth criminal justice system), Hospital
staff
Job summary
- To undertake the doctoral child psychotherapy training at IPCAPA/UCL
- To undertake clinical work in line with the training requirements of the Association of Child Psychotherapists.
- To complete the training requirements of the Association of Child Psychotherapists.
- Should the post holder cease to be an approved trainee of IPCAPA s/he will no longer be eligible to hold the post.
Job setting
The post is within the Children and Young Peoples Directorate of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trusts, which offers CAMHS and Community Child Services across Sussex. There are areas of both affluence and areas of deprivation with a prevalence of emotional and psychological disorders consequent upon this. The Specialist Coastal CAMHS multi-disciplinary service provides for children, adolescents and their families from a range of social and ethnic backgrounds, whose complex problems cause moderate to high levels of concern to themselves, their parents/carers, professionals and the wider community.
Children and adolescents assessed and treated by child and adolescent psychotherapists have a high level of co-morbidity and often exhibit their disturbance and distress via severe behaviour and emotional disorders and difficulties, relationship difficulties, depression, eating disorders and difficulties, attachment disorders and difficulties, post-traumatic stress disorders and difficulties, enuresis/encopresis, aggression, self-harming, substance misuse or other risky behaviours to themselves and others. These children and adolescents often have a history of severe abuse (physical, mental, sexual), severe neglect and deprivation, severe trauma, complex bereavement, physical illness, and/or are living within the context of break up or dysfunction of the family, domestic violence, parental mental illness or other adverse life events.
Main responsibilities
1. Clinical
To provide psychoanalytic psychotherapy under supervision as required within the Child Psychotherapy team.
To undertake assessment of children, adolescents and their parents for psychotherapy and to contribute to multidisciplinary assessment of a broad range of cases based upon psychoanalytic principles and techniques within the complex cases team.
As a member of the multidisciplinary service of child psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists, family therapists, social workers, nurse specialists, administrative and other staff to attend its meetings and maintain contact with co-workers.
To participate in the regular review and ongoing discussion of cases in therapy with other members of the multidisciplinary team
At an appropriate stage in the training, to participate in the ongoing consultative and liaison work undertaken by the service.
To provide supervision for trainees within other disciplines as agreed.
To contribute to any other aspect of the service with agreement from Training School, service supervisor, and line manager.
To attend supervision regularly with the designated service supervisor.
2. Skills and knowledge
To maintain high standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the Association of Child Psychotherapists and Trust policies and procedures.
To attend team meetings as appropriate, case conferences and professional network meetings and to contribute as part of the child psychotherapy team, a psychodynamic understanding that is articulated and acted on as appropriate.
To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local NHS, Social Care and Education policies and issues of relevance to the service and client group particularly child protection procedures and practices and National Service Frameworks and NICE guidelines.
3. Monitoring and evaluation of risk
In consultation with the service supervisor to be responsible for continually monitoring and evaluating risk to/from children and young people in the trainees own caseload. This may be due to Child Protection concerns, deliberate self harm or other risky behaviour (e.g. running away, substance misuse, causing harm to others)
4. Research and service evaluation
To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work, and with other team members.
Qualifications and professional registration
To have MA status, and to have been accepted onto the full clinical training at doctoral level at IPCAPA/UCL
Before being accepted for training each candidate needs to have:
A relevant Honours Degree, or a recognised equivalent, or a degree followed by an appropriate postgraduate course.
Substantial experience of working with children and young people on a professional basis.
Personal suitability (e.g. reflective, mature and responsible).
To maintain eligibility for registration as a Trainee member of the Association of Child Psychotherapists.
Rider clause
This is an outline of the postholders duties and responsibilities. It is not intended as an exhaustive list and may change from time to time in order to meet the changing needs of the Trust and Department.
Knowledge & Skills
i. Good written & verbal communication skills.
ii. Proven ability to communicate clearly and effectively with clients, staff, administrators and managers.
iii. Capacity to listen to others point of views.
iv. Ability to communicate clearly through reports, letters and other written communications.
v. Sound knowledge of child and adolescent development.
vi. Understanding of contributory factors to emotional and behavioural problems in young people.
vii. Capacity to engage with a client group.
viii. Must be able to undertake audit and research.
Personal
i. Readiness to take on intensive training cases.
ii. Ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team with varying theoretical perspectives.
iii. Ability to work within defined management arrangements.
iv. Ability to work within Trust policies, procedures and guidelines.
v. Awareness of risk to children and young people.
vi. Capacity to organise self with regard to routine record keeping, admin tasks and time table.
vii. Capacity to be punctual, reliable and good at time keeping.
viii. Ability to be firm and boundaried.
ix. Capacity for insight and understanding of own and others responses and interactions.
x. Enthusiasm and commitment to working with young people within an NHS Trust.
xi. A capacity to struggle with the necessity for containing anxiety without resorting to premature action.
xii. Pleasant manner.
