High Intensity Therapist - Trainee

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

The principal purpose of the job is to improve the psychological health & wellbeing of people within an identified Devon locality.

This is a training role within the NHS Talking Therapies Programme (formerly IAPT). The post-holder will work within TALKWORKS providing high intensity interventions whilst undertaking a programme of training for this role. This intensive training post will equip the post holder to provide a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) service to clients with a range of complex problems for which CBT is demonstrated to be clinically effective. The post- holder will work in the service for 3 days of the week using the newly developed skills whilst attending the training programme for the other two days.

The post holder will work with people with different cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary and should be committed to equal opportunities.

This will be achieved in this post by:

1. Providing a CBT service as a key component of integrated mental health and wellbeing services and TALKWORKS
2. To work independently within a defined occupational context making use of supervision when appropriate. To work within professional guidelines
3. Attend and fulfil all the requirements of the training element of the post.
4. Ensure the maintenance of standards of practice according to the employer and any regulating, professional and accrediting bodies (egg BPS, UKCP, BABCP), and keep up to date on new recommendations/guidelines set by the department of health (e.g. NHS plan, National Service Framework, National Institute for Clinical Excellence).
5. Ensure that client confidentiality is protected at all times.
6. Be aware of, and keep up to date with advances in the spheres of CBT
7. Ensure clear professional objectives are identified, discussed and reviewed with senior therapists on a regular basis as part of continuing professional development.
8. Attend clinical/managerial supervision on a regular basis as agreed with Manager.
9. Participate in individual performance review and respond to agreed objectives.
10. Keep up to date all records in relation to C.P.D. and ensure personal development plan maintains up to date specialist knowledge of latest theoretical and service delivery models/developments.
11. Attend relevant conferences / workshops in line with identified professional objectives.

Duties and Responsibilities

Communication and working relationship skills

• Clients, family and carers: To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with clients who may have specific difficulties in understand and/or communicating and who may be hostile, antagonistic or emotionally distressed. Educate and involve family members and others in treatment as necessary, conveying CBT formulations with sensitivity in easily understood language.
• Multidisciplinary team colleagues: To work closely with colleagues in the multiprofessional integrated mental health and wellbeing service on a day to day basis.
• Health & social care staff: To communicate with a wide range of health & social care staff in hospital and in community settings in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under the services care. To provide support & guidance in the application of psychological principles and techniques, and to foster reflective practice.
• Senior managers & professional staff: To maintain and build good working relationships with senior professional staff and managers and to foster a positive approach to the integrated mental health and wellbeing service and to enable effective negotiation.

Analytical & Judgemental Skills

• Gather a range of facts and contexts, relevant to the Patients clinical care. Analyse and weigh the relative importance of the factors to form an understanding of the Service User(s) difficulties and relate these to the range of treatment options available, under supervision and case management of a senior therapist, form a judgement between the relative utilities of the treatment options and the Patients preferences.
• To collate clinical data from Patients on your caseload, within the overall framework of the required data output of the service with the intention of: (a) identifying and minimising risk, (b) optimising clinical effectiveness, (c) optimising service efficiency.
• Contribute to the clinical governance framework of the Service by identifying and acting on areas of concern, liaising and supporting senior staff who are taking the lead in designated areas of responsibility.

Planning & Organisational Skills

• The TALKWORKS Talking Therapies service: To plan and prioritise own workload, balancing the demands of patient care, support and guidance of carers and professionals, and service research and development activities in consultation with service managers
• The multidisciplinary service: To provide CBT skills and knowledge to the multiprofessional planning, development and marketing of mental health and wellbeing services

Responsibility for patient/client care, Treatment and Therapy:

1. Accept referrals via agreed protocols within the service
2. Assess clients for suitability for CBT. Where the problems appear to be too complex or severe to be appropriate for a trainee therapists to refer to manager/supervisor for advice on how to manage the case.
3. Make decisions on suitability of new referrals, adhering to the departments referral protocols, and refer unsuitable clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as necessary.
4. Formulate, implement and evaluate therapy programmes for clients.
5. Adhere to an agreed activity contract relating to the number of client contacts offered, and clinical sessions carried out per week in order to minimise waiting times and ensure treatment delivery remains accessible and convenient.
6. Attend multi-disciplinary meetings relating to referrals or clients in treatment, where appropriate.
7. Work closely with other members of the team ensuring appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place to maintain a stepped care approach.
8. Assess and integrate issues surrounding work and employment into the overall therapy process

Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation

• The post holder is responsible for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines, working within clearly defined occupational procedures.
• Policy & service To implement policy led changes to own role and to comment on proposed policy changes and for service development. To participate in , and support service development to TALKWORKS, P&PT and the wider MH Community

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

• Careful use of equipment

Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management

• Leadership & supervision: To assist the work of less experienced staff &/or trainees as required

Responsibility for information Resources and Administrative duties:

• To maintain accurate records
• Complete all requirements relating to data collection within the service.
• Keep coherent records of all clinical activity in line with service protocols
• To be responsible for using an email account to generate, monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trust conducts much of its internal communication.

Responsibility for Research and Development

• R & D: To undertake service-relevant research and development activity agreed within the service, and to organise personal or service led R & D activities as required.

Freedom to Act

• Ability to work independently within defined occupational procedures and use initiative within a service

Any Other Specific Tasks Required

• Attend and fulfil all the requirements of the training element of the post.
• Apply learning from the training programme in practice.
• Receive supervision from educational providers in relation to course work to meet the required standards.
• To ensure all clinical care and treatment is carried out under appropriate supervision and leadership.
• To continuously update the skills and techniques relevant to their clinical work.

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Good interpersonal skills to engage and develop working alliances with colleagues and patients
• Ability to work within a team and foster good working relationships

Experience

Essential

• Significant post-qualification experience as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner in adult NHS Talking Therapies - please provide detail of your clinical experience in mental health Or Significant post qualification experience after core profession training Or Significant relevant training/experience for candidates without a core profession whose degree was not in a related field.
• Evidence of foundation level or sustained CPD in CBT - Please provide evidence/details of CBT CPD you have completed including the training provider.
• Evidence of supervised CBT practice - Please provide evidence/details of your supervised CBT practice.

Desirable

• Experience of working in Primary Care Services - Please provide detail of your clinical experience in primary care.
• Worked in a service where agreed targets in place demonstrating clinical outcomes - Please provide detail of services you have worked to agreed clinical targets and outcomes.
• Evidence of experience working in wider, non-NHS Talking Therapies mental health services - Please provide detail of your clinical experience in non NHS Talking Therapies mental health services in primary care, secondary care and/or third sector services.

Analytical & Judgemental Skills

Essential

• Has received training (either formal or through experience) and carried out risk assessments within scope of practice
• Ability to evaluate and put in place the effect of training
• Ability to be self reflective, whilst working with service users, in own personal and professional development and in supervision
• Ability to use clinical supervision and personal development positively and effectively

Knowledge

Essential

• Demonstrates an understanding of anxiety and depression and how it may present in Primary Care
• Demonstrates a knowledge of the issues surrounding work and the impact it can have on mental health
• Knowledge of medication used in anxiety and depression and other common mental health problems
• Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post

Planning & Organisational Skills

Essential

• Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets
• Ability to manage own caseload and time
• Ability to work under pressure

Other

Essential

• Computer literate
• Availability to attend university as required, which will include up to four blocks of teaching of up to four days. Most teaching will be 2 days per week in conjunction with a minimum period of high intensity CBT clinical practice per week
• Membership of the BABCP
• High level of enthusiasm and motivation.
• Regard for others and respect for individual rights of autonomy and confidentiality

Desirable

• Ability and willingness to travel to locations throughout the organisation to meet the demands of the role.
• Fluent in languages other than English

Qualifications

Essential

• Post-Graduate Certificate/Graduate Cert Psychological Therapies Practice (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) or Has a core professional background (e.g. nursing, social work, OT, clinical or counselling psychologist, psychiatrist, BACP/CPC accredited counsellor) or meets requirements as indicated for BABCP accreditation standards (KSA)
• IT Skills
• Candidates without a BABCP recognised core profession must submit a KSA to the University at interview

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).