Band 8a Family and Systemic Psychotherapist

A vacancy has arisen for an experienced Family and Systemic Psychotherapist to join our CAMHS which provides assessment and treatment for children and young people with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and their families.

The post holder will provide specialist systemic assessment, treatment and psycho-education to patients and their families. The post holder will provide supervision to Band 7 Family Therapists and consultation to other colleagues within and outside the team. The post holder will contribute to the management and development of the service.

The post holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will lead on the provision of two of our highly valued provisions: our Family Support Package (FSP) and the Family Therapy Reflecting Team Clinic. The FSP is a resource offered to parents of all children and young people newly diagnosed with ADHD. In addition to providing psychological treatment for our patients, the Family Therapy Reflecting Team Clinic, like the FSP, also provides training opportunities for junior doctors, trainees and students. The post holder will have their own individual caseload of families. They will be a member of the Senior Leadership Team, contributing to the management and development of the CAMHS service. This post is line manager and clinical supervisor for two Band 7 Family Therapists. There are opportunities to join with Family Therapists in the Royal Free's Eating Disorders service for CPD and some opportunities for paediatric liaison work.

About us

The Child and Adolescent Mental Health service (CAMHS) is situated in the Royal Free hospital. The clinical team, which comprises Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychotherapy and Systemic & Family Therapy. Members of staff tend to stay in post for a long time as the small team is friendly, supportive and appreciative of each other's professional perspectives. The team is supplemented by students and Trainees on placement. The hospital is an interesting environment in which to work. Transport links are good and nearby is the green space of Hampstead Heath.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The post holder will provide clinical expertise and therapeutic interventions to referred patients and their families with specific emphasis on neurodevelopmental conditions. This will include systemically informed assessment and treatment, as well as the provision of parent support and some individual work. The post holder will also provide consultation from a systemic perspective on patients' psychological care to other colleagues within the team and wider professional network.

As the senior Systemic and Family Psychotherapist, the post holder will represent Family Therapy in the Senior Leadership Team, joining senior colleagues in the management and development of the service. The post holder will have additional responsibilities to supervise and support the development of fellow systemic colleagues, other relevant core disciplines, students and trainees. They will lead on the provision, development and monitoring of the Family Therapy Clinic and Parent Support Package and offer training to the wider team on systemic principles pertinent to the effective treatment of patients. Through formulation, treatment pathways and supervision, the post holder will assist the team in providing family-focused approaches, where the parents are valued as a resource rather than a cause of the illness, and the therapeutic relationship is central to progress.

The post holder will be required to take on the role of Duty Clinician, once a week (within their working hours) for coordinating responses to queries from families and other services. The post holder will work both autonomously and as part of the team and adhere to professional/Trust guidelines and overall service policies and procedures related to evidence-based practice, audit, policy and service development and research relevant to the speciality of child and adolescent mental health. The post holder will be required to account for their professional practice through appraisal and audit, and ensure delivery of clinically safe, high-quality care for all Service users. The post holder will also directly contribute to the positive working environment within the Service and will require a high degree of professional autonomy and self-management.

The post offers some opportunity to work flexibly, both onsite and remotely as fits the needs of the service and in agreement with the post-holder's line manager.

Person Specification

Royal Free World Class Values

Essential

• Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust Values

Education & professional Qualifications

Essential

• Relevant core profession within Health and Social Care and education profession
• Post-graduate training in Systemic and Family Psychotherapy as accredited by the Association of Family Therapy (AFT).
• UKCP registration
• Minimum of 3 years post qualification experience

Desirable

• AFT Approved Systemic Supervisor

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working with a wide variety of children, adolescents and their parents across a whole age range of presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity
• Experience of neurodevelopmental specialist systemic assessment and treatment for referred clients and their families.
• Ability to work as a member of a multidisciplinary team located in the community or health care setting.
• Substantial post-qualification supervised systemic clinical experience.
• Experience of the application of therapy in different cultural contexts.
• Experienced in oral presentations, working with people in groups
• Skills in the use of complex methods of systemic assessment, intervention, and management.
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of short- and long-term therapeutic interventions with individuals and families and its application to children with a range of challenges, including neurodevelopmental issues.

Desirable

• Experience in audit and/or research methods

Skills and aptitudes

Essential

• Knowledge of legislation in relation to children and adolescents including Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Policies and Procedures.
• Knowledge of NHS, Social Care and Education Structures, National policies and procedures
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to patients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS. This would involve using easy to understand language to convey systemic ideas and assumptions.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.
• Awareness of the implications of working within a managed system

Desirable

• Knowledge of regulatory frameworks in relation to the patient group

Employer details

Employer name

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Royal Free hospital
Pond Street
London
NW3 2QG

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