CBT - P (Psychosis) Practitioner

The post holder will deliver high quality comprehensive mental health service within the Early intervention for Psychosis team. Insight is a team that has been undergoing a lot of development and an exciting opportunity to be part of this growth has come up.

Insight provides well-rounded care following the Early intervention for Psychosis standards. We offer those experiencing first episode psychosis a three-year service and within that 3 years we aspire to offer a well-rounded goals-based care approach with the involvement of our clients throughout the journey.

Insight offers the following services delivered in-house, set out by the standards of Early intervention:

1. Family intervention
2. CBT for Psychosis
3. Employment support
4. Carers Group
5. Coffee Group
6. Acceptance Commitment Therapy
7. Psychoeducation Group for friends, family, and carers.

Care coordination working with outside agencies and teams to ensure effective well-rounded care is delivered.

Peer support is part of the model and we are working hard to develop this area. This is a very exciting opportunity and a brilliant time to join a hardworking developing team and be part of a recovery-focused pathway.

Insight is a multi-disciplinary team that welcomes passionate individuals who are recovery-focused and are willing to work in a trauma-informed approach to those experiencing first episode Psychosis.

Main duties of the job

The role involves delivering CBT to individuals experiencing first episode psychosis within the community setting.

You will contribute to the clinical leadership of the team, providing supervision for other members and participating in team/service development and evaluation.

Key responsibilities include:

1. Communication and working relationships, being open to feedback and giving feedback in a productive and open-minded approach.
2. Planning/organisational skills.
3. Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment, and Therapy.
4. Responsibility for Policy/Service Development Implementation.
5. Responsibility for Finance/Equipment/Other Resources.
6. Responsibility for Human Resources (e.g. Supervision/Training/HR Advice/Management).
7. Responsibility for Information Resources/Administrative Duties.

You will need to travel to engage with people in their own residence or hospital settings whilst planning discharge. They may need to sit for prolonged periods to compile complex reports.

Please note that this role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route; please refer to the Direct Gov website for more information regarding eligibility.

Please note that Livewell may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline if a high number of applications are submitted. Therefore, we recommend you submit your application at the earliest opportunity.

All Livewell Southwest staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7-day service.

About us

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise providing integrated health and social care services for people across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, as well as some specialist services for people living in parts of Devon and Cornwall. With teams in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health and wellbeing hubs.

As an organisation with a strong social conscience, we always value being kind, respectful, inclusive, ambitious, responsible, and collaborative. Transforming services to make them sustainable, ensuring that we value, support, and empower each other.

We are committed to involving the people we care for, families, and carers in everything that we do, working towards co-production where we can. Helping us to deliver the right care for people, in the right place, and at the right time. By putting people at the centre of what we do, we ensure to support people to lead healthy independent lives and be the very best at helping people to live well.

Valuing our employees and making an investment in their development a priority. We offer:

1. Protected CPD time for registered staff.
2. Various development pathways and ongoing regular training packages for all staff.
3. Access and funding for training including Care Certificate, Assistant Practitioners Course, and Scholarship Into Nurse Training.
4. A Robust Preceptorship.
5. A bespoke induction programme.
6. Existing members of the NHS Pension Scheme can continue their membership when they join the organisation.

Job responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Provide a specialist CBT-P assessment and treatment service for individuals, couples, families, carers, and groups, citywide.
2. To provide services, advice, and support to other areas of Livewell Southwest as required.
3. To contribute to the delivery and development of clinical services through collaboration with professional staff and other disciplines.
4. Maintain appropriate clinical records in line with Livewell Southwest policy.
5. To encourage consultation by users, LSW staff, GP, Social Services, the Inpatient Units, and others working within local services.
6. To contribute to a programme of continual professional development for Insight and CBT providers across Livewell Southwest.
7. To teach, as required, on professional courses within the Mental Health Service and at the University of Plymouth.
8. To prepare and deliver CBT-P training across the SW Peninsula in partnership with Plymouth University.
9. To supervise trainees on placement as appropriate.
10. To contribute to a programme of continuing professional development for CBT provision across the organisation.
11. To keep up to date with current evidence-based treatments and be involved in research as agreed with your line manager.
12. To conduct research and evaluation relevant to the provision of CBT services and more widely as required.
13. To participate in the regular use of outcome measures most suited to patients experiencing Psychosis.
14. To keep up to date with relevant research literature on evidence-based practice.
15. To liaise and work in partnership with other mental health providers and with relevant and statutory agencies in the community.
16. To liaise with other specialists both regionally and nationally as appropriate.
17. To encourage consultation by users, LSW staff, GPs, Social Services, Inpatient units, and others working within local services.
18. Contribute to the delivery and development of clinical services through collaboration with professional staff and other disciplines.
19. To contribute to the maintenance and development of office systems and procedures within the service.
20. To maintain appropriate service statistics and electronic records of work within the requirement of policies covering Care Management and Care Programme Approach.
21. To provide regular information on services.
22. To attend Insight service meetings, and other meetings relevant to the post holder.
23. To participate in annual appraisal with the Service Manager.
24. Whilst maintaining clinical autonomy, to receive regular clinical supervision from an appropriately qualified and experienced supervisor and maintain the highest professional standards.
25. To be aware of current developments within the profession and to continue to maintain and further develop professional knowledge and skills.
26. To work with appropriate professional agencies.
27. Keep abreast, through study and attendance at National and Local conferences, of developments in CBT and pursue CPD as advised.
28. To adhere to LSW Policies and Procedures.
29. To maintain own professional registration to governing bodies as appropriate.
30. To carry out such other clinical and administrative duties.
31. To act as a clinical expert in the field of CBT providing consultation and education to the staff within LSW and Insight as required.
32. To work as an autonomous clinician providing specialist CBT assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, and development of CBT treatment to adults with Psychosis presentation.
33. Monitors and ensures maintenance of standards of treatment/care/confidentiality as set down by policies, procedures, legislation, and professional bodies (HCPC/NMC and BABCP).
34. Provide clinical information through written and electronic assessment, progress, discharge, and follow-up reports and letters to referrers.
35. To provide specialist CBT supervision for the staff within LSW as required.
36. Administer clinical measures to review the efficacy/efficiency of treatment.
37. To use research to develop and improve outcomes.
38. Contribute to the development of policies which relate to the delivery of CBT.
39. Adhere to HCPC/NMC and BABCP professional codes of conduct.

COMMUNICATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS

1. To demonstrate excellent communication skills with clients, staff, family members/carers, and the wider health network.
2. To ensure information about clients' assessment/treatment is accurately recorded using the clinical record system.
3. Is able to impart complex and sensitive information to patients and families/carers and related health care professionals.
4. To ensure good working relationships with all other health professionals across the health network.

7. PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF THE JOB

The role will involve a lot of sitting with clients in therapy rooms. It may require some standing for 2 hours at a time whilst delivering groups. There will also be frequent use of computers.

8. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR ALL POSTS

The post holder is required to comply with all relevant policies and procedures pertinent to their post. Current versions can be found on the intranet or via your manager. The areas listed below are those Livewell Southwest currently places particular emphasis on. Failure to follow correct policies and procedures may result in disciplinary action.

1. In accordance with the Risk Management Strategy, employees will participate, whenever required, with the risk management process. They will support line managers by attending mandatory and statutory training, completing incident/accident forms for every adverse event or near miss that occurs, report all defects and complaints, and communicate any dangerous situation to individuals potentially at risk.
2. Health and Safety at Work: You must co-operate with those in authority and others in meeting the statutory requirements and in following policies and procedures.
3. Infection Control: Livewell Southwest is determined to eradicate healthcare-acquired infection and puts a great deal of emphasis on the responsibility of all staff to ensure their own personal and others compliance with Infection Control (including Hand Washing) Policies.
4. Safeguarding Children and Adults: All employees have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults and are required to act in such a way that at all times safeguards their health and wellbeing.
5. Research: For clinical posts at bands 5 and 6, there is an expectation that engagement in research will be part of this role.
6. Sustainability and climate change: All staff are expected to take responsibility for the reduction of carbon emissions within their area of the organisation.

This Job Description is not exhaustive and may change as the post develops, but such change will not take place without consultation between the post holder and their manager. Job descriptions should be reviewed at least annually at the appraisal meeting.

The Working Time Regulations apply to all employees of Livewell Southwest. In particular, Livewell Southwest will not permit staff in all employments to work in excess of 48 hours in any one week except where there are exceptional service needs where an absolute limit of averaging over a reference period of 17 weeks would apply.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and treatment of clients across a range of mental health care settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity and complexity.
• Ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse, and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
• Experience of working in mental health services where multi-disciplinary working is embraced as part of service delivery.
• Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets.
• Proven ability to communicate clearly in difficult and complex situations.
• Experience of working with secondary care clients in a therapeutic capacity as CBT therapist.
• Experience of working in a range of mental health settings.
• Worked in a service where agreed targets in place demonstrating clinical outcomes.
• Experience of teaching, training, and/or supervision.
• Experience of implementing new ways of working (NWW) principles.
• Experience of implementing service policies and procedures.
• Involvement in research programmes.

Skills & Knowledge

• Demonstrates an understanding of psychotherapy services and how they link to governmental objectives.
• Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence-based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post.
• Knowledge of a range of psychotherapeutic theoretical models used in mental health services.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Full range of skills and competencies as laid out in the competence framework for CBT (Roth and Pilling 2007).
• Commitment to own CPD and willingness to undertake any training necessary for the role, e.g. top-up CBT training, supervisor training.
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention, and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration; this requires the use of highly developed analytical and judgement skills.
• Skills in individual, couple, and group work and in programme planning.
• Planning and organising skills for caseload management.
• Skills in self-management, including time-management.
• High standard of report writing for communication with professionals from NHS, Local Authority, and other agencies, parents/carers, and clients.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, enabling formation of networks with professionals within the organization and from other agencies, to promote effective team working with clients.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance, including regular supervision, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Ability to identify, provide, and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional, and academic settings.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the regulating and professional/accrediting bodies.
• Capable of being individually accountable for own clinical interventions.
• Willingness to be flexible and adaptable.
• Advanced keyboard and computer skills.
• Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from clients.
• Able to contain and work with organisational stress.
• Interpersonally calm and able to defuse difficult, volatile situations.
• Able to tolerate ambiguity and to take decisions in situations of incomplete information.
• Ability to work within a team fostering good working relationships.
• Ability to exercise appropriate levels of self-care and to monitor own state, recognising when it is necessary to take active steps to maintain fitness to practice.
• Good organisational skills.
• Motivated towards personal and professional development with a strong CPD record.
• An ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
• Regard for others and respect for individual rights of autonomy and confidentiality.
• The ability and skills to act as an advocate for services, to engage and foster good professional relationships with all health professionals in promoting the good integration of this service with the wider health care system.
• High-level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• Formal training in supervision of CBT.
• High-level knowledge and skills in working with carers.
• Post-graduate level knowledge of research methodology, research design, and data analysis.
• Experience of leading and carrying out research projects and interpreting data using statistical analyses.
• Proven ability in carrying out clinical audits.
• Practical Implementation of New Ways of Working.
• Record of having published in either peer-reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books.
• Fluent in languages other than English.
• Ability to promote psychological models with clients, carers, and staff in an understandable and person-centred way, clearly outlining goals and potential outcomes.
• Ability and willingness to travel to locations throughout the organisation.

Qualifications

• Doctorate level training in clinical or applied psychology, accredited by the BPS, or a BPS Statement of Equivalence.
• OR
• A registered qualification in health care at graduate level in nursing, social work, allied health professional.
• AND Post-qualification training in CBTp to PG diploma level or equivalent at Intermediate level or above.
• AND BABCP accreditation.
• Registered membership of a professional body.
• Undertaken post-qualification further training in an additional specialist area of CBT practice (e.g., EMDR).
• Undertaken training in the supervision of trainees and other therapists.

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.