Principal Psychotherapist

Kent & Medway NHS & Social Care Partnership Trust

Are you a passionate and experienced Psychotherapist, Clinical Psychologist, or Counselling Psychologist with management experience seeking a rewarding role that combines direct therapeutic work with service improvement and team leadership? Ash Eton Therapeutic Community in Folkestone is looking for a skilled clinician who will have dedicated clinical time working with our client group in a vibrant therapeutic community, whilst also holding team lead responsibilities. The service provides specialist treatment to adults with complex emotional difficulties within a supportive and innovative therapeutic community setting. We are a well-established and highly regarded service, part of the Community of Communities and recognised for our excellence in mental health care. If you are analytically trained, experienced in group therapy, and committed to relational practice, we encourage you to apply!

The ideal candidate will be a professionally qualified and registered therapist with extensive experience in mental health psychotherapy, particularly group work with adults experiencing complex personality disorders, and proven team leadership expertise. Experience in a therapeutic community setting and/or service development using co-production is highly desirable.

Main duties of the job

As a key member of our team, you will play a vital role in:

• Providing clinical leadership to a multi-disciplinary therapy team
• Working with colleagues to reach and maintain high quality and performance standards for the service
• Overseeing the management of referrals and flow of patients through the phases of treatment
• Advising Community Mental Health Teams and Multidisciplinary Teams on referrals, providing supervision and case consultations.
• Conducting assessments and running psychodynamic psychotherapy groups for patients preparing to join the Therapeutic Community (TC).
• Facilitating small group psychotherapy within the TC and participating in community meetings.
• Developing co-produced lecturing and training opportunities.
• Contributing to a democratic TC environment, upholding our relational practice values, including co-production and inclusivity.
• Working with transference processes and managing complex team and community dynamics.
• Managing a caseload of clients with complex needs and potential risk factors.
• Organising and prioritising your workload to maintain high-quality standards.

Deputising for the clinical lead and supporting the operational lead.

Job responsibilities

• Clinical assessment of patients with complex emotional needs
• Delivery of a range of therapy groups within the therapeutic community
• Clinical case management including risk assessment and care-planning
• Line management
• Promoting effective working practices in the team that lead to high levels of performance, quality and service user satisfaction
• Monitoring and managing referrals and their flow through the phases of treatment

Person Specification

Knowledge and qualifications

• Professionally registered psychotherapist/clinical psychologist/counselling psychologist
• Evidence of CPD relevant to the speciality
• Knowledge of therapeutic community model, principles and values
• MBT training and experience

Skills and experience

• Minimum of 4 years post registration clinical experience
• Significant experience of therapeutic group work with people with complex emotional needs
• Experience of line management
• Therapeutic community experience

Skills

• Ability to assess, create formulations and treatment plans for complex patients
• Risk assessment and management
• Team leadership skills
• Experience of conducting small and large therapy groups
• Experience of co-production
• Experience in using quality and performance data to improve clinical services

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.