Psychologist, Family Therapist/Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist

Psychologist, Family Therapist/Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist

NELFT North East London Foundation Trust

Come and work for NELFT's Children & Young People's Mental Health Service (CYPMHS), and be part of one of the UK's most innovative healthcare Trusts.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a clinical psychologist, family therapist, or Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist to join our dynamic multi-disciplinary team based in Thanet CYPMHS. Driven by the principles underpinning the national CYP-IAPT programme (Children and Young People's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies), the service provides the latest in evidence-based NICE compliant psychological interventions to children, young people, and their families experiencing emotional wellbeing and mental health difficulties.

You will be a highly motivated and innovative individual with extensive clinical experience working with children and young people with emotional wellbeing and mental health difficulties.

This is a Part-Time position.

Main Duties of the Job

You will:

1. Routinely measure clinical outcomes and deliver evidence-based clinical interventions in line with the CY-IAPT programme within CYPMHS.
2. Promote the mental and emotional health of children, young people, and families in the community through clinical interventions in the care pathway.
3. Undertake initial school-based and community-based assessments and deliver a range of early interventions to children and young people with a range of emotional and psychological difficulties where appropriate.
4. Assess and develop plans of care to meet the complex needs of patients with a variety of conditions.
5. Provide clinical leadership and specialist treatment and assessment within your professional sphere of expertise in the service and will be responsible for the extensive clinical supervision of junior clinicians throughout the CYPMHS team.

About Us

NELFT places a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training, and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process, new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend a number of drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health, and wellbeing, and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

We continue to encourage all staff to ensure that they have been double vaccinated and received their booster. We recognize that taking the vaccine provides the best defense against COVID-19 for our patients, our staff, and their families.

Job Responsibilities

NELFT is an experienced provider of mental health services for children and young people, already providing these services in Essex, Medway, and four London boroughs. It is also one of England's largest NHS Foundation Trusts.

Our priority is providing the highest standard of care to all of our service users.

NELFT's CYPMHS is for anybody aged between 0-18, living in Kent and is free at the point of entry. The service is also for young people with special educational needs (SEN) up to the age of 25. The CAMHS Tier II and Tier III services no longer exist, replaced with an integrated CYPMHS.

Any young person experiencing emotional wellbeing or mental health problems, (or any parent, guardian, professional, or teacher of a child who is experiencing emotional wellbeing and mental health difficulties), may access our service.

What Difficulties Can Be Referred to the Service?

• Mood and anxiety disorders
• Behavioural and conduct disorders
• Emerging personality and attachment disorders
• Psychotic disorders
• Deliberate self-harm and suicidal ideation
• Substance misuse with co-existing mental health needs (dual diagnosis)
• Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) - with co-occurring mental health needs
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - with co-occurring mental health needs
• Prolonged bereavement problems

All referrals to the service are assessed using a care pathways approach, developed in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance criteria (NICE) and based on a best practice model of treatment.

Locality Team in Children & Young Peoples Mental Health Services (CYPMHS)

The aim of our CYPMHS is to respond earlier to children and young people's needs in order to help prevent, reduce, or delay the need for more specialist interventions. This transformation of children and young people's mental health services has a clinical focus, integrated with local authorities to deliver a long-term collaborative approach to planning and delivering services.

CYPMHS focuses on emotional wellbeing as well as mental health and includes access to self-help tools and services based in schools and the community. The CAMHS Tier II and Tier III service no longer exist, replaced with an integrated CYPMHS. Training and support is available to other professionals and agencies. We are creating a modern service that fits with children's lives in a way that best suits them. Key new features include a Children's Single Point of Access (SPA) into the service, clear early signposting, and use of digital channels such as Big White Wall to access support and services.

Each locality team has care pathways. Each care pathway is clinically led, with care pathway leads operationally managing all CYPMHS practitioners working in that care pathway. With the support of the team manager, care pathway leads are responsible for assessment, treatment, and systematic outcome measurement in that care pathway. CYPMHS multi-disciplinary pathway workers and mental health workers may work across more than one care pathway in a locality team.

Care pathways include:

• Mood and anxiety
• Complex
• Behavioural and conduct

Care pathway leads and practitioners ensure that a high-quality, timely, accessible, and evidence-based service is available to all children and young people who need it. This means establishing and maintaining excellent working relationships with wider social, health, and voluntary services.

Working in our CYPMHS locality teams is for you if you are excited by a modern approach. We would very much like to hear from you.

Person Specification

Qualifications & Knowledge

• Successful completion of a post-graduate training in psychological practice (e.g. psychologist, family therapist, child and adolescent psychotherapist).

Job Role

• Full-time post only
• Able to work across both localities - Folkestone and Dover.
• Role requires being on site, home working at Manager's discretion and needs of the locality.
• To be able to lead MDT, senior meeting etc.

Qualification and Experience

• To be eligible for registration as a full member of the appropriate professional body (e.g. HCPC, BABCP, UKCP, AFT, ACP).

Qualifications and Experience

• Extensive experience of working with difficult, disturbed, or challenging children/young people requiring skilled and complex interventions.

Qualifications and Experience

• Extensive experience of working therapeutically with parents/carers/families of children and young people with complex mental health problems.

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.

NELFT North East London Foundation Trust