Senior Parent-Infant Psychotherapist/Child-Adolescent Psychotherapist

Job summary

CNWL Parent-Infant Mental Health Service (PIMHS) is an exciting new service being developed in Brent as part of the Start4Life Programme. We are looking for a Senior Parent-Infant Psychotherapist/Child-Adolescent Psychotherapist to join this new team and help the Lead to develop the Parent-Infant Mental Health Service. The post-holder will be based in Brent CAMHS and will have clinics in the community and in Family Hubs across Brent.

In line with the Start for Life Programme, the service will offer support to infants in the first two years of life with mild, moderate or severe mental and emotional health needs, and their parents/carers in the first two years postpartum who have mild to moderate mental health concerns, past or present, that causes a risk to the parent-infant relationship. This service also extends to fathers, co-parents and the overall familial relationship with the infant, with the infant remaining the focus of the work.

The service will be delivered by a MDT consisting of a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, a Lead Parent-Infant Psychotherapist, a Senior Parent-Infant Psychotherapist, two Parent-Infant Psychotherapists/Psychologists, and an Assistant Psychotherapist.

Main duties of the job

• To provide clinical expertise and supervision for psychotherapists who deliver care and support for women/parents in the perinatal period and their infants up to 2 years, to include their families and carer networks.
• To undertake and supervise highly specialist parent-infant psychotherapy assessment and treatments to service users, and support and signposting to families. To utilise and supervise the provision of specific Parent-Infant psychological interventions, working with infants and parents to promote the quality of parent-infant relationships.
• To provide specialist, Parent-Infant interventions, including developing group work within the community, and/or virtually, and will contribute to implementing care plans for families with a range of mental health and social and emotional difficulties, particularly focusing on providing interventions flexibly which are adapted to the needs of infants and their mothers/carers in mild to moderate degrees of illness and distress.
• To undertake specific duties as requested, pertaining to clinical and service governance objectives including planning, data collection and analysis, report writing and presentation.
• To undertake and contribute to teaching, training, supervision, health promotion, research and related activities of the service and affiliated organisations to the Trust as relevant to this post.
• To attend weekly team meetings, case discussion and reflective practice forums and supervision.

About us

This post necessitates working directly and indirectly with women who have vulnerable infants and are experiencing complex and severe mental health difficulties. Some clients/patients may be difficult to engage and their behaviour may significantly challenge the integrity and welfare of the post holder. The post also necessitates the post holder to travel regularly across Brent and when necessary, to local community amenities or independent sector establishments often transporting test materials, audio-visual and IT equipment.

Job responsibilities

• To provide an efficient, effective, comprehensive and highly specialist Parent-Infant psychotherapy assessment and treatment to service users, and support and signposting to mothers, to promote the quality of parent-infant relationships.
• To provide the particular highly specialist areas of expertise gained in post qualifying specialist training to mothers with a range of mental health and social and emotional difficulties, particularly focussing on providing interventions flexibly which are adapted to the needs of infants and their mothers/carers in complex and varying degrees of illness and distress.
• To provide advice and consultation from a psychodynamic perspective on clients psychological care to psychologist and non-psychologist colleagues and to other, non-professional carers, working autonomously within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the services policies and procedures.
• To be informed by evidence-based practice and participate in audit, policy and service development and research.
• To work autonomously within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the services policies and procedures.
• To undertake and oversee audit and research activity.

Person Specification

Training & Qualifications

• Masters level preclinical training at an Association of Child Psychotherapists recognised training school; - post graduate doctoral level training in clinical child psychotherapy at a training school accredited by the Association of Child Psychotherapy or Association of Child Psychotherapists Statement of Equivalence And/or Training in Parent-Infant Psychotherapy accredited by the BPC/UKCP OR Doctorate in Psychology with Parent-Infant Psychotherapy training
• Experience of working as a qualified Child Psychotherapist
• Considerable experience of work within the area of adolescence

• ACP Supervisors training

Experience

• Experience of specialist psychotherapeutic assessment and treatment of infants and their parents as a full member of a multidisciplinary team located in a hospital outpatient setting or a CAMHS setting
• Experience of working with a wide variety of infants, children, adolescents and their parents across the whole age range and presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity
• An ability to supervise clinical work within the multidisciplinary team
• An ability to engage hard to reach groups in psychodynamic psychotherapy both brief and long term

• Experience of the application of infant and/or child psychotherapy in different cultural contexts
• Experience of working in different CAMHS Tiers
• Experience of teaching, training on pre-registration course and case consultation to other child psychotherapists

Knowledge & Skills

• Knowledge and skills in the use of complex methods of psychotherapeutic assessment, intervention and management
• High level of knowledge of the theory and practice of short term psychotherapy and its application to a specialist area
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to infants including child protection procedures and policies
• Knowledge of NHS, Social Care and Education Structures, National policies and frameworks
• Well-developed knowledge or CAMHS setting working with complex cases
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
• Ability to tolerate anxiety without recourse to premature action whilst appreciating the role of supervisor
• Aware of the implication of working within a managed system
• Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the Association of Child Psychotherapists of the application of child psychotherapy skills

• Knowledge of research methodology and outcome research design and ability to critically interpret research findings

Other

• Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multidisciplinary setting
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice
• Basic IT skills including word processing, use of email and internet
• Interest and ability to contribute to service development
• 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 identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour

• Ability to teach and train others and present the work of child psychotherapists within public, professional and academic settings
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details

Employer name: Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address: Monks Park Health Centre, Monks Park, Wembley, HA9 6JE

Employer's website: https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/work