Job overview

Swale CYPMHS is seeking a motivated and skilled Band 7 Clinical Psychologist, Family Therapist, CBT Therapist or Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist to join our multi-disciplinary team.

You will provide specialist assessment, formulation and evidence-based therapeutic interventions for children, young people and families presenting with emotional, behavioural, neurodevelopmental and complex mental health needs.

The role will involve direct clinical work, parent/carer work, consultation, MDT care planning, liaison with schools and partner agencies, outcome monitoring, supervision where appropriate, and contribution to service development and clinical governance.

We welcome applications from clinicians who are compassionate, reflective and committed to delivering high-quality, inclusive and child-centred care within Swale CYPMHS. The role will require travel across the locality and wider Kent and Medway sites as needed.

This is aligned with the Band 7 JD, which describes specialist assessment, therapeutic intervention, parent work, MDT input, school observation, outcome monitoring, audit and supervision responsibilities within CYPMHS.

We are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.

Main duties of the job

You will provide specialist assessment, formulation and evidence-based therapeutic interventions for children, young people and families accessing Swale CYPMHS.

You will work as part of the multi-disciplinary team, contributing to assessment, treatment planning, risk assessment, care planning, outcome monitoring and review. The role will include direct therapeutic work with children and young people, parent/carer work, consultation, psychoeducation, group work where appropriate, and liaison with schools, social care, GPs and other partner agencies.

You will manage a clinical caseload, provide specialist clinical advice within their professional area, contribute to MDT discussions and support the delivery of safe, timely and effective care for children and young people with emotional, behavioural, neurodevelopmental and complex mental health needs.

You will also contribute to service development, audit, clinical governance, supervision where appropriate, and the development of high-quality evidence-based practice within Swale CYPMHS. This reflects the Band 7 JD responsibilities around specialist assessment, therapeutic intervention, parent/carer work, MDT input, outcome monitoring, audit and supervision.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description for full details and main responsibilities of the role.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Person specification:

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working as a qualified specialist clinical/counselling psychologist or psychotherapist for a minimum of one year. We also welcome applications from those who are nearing completion of training.
• Experience of working in range of mental health settings with a range of levels of disability and full range of age groups

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Ability to comprehend and communicate verbally and in writing highly complex and sensitive information in a manner appropriate to a range of settings and audiences, including complex highly emotive situations and those with significantly impaired communication capacities.
• Ability to analyse and manage complex multi-factorial clinical information from a range of sources integrating it into a formulation utilising a variety of psychological perspectives

Desirable

• Record of having published in either, peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books

Qualifications and Registrations

Essential

• For Psychologists: Post-graduate doctorate in clinical/counselling psychology (or its equivalent) as accredited by the HCPC/BPS.
• For Psychotherapists: Specialist post graduate training to masters level or equivalent in a Psychotherapeutic modality (for example CBT or Psychodynamic Psychotherapy) leading to accreditation/registration with UKCP/BABCP/BACP or equivalent