Psychotherapist, Practitioner Psychologist & Psychological Therapist

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond. We are committed to providing high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for the care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’. We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience.

The Symbol Team is part of Lewisham Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). We are a specialist community mental health team working with adopted children and children living in care who have moderate-to-severe mental health difficulties. We are currently recruiting a Band 7 psychologist or therapist from any discipline to join our team.

Main duties of the job:

• To provide specialist psychological interventions according to discipline for 4-18 years old adopted children and children living in care, including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes.
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
• To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.
• To promote service evaluation, audit and research.
• To work as an autonomous professional within registration body guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by the policies and procedures of the service, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions with support of clinical supervisor.
• To be active in the provision of staff support within their area, including but not limited to Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve.
• To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate.

We are a small, welcoming, and dedicated team, with a strong commitment to anti-racism and inclusive practices in all that we do. Our vision is that all adopted children and children in care in Lewisham can access timely and appropriate mental health support, to improve their emotional wellbeing and continue working towards their goals.

Support young people to achieve their goals with respect to their emotional wellbeing, health, education and career, and family and social life:

• Support young people and families to avoid the poor outcomes often associated with adoption and living in care, including poor mental health, adoption or placement breakdown, poor school performance and exclusion, social isolation, and contact with the criminal justice system.
• Provide timely, person-centred, trauma-informed, and culturally competent mental health assessment and treatment.

We share the Trust’s strategic ambitions, to deliver outstanding mental healthcare, be a partner in prevention, be a catalyst of change, build a culture of trust together, and become effective and sustainable.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• To provide specialist psychological assessments (including ADHD assessments), formulations and interventions for clients (individuals, couples, families and social networks where the identified client has complex mental health needs) according to discipline in the Symbol Team including trauma-informed interventions for children and young people who are living in care or adopted.
• To provide culturally appropriate psychological or psychotherapeutic interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
• To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.
• To provide reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users and their families.
• To select and deliver evidence-based specialist therapeutic interventions, drawing from a spectrum of ideas and models, monitoring outcome and modifying and adapting interventions as necessary, based on the highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, couple, family or group.
• To promote psychological support for carers (or families as appropriate) of referred clients.
• To act as a Care Coordinator, taking responsibility for planning and reviewing treatment, and liaising with family and professional networks.

Contributing to team or service clinical functioning:

• To contribute to the effective working of the Symbol Team and to a psychologically/psychotherapeutically informed framework for the service.
• To contribute to the team or service’s delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
• To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
• To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients in order to develop and review care plans.
• To liaise with the service/s MDT and other professionals.

Policy and service development:

• To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
• To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
• To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.

Care or management of resources:

• To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust’s equipment and physical resources.
• To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.
• To ensure the cleanliness and safe functioning and use of equipment that will be used by clients or other persons.
• To monitor and advise clients on the safe use of materials and processes.
• To ensure adequate confidential and safe storage for artefacts produced during the therapy process in line with professional guidelines.
• To be responsible for obtaining, storing and maintaining all materials and equipment for the provision of therapy in work setting within budgetary constraints.

Management and supervision:

• To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of a paid assistant if required, under supervision from a more senior therapist.
• To supervise trainees within own area of specialism after completion of the relevant Supervision Training.

Teaching and Training:

• To provide occasional specialist training in psychological/psychotherapeutic approaches to care to other professions as appropriate.
• To disseminate research/service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

Record-keeping and Information Governance:

• To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
• To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.

Research and development:

• To undertake regular complex service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.
• To take part in ongoing research projects, including the current research project with Breathe Arts Health Research, funded by the Maudsley Charity, researching the impact of creative workshops on young people’s engagement with our service.

Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development:

• To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior therapist according to discipline, professional body and Trust guidelines.
• To maintain own Continuing Professional Development in line with professional body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and professional Standards for Continuing Professional Development.
• To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
• To comply with professional body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency.

General:

• To travel to placements, schools, and other community locations as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
• To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
• To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations (such as challenging behaviour, abuse etc) and to support others involved in such situations through Trust-wide approaches including Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve.
• To share in facilitating the team's weekly Forest School, which involves late working (until 6pm) on a Thursday.

Person specification:

• Recognised qualification in a core mental health profession and registered with a professional body.
• Experience of assessment and treatment of children and young people with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature.
• Experience of developing and carrying out audit/research projects.
• Experience of working with children and young people living in care.
• Knowledge of the theory of psychological therapy and its therapeutic application.
• Associated awareness of assessment and clinical psychometrics.
• Knowledge of racial and other diversity issues and factors affecting access to mental health care.
• Knowledge of the statutory and legal frameworks relevant to children and young people living in care.
• To communicate skillfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
• To select and administer specialist assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources.
• Ability to administer psychometric and neuropsychological tests, including those that require complex manipulation of test materials.
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour.

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights.

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion, Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe.