DBT Practitioner in London

This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated clinician with a passion for working therapeutically with individuals with complex emotional needs within a supportive and dynamic specialist team. This important role is part of the Barnet Complex Emotional Needs (CEN) Pathway. The remit of the dynamic DBT Pathway is to offer Barnet residents referred into the service a consistent evidence-based therapeutic approach, to reduce inpatient admissions and to support the quick transitions of those in an inpatient service back into the community.

The post holder will be joining an established and vibrant DBT Pathway and will be working closely with the Barnet Adult Psychology Team and the Complex Emotional Needs Pathway Team. Ideally, you will have a strong enthusiasm to work in a psychologically informed way and have experience of DBT, but this is not essential as training will be provided. The post holder will provide formal DBT psychological interventions using a trauma-informed approach whilst undertaking necessary training to upskill for this role as required. The post holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of appropriate professional practice within the service/team.

As a Band 6 DBT Practitioner, you will play a key role in delivering specialist Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to adults experiencing severe emotional dysregulation and complex mental health difficulties. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you will provide high-quality, evidence-based interventions that support recovery and promote meaningful change. Key responsibilities include:

• Delivering individual DBT-informed interventions and co-facilitating DBT skills training groups.
• Managing a caseload of service users with complex emotional and relational difficulties, including those presenting with significant risk.
• Undertaking comprehensive assessments, care planning, risk assessment, and ongoing clinical reviews.
• Supporting service users to develop skills in emotional regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness.
• Participating in weekly DBT consultation meetings and contributing to the maintenance of DBT treatment fidelity.
• Working collaboratively with service users, carers, and partner agencies to ensure coordinated and person-centred care.
• Maintaining accurate clinical records and contributing to service evaluation and outcome monitoring.
• Providing specialist advice, consultation, and support to colleagues within the wider mental health services.
• Contributing to service development, quality improvement initiatives, and the promotion of psychologically informed practice.

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people. Our Five-Year Strategy: We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with a supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.

In order to meet the needs of the Trust, you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that falls under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Jointly assess patients for suitability for DBT. Where the problems appear to be too complex or severe to be appropriate for level of experience refer to manager/supervisor for advice on how to manage the case. To formulate and implement DBT focused treatment plans, in particular identifying repeating patterns of crisis and advise ways of altering these, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the patients' problems. To educate and involve family members and others in treatment as necessary, conveying DBT formulations with sensitivity in easily understood language. To support the implementation of a range of DBT psychological interventions (group and individual) for prospective patients. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management. To work closely with referrers, services and colleagues to collaborate around the delivery of DBT interventions. To deal appropriately with the intense emotional atmosphere surrounding therapy contacts which may be highly distressing on a daily basis and to work with frequently intense concentration for the clinical sessions of assessment and therapy.

Qualifications/ Registrations:

• Essential: Core health professional qualification (Nursing, Social work, Occupational Therapy, Psychotherapist) and Registration with the appropriate professional body.
• Desirable: Basic Training Certificate in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) or a desire to engage in DBT training.

Skills/ Abilities:

• Essential: Strong interest and desire to work with patients with complex emotional needs and personality disorder in a trauma-informed way. Experience of facilitating psychoeducational and therapy groups for patients. Experience of working with carers and family members. Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team and working within a multicultural framework. Experience in developing risk management plans and psychological treatment pathways.
• Desirable: Experience of running and delivering DBT groups in a clinical setting.

Experience/ Knowledge:

• Essential: Knowledge of the theory and practice of DBT. Skills in the use of psychological assessments, intervention and management. Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to patients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS. Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the post-holder's professional body.
• Desirable: Enthusiasm about evidence-based practice and about using patient feedback as well as team performance data to develop service as best suited for the needs of our patient population.

Personal Qualities:

• Essential: An enthusiasm and commitment to the psychological treatment in the field of Personality Disorder. Ability to maintain professional boundaries and form positive therapeutic relationships with service users and carers. Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to 'hold' the stress of others. Ability to demonstrate NLFT Trust Values.
• Desirable: A commitment to the evaluation of services, enthusiasm for both multi-professional and uni-professional audit.

Other Requirements:

• Essential: 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 develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.