CYPMHS DBT Practitioner in Radlett

This opportunity is for a qualified professional to join an established, accredited DBT Service within HPFT CYPMHS, which has been short-listed for multiple awards! The post holder will have the opportunity not only to work clinically with young people with complex mental health problems but also to be part of the ongoing development of this innovative team.

The CYPMHS DBT service works with young people across Hertfordshire who are struggling with managing emotions and high-risk behaviours, to help them learn new skills and build a life worth living. Furthermore, you would be joining a very supportive and passionate team who focus on working together to deliver the best possible care and treatment to the families we work with.

No training in DBT is required; just some enthusiasm and willingness to learn a new therapeutic approach, with the support of the team. Comprehensive training is provided in this role from a national DBT training programme, as well as regular CPD as part of the team's ongoing learning and development.

The role involves offering individual therapy, group skills training, telephone coaching, and being an active member of a DBT Consultation team.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will be a member of the Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) Outpatient Service within CYPMHS. This is part of an exciting expansion of CYPMHS specialist services within HPFT. The remit of the DBT Service is to offer young people 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 to the DBT Service.

The DBT Practitioner will work within a multi-disciplinary team to deliver specialist DBT assessments and interventions to young people and their families who are referred by other CYPMHS services. The post holder will also be involved in liaising with other CYPMHS services to ensure clear transitions for young people entering or leaving the DBT Service and where appropriate supporting the transition to Adult Services.

The post-holder will work within professional guidelines and under the clinical/professional supervision of senior clinicians of their own core profession. The post-holder will provide clinical/professional supervision to trainees on placement, more junior staff of the same discipline and multi-disciplinary colleagues for purposes of training and continuing professional development as required. The post-holder will contribute to research, audit and evaluation for service development.

About us

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is an outstanding organisation with ambitions to match. We are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from the Care Quality Commission, and our aim is to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country.

Our family of over 3500 members of staff provide health and social care for over 400,000 people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services, plus medium and low secure learning disabilities services.

The care we provide makes a fantastic difference to the lives of our service users, their families and carers - everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:

• Welcoming
• Kind
• Positive
• Respectful
• Professional

These values are at the core of who we are, everything we do, and how we do it!

Key Relationships:

• Multidisciplinary colleagues within the DBT Service, including other DBT Practitioners (Band 6 and Band 7), Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, and Consultant Psychiatrist.
• Colleagues from across CYPMHS Tier 3 and Tier 4 Services, including the Home Treatment Team.
• Clients, their families, carers and other external agencies.
• Professional Lead for Psychological Services (CYPMHS)/Professional Lead for Social Work (CYPMHS)/Modern Matron/Lead for AHPs.
• Consultant leads in CYPMHS.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• To be responsible for a caseload of complex assessment, treatment and consultation work with children, adolescents and their families, with problems of behavioural, emotional, psychological or mental health issues, using the highly specialist Dialectical Behavioural Therapy approach.
• To operate as a member of the multi-disciplinary CYPMHS DBT Service to provide a high standard of service to children, adolescents and their families who have been referred to the DBT Service and to professionals from other organisations.
• To work in ways which are sensitive to and appropriate for the needs of families from a wide range of racial, cultural and religious backgrounds.

Clinical Responsibility:

• To assess, plan and implement psychologically based programmes of care for individual children and young people, carers and families with complex behavioural, emotional, psychological or mental health issues.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for all children and adolescents, including the protective and risk factors in the network of significant relationships.
• To develop, implement and manage evidenced-based psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups.

Leadership and Staff Management Responsibility:

• To clinically and/or professionally supervise trainees within the DBT Team as appropriate.
• To contribute to reading and clinical seminars, participate in the training/education of both clinic team members and trainees placed at the clinic.
• To take part in clinical and managerial supervision, managing own caseload within agreed parameters and levels.

Service Development and Improvement:

• To participate in activity and audit data as required and contribute and participate in research and clinical audit as appropriate.
• To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the service provided by the multi-disciplinary team.

Communications:

• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner to the parents, carers and professionals involved, and when appropriate, to the children and young people themselves concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans.
• To actively participate in MDT DBT team meetings and maintain links with colleagues both in the DBT Team and in own professional group within wider CYPMHS and Trust.

Person Specification

Qualifications/Education/Training:

• Qualification in one of the following and current full professional registration as relevant to the specific profession: RMN, RNLD, Systemic or Family Therapist, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist.

Previous Experience:

• Post qualification experience in a CYPMHS team or related area, or several years experience prior to qualification, with experience of working with moderate to severe mental health problems.

Communication Skills:

• Ability to work therapeutically with young people and their families.

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 to check for any previous criminal convictions.