Job overview
Lambeth CAMHS is looking to recruit two experienced and motivated Parent Infant Psychotherapists/Psychologists for our Parent and Infant Relationhsip Service (PAIRS team). This is an exciting time to join the team, which is currently expanding its offer to children under the age of five.
You will be part of a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and be responsible for providing a highly specialised psychotherapy/psychology service to PAIRS including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes. You will be required to offer supervision and consultation to staff and externally to the local workforce.
An understanding of relational work within an infant mental health setting, risk assessment and safety planning is essential for this post. Applicants must hold a registration with a statutory body, as detailed in the person specification.
Main duties of the job
To provide a highly specialist psychotherapy/psychology service to PAIRS 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, functioning as a lead specialist in PAIRS.
To undertake service evaluation, audit and research.
To work as an autonomous professional within ACP guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by principles and policies or procedures of the service, taking responsibility for interpreting policies within defined parameters.
To agree outcomes/results with clinical/professional lead and to decide how they are best achieved.
Working for our organisation
Lambeth is a London borough with a population of more than 318,000, of which 63% of residents describe their ethnicity as other than White British & approximately 145 languages are spoken in the borough. There are established Caribbean & Irish communities with newer populations of West African, Portuguese & South American residents.
Lambeth CAMHS employs staff from a variety of disciplines, including creative arts, child psychology, psychiatry, nursing, psychotherapy & family therapy. The service is organised into three sections & delivered from a number of community & hospital sites across the borough. Teams include a generic multidisciplinary Tier 3 services, for Children and Adolescents, as well as a number of specialist teams & services including Youth Offending Team, Children Looked After, Parent and Infant Relationship Service (PAIRS) and the Neurodevelopmental Team.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Policy and service development
·To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
·To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
·To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
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.
Management and supervision
·To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of more junior psychologists/psychotherapists with support from a more senior psychologist/psychotherapist.
·To supervise trainee applied psychologists within own area of specialism/to supervise honorary psychotherapists within own area of specialism.
·To contribute to the recruitment of more junior psychotherapists/psychologists, as appropriate.
·To provide supervision for the psychotherapeutic/psychological work of other multi-disciplinary staff as appropriate.
Teaching and Training
·To undertake occasional teaching and training of pre and post- qualification psychologists/psychotherapists and specialised training to other professions/to undertake occasional teaching and training of honorary psychotherapists and specialist training to other professions in the PAIRS as appropriate.
·To contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within the PAIRS/Lambeth CAMHS by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in the psychotherapies/psychology and PAIRS and by implementing knowledge gained in practice.
·To disseminate research and 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 initiate, undertake, support and supervise regular complex service evaluation and audits.
·To provide expertise in a specialist research area which will contribute to PAIRS.
Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development
·To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychotherapist
·according to Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) and Trust guidelines/ To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychologist according to HCPC and Trust guidelines.
·To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with ACP and Trust Personal.
·Development Plan requirements/ To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with BPS and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the HCPC ‘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 ACP Standards of Ethics and Proficiency, and ensure professional development
·in line with these/ To comply with the HCPC ‘Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics’ and ‘Standards of Proficiency’, and ensure professional development in line with these.
·To adhere to the ACP Professional Practice Guidelines and Trust policies and procedures/To adhere to the BPS’s Professional Practice Guidelines and Trust policies and procedures.
General
·To travel to home visits, community placements, team or service meetings 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 and to support
others involved in such situations.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
Entry-level qualification in Psychotherapy that has been accepted by the ACP for purposes of professional registration or: Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration.
Additional training beyond entry-level qualification in a specialised area of practice (Parent-Infant Psychotherapy) through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses and/or an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma or higher.
Registered with the ACP as a Psychotherapist, and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the ACP or: Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist, and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC.
Desirable criteria
Experience of post qualification infant observation training
Experience
Essential criteria
Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in Parent Infant Psychotherapy.
Experience of specialist psychotherapy assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in Parent Infant Psychotherapy.
Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.
Experience of carrying out audit or service evaluation projects.
Desirable criteria
Experience of running/observing therapeutic parenting groups.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential criteria
Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised assessments and interventions for Parent Infant Psychotherapy.
Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment options in Parent Infant Psychotherapy.
Advanced knowledge of relevant clinical assessment tools and psychometrics.
To select and administer specialist psychotherapy assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources.
To communicate skilfully 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.
Well-developed IT skills including analysis of research data for teaching purposes. Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups.
Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.
Desirable criteria
Training in VIG, Circle of Security, Watch, Wait and Wonder.
