Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
Principal Psychodynamic Psychotherapist / Psychologist
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a qualified and experienced Psychodynamic Psychotherapist or Clinical / Counselling Psychologist with a specialism in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. The post is a permanent WTE (3 days per week) position within the Mental Health and Wellness Team psychological provision in Barking & Dagenham.
This post involves providing leadership for the psychodynamic pathway (including Mentalisation Based Therapy) and within the Mental Health and Wellness Team (MHWT) North. This includes working closely with the MHWT North Operational Lead to ensure effective functioning of the team and a positive and supportive culture, including offering reflective practice and complex case consultation to MHWT staff. The role will provide leadership and clinical supervision for individual and group psychodynamic psychotherapy and individual and group Mentalisation Based Therapy, and a small amount of direct clinical work.
The post is based at the Becontree Centre and Barking Community Hospital (BCH) to enable close working relationships with the MHWT North (at Becontree Centre), and to maintain effective leadership of Psychological Professions staff working across the borough (including attendance at weekly meetings at BCH). The post holder will be required to work on site three days per week, and Tuesday is a core day for the role (the other working days are flexible).
Main duties of the job
Providing leadership of the psychodynamic psychotherapy pathway within the service.
Working closely with the Operational Lead of the MHWT to ensure the effective functioning and positive culture of the team, and ensuring that the psychological needs and formulation of all service users accessing the team are considered.
Providing a psychological perspective and leadership within the MHWT, including promoting psychological thinking in formal and informal discussions and meetings, and ensuring collaborative multidisciplinary care planning for all service users.
Providing clinical leadership and high-quality clinical supervision in the integrated care pathway, under the direction of the PP Lead. This will typically involve the supervision of Band 7 and Band 8a colleagues and will also include overseeing the supervision of Assistant Psychologists and Clinical Associate Psychologists (CAPs), as appropriate.
Providing specialist consultation and clinical input to complex cases presenting with significant distress associated with psychosis, anxiety, mood disorders, such as depression and also enduring difficulties that may have been given the diagnosis of ‘personality disorder’ across the directorate.
Working for our organisation
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focusing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
High Cost Area Supplement - London
This post attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,714 and a maximum payment of £5,941 per annum pro rata).
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points based system.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
• Conducting high quality psychological assessments, treatments, and systematic outcome measurements for service users under the care of the Mental Health and Wellness Team, with a particular focus on those with complex emotional needs.
• Working in close collaboration with other psychology services to ensure a smooth pathway for service-users and their families, under the direction of the Psychological Professional Leads.
• Ensuring that a high quality, timely, accessible and evidence-based psychological service is available to all service users who need it, under the direction of the Psychological Professional Leads.
Use of AI
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy training to Masters level leading to full registration with UKCP, BPC or BACP OR Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or Counselling Psychology HCPC with post doctoral psychodynamic training
Experience
Essential criteria
2. Experience of working with high levels of risk and severe mental health difficulties
3. Experience of providing specialist psychodynamic assessments (brief screening and in-depth interventions to patients with complex problems.
4. Experience of providing clinical supervision
5. Knowledge, understanding and experience of working with service users from diverse ethnic, economic and cultural backgrounds
Desirable criteria
6. Experience of offering group interventions
Skills
Essential criteria
7. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the preparation of highly complex clinical reports and assessments
8. Skills in providing consultation to other professionals and non-professionals
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
9. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
10. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
11. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
12. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.