Job overview
Are you passionate about providing evidenced based psychological therapy to people struggling with a range of psychological difficulties including anxiety and depression, that is flexible and personalised to the service user? Do you want to develop personally and professionally, through regular high-quality individual supervision, and a range of team activities and ongoing CPD opportunities?
This role is offering high quality therapies, in an environment that is supportive for staff. We subscribe to the BABCP Positive Practice guide.
We are committed to staff development and specialist areas of clinical expertise through supervision, training and research opportunities, and reflective spaces. We have a diverse workforce, so we particularly welcome staff members who can speak and work in languages that reflect the diverse communities in Haringey.
We are mindful that working in a fast-paced service with people experiencing psychological distress can be challenging and we proactively support all our staff. We encourage flexible working and staff are encouraged to negotiate a working pattern that allows for a good work life balance.
This is a hybrid role (office/home working). Staff are required to work part of the week in any of the locations around Haringey with the opportunity to work part of the week at home.
We will consider newly qualified therapists who are due to be accredited. However such individuals will be paid at band 6 until accreditation is confirmed.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for Cognitive Behavioural Therapists and Clinical/Counselling Psychologists with experience of working with adults with a range of mental health difficulties to join our successful, and supportive team. You will be providing assessment and high intensity psychological interventions.
As a CBT therapist/Psychologist, you will work with adults with a range of anxiety and depression disorders using CBT.
CBT therapists will offer (or work towards offering) supervision to trainees, and advice, consultation, and training within the service, as well as having the opportunity to contribute towards shaping and developing by taking the lead in a specific area of interest.
Working for our organisation
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1. Accept referrals via agreed protocols within the service
2. Assess clients for suitability for CBT. Where the problems appear to be too complex or severe to be appropriate for the Talking Therapies service, to refer to manager/supervisor for advice on how to manage the case.
3. Contribute to diagnostic decisions and advise on the suitability of new referrals, adhering to the department’s referral protocols, and refer unsuitable clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as necessary.
4. Formulate, implement and evaluate therapy programmes for clients using CBT.
5. To make an assessment of risk for patient and others and take appropriate action when necessary.
6. Educate and involve family members and others in treatment as necessary, conveying CBT formulations with sensitivity in easily understood language.
7. Adhere to an agreed activity contract relating to the number of client contacts offered and clinical sessions carried out per week in order to minimise waiting times and ensure treatment delivery remains accessible and convenient.
8. Attend multi-disciplinary meetings relating to referrals or clients in treatment, where appropriate.
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential criteria
9. Completed a PG Diploma in CBT or in High Intensity (IAPT Pathway) and be accredited with the BABCP or a registered doctoral level qualification in clinical or counselling psychology, with PG level training in CBT with BABCP accreditation
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
10. Ability to evaluate and put in place the effect of training
11. Computer literate
12. Excellent verbal and written communication skills
13. Has received training in, and carried out, risk assessments within scope of practice
14. Able to develop good therapeutic relationships with clients
Desirable criteria
15. Experience supervising other CBT clinicians.
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
16. Demonstrable experience of working in mental health services
17. Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets
18. Ability to manage own caseload and time
19. Demonstrates high standards in written communication
20. Able to write clear reports and letters to referrers
21. Experience of providing evidence based psychological interventions (in particular CBT)
22. Experience with routine outcome monitoring
23. Demonstrates an understanding (and formal training) of anxiety and depression and how it may present in Primary Care
24. Demonstrates a knowledge of the issues surrounding work and the impact it can have on mental health
25. Knowledge of medication used in anxiety and depression and other common mental health problems
26. Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post
Desirable criteria
27. Experience of working in Primary Care Services
28. Experience in teaching and liaising with other professionals
29. Experience in establishing diagnoses
30. Experience in using IAPTUS
31. Experience of working in a service where agreed targets in place demonstrating clinical outcomes
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
32. Ability to work within a team and foster good working relationships
33. Ability to be self-reflective, whilst working with service users, in own personal and professional development and in supervision
Desirable criteria
34. Fluent in languages other than English, in particular common languages in Haringey such as Turkish and Spanish
35. Able to integrate training into practice
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS
To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:
36. Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
37. Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.
38. Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
39. Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
40. Participate in required training and supervision.
41. Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct
Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.