Job overview
This is an interesting opportunity to join the Lewisham Personality Disorder Service for a nine months fixed term contract covering maternity leave, delivering MBT and SUN crisis and support groups.
The service aims to improve patients' well-being and personality functioning. The main treatments consist of weekly individual and group therapy over 18-months: MBT and Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP). The post-holder would join the MBT arm of the service.
We would provide the post-holder with training and supervision. S/he would assess patients and deliver individual and group MBT.
Specialist consultation to other teams is also part of the role, supporting CMHT staff in working with patients with a PD.
We would train the post-holder in facilitating a SUN group. ‘Service User Network’ groups are coping skills and crisis planning groups. These use a containing structure, drawing on the ideas of group members to support each other.
The post holder would need psychotherapy or clinical/counselling psychology qualification and experience of working with this patient group, some psychoanalytic training and/or experience, and broad mental health experience. We value diversity and welcome applicants from a BME background.
Main duties of the job
1. Deliver MBT individually
2. Deliver MBT in groups
3. Potentially assess patients
4. Co-facilitate a SUN group.
5. Potentially liaise with community teams about referrals
Working for our organisation
The service was launched in 2021. There are 13 clinicians: psychotherapists, clinical and counselling psychologists, psychiatrist, OT and employment worker and administrator. We are a supportive team, with an ethos of collaboration.
Lewisham is a multi-ethnic London borough with good transport links. The Wallace Centre is located between Deptford High Street and Greenwich town centre.
Benefits
We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and believe in a healthy work-life balance. We want you to feel part of a close-knit team, to feel valued. Our benefits package includes:
6. Generous pay, pensions and leave, dependent on the role and length of service.
7. Work life balance, flexible working and flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
8. Career development, opportunities to progress and we support your development through mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
9. Car lease, our staff benefit from competitive deals to lease cars
10. Accommodation, our staff benefit from keyworker housing which is available on selected sites
11. Counselling
12. Wellbeing events
13. Cycle to work scheme
14. Season ticket loan
15. Childcare vouchers
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Job Purpose:
16. To work as a member of the Lewisham Personalities Disorder Service providing specialist assessment and treatment of patients with a personality disorder.
17. To help other staff, service users and carers to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe and therapeutic environment.
18. To provide individual and group therapy in and facilitate Service User Network groups (SUN) in the community.
19. To work as a link worker with other mental health teams, consulting to staff and co-facilitating groups in primary and secondary-care multidisciplinary teams.
Key Responsibilities:
KR 1 Clinical and Client Care
20. To provide specialist psychotherapeutic assessments and interventions for clients in the Lewisham Personality Disorders Service at Band 7, i.e. achievable by newly-qualified psychotherapists or psychologists after a few months on-the-job training.
21. To provide culturally appropriate psychotherapeutic interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
22. To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.
23. To act as keyworker, taking responsibility for reviewing care plans, and arranging meetings.
KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning
24. To contribute to the effective working of the Lewisham Personality Disorders Serviceand to a psychotherapeutically informed framework for the service.
25. To contribute to the team or service’s delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
26. To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
27. To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients in order to develop and review care plans.
KR 3 Policy and service development
28. To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
29. To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
30. To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
KR 4 Care or management of resources
31. To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust’s equipment and physical resources.
32. To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.
KR 5 Management and supervision
33. To supervise trainee psychotherapists or applied psychologists within own area of specialism after completion of the relevant Supervision Training.
34. To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of an assistant psychologist if required, under supervision from a more senior psychologist.
KR 6 Teaching and Training
35. To provide occasional specialist training in psychotherapeutic approaches to care to other professions as appropriate.
36. To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and reports.
KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance
37. To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
38. To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.
KR 8 Research and development
39. To undertake regular complex service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.
KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development
40. To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychotherapist or psychologist according to the relevant professional body and Trust guidelines.
41. To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with BPC/UKCP/BACP for psychotherapists and the HCPC/BPS for psychologists, and for both the Trust Personal Development Plan requirements.
42. To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
43. To adhere to Trust policies and procedures.
Psychotherapists:
44. To comply with the BPC/UKCP/BACP (depending which registered with) Standards or Code of Conduct, and ensure professional development in line with these.
Psychologists:
45. To comply with the HCPC ‘Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics’ and ‘Standards of Proficiency’, and ensure professional development in line with these.
46. To adhere to the BPS’s Professional Practice Guidelines and Trust policies and procedures.
KR10 General
47. To travel to home visits, community team bases, team meetings, inpatient units and across the Trust when required.
48. To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
49. To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing such as challenging behaviour and to support others involved in such situations.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
50. PSYCHOTHERAPISTS: Entry-level qualification in Psychotherapy and registered with the BPC/UKCP/BACP as Psychotherapist. Or PSYCHOLOGISTS: Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) and registered with HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist. Clinical psychologist: Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent; Counselling psychologist: MSc and PG Diploma in Counselling Psychology; (A/I)
Desirable criteria
51. Acreditation in MBT (A/I)
52. • Professional registration as a Registered Mental Health Nurse, Mental Health Social Worker, or Occupational Therapist, registered with NMC, HCPC or Social Work England or equivalent mental health experience. (A/I)
53. • Supervisor qualification relating to staff working with patients with personality disorder (AI).
Experience
Essential criteria
54. Experience of psychotherapeutic assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature. (A/I)
55. Experience of working therapeutically with patients with a personality disorder at primary, secondary or tertiary level. (A/I)
56. Experience that supports working with issues of diversity gained through work, research, volunteering or lived experience. (A/I)
Desirable criteria
57. Experience of delivering MBT
knowledge and skills
Essential criteria
58. o carry out specialist psychotherapeutic assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources. (A/I/R)
59. To communicate complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers including emotional difficulties, and hostility to or rejection of information and to communicate clearly in writing. (A/I/R)
60. Knowledge of child and adult safeguarding procedures. (A/I/R)
Desirable criteria
61. Post-graduate level knowledge of psychotherapeutic research methodology. (A/I/R)
Abilities
Essential criteria
62. Ability to manage stressful situations such as working with people who engage in self-harm or are verbally challenging with high expressed emotion. (A/I)
63. Ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to team functioning. (A/I/R)