NHSJobs.com

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To exercise professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients who are referred by  school staff, other appropriate health and social care professionals.

To assess clients presenting with complex personal difficulties including those arising from mild to moderate mental health difficulties, based on accurate understanding and utilising a conceptual framework of the clients’ difficulties.

To make decisions regarding suitability for therapy, with particular regard to issues of risk, and referral onward to other specialist services, using trauma informed therapeutic decisions.

To formulate and implement therapy and treatment plans with clients, normally within a brief structured time frame or a contracted number of sessions.

To exercise sound theoretical knowledge of the processes of therapy and based on evidence of efficacy, to employ a range of short-term therapy interventions to meet the needs of the referred client.

To be able to work with a range of client presentations, including ambivalence and resistance, in order to facilitate clients’ ability to explore a range of life issues which are frequently of a distressing emotional nature.

To provide regular information to referrers, about the treatment process and outcome, initial and ongoing risk assessments, making appropriate disclosure and referral onward where necessary.

To communicate and liaise where appropriate with all other professionals involved in the individual client’s treatment and ongoing emotional wellbeing and mental health care.

To provide such information reports as are required in order to facilitate effective communication with referring agencies and commissioners.

To contribute to in-service training events through presentation with information relating to good working practice, special project and procedural changes.

To maintain the highest professional standards of practice by undertaking regular external professional supervision, internal peer supervision and appraisal.

To manage own clinical caseload within guidelines provided by the team’s operational management and relevant professional guidelines and ethical frameworks. 

To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and responsible exercise of professional self-governance. To comply with the Trust information governance and record keeping policies and guidelines.

To continue to develop the skills of a reflexive practitioner by conducting regular personal audit and evaluation of clinical work and by maintaining an active engagement with current development in the field of counselling and related disciplines.

To have basic keyboard skills and be able to use Microsoft office applications such as Word and Excel.

To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both a specific group and primary care adult mental health services.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

Internal

• Head of Integrated Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
• YoutherapY Team
• Administration Team
• CAMHS Staff
• CASHER Staff
• MHST Staff
• Families and Integrated Community Care Division staff

External

• Local Authority
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Schools
• GPs
• Other healthcare and non-healthcare organisations