Job summary
Employer heading
Principal Systemic Family Therapist
Band 8b
West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.
We also provide some specialist services that are commissioned regionally, such as our medium secure services; and nationally, such as the Cassel Hospital for people with complex and severe personality disorder and our high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.
Job overview
Thanks to on-going investment, a structure review and subsequent expansion of the West London CAMHS Systemic & Family Psychotherapy Team, we are pleased to recruit to a 1.0 WTE Band 8b Principal Systemic & Family Psychotherapist in our Eating Disorders Services.
We are offering an exciting opportunity for a dynamic, ambitious, and motivated CAMHS Systemic & Family Psychotherapist who has extensive experience working in CAMHS to join in the Tri-borough Eating Disorders Services. You will be joining a skilled and supportive leadership team.
We are a large, dynamic group of family therapists in the West London NHS Trust and hold meetings both at a local level and at a tri-borough level where you have the opportunity to meet other family therapists.
The successful applicant will form part of the Systemic & Family Psychotherapy Supervision Structure within the service and offer supervision and line management as appropriate to members of the systemic family therapy team.
You will be a member of the West London Trust Systemic & Family Psychotherapy CAMHS leadership group and contribute to discipline specific training and developments. The Systemic leadership team consists of Principal Systemic Psychotherapists and the Head of Systemic Therapy. The leadership team are friendly, enthusiastic and innovative and look forward to the post-holder joining them.
Main duties of the job
We are looking to appoint a CAMHS Principal Systemic & Family Psychotherapist who is able to demonstrate a commitment to creative engagement with a culturally diverse population of young people, shows initiative, demonstrates excellent leadership skills, is a team player and is able to communicate ideas clearly to both professionals and young people alike.
You will be part of the leadership of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) consisting of mental health nurses, medical doctors, Psychiatrist, Eating Disorders Practitioners, Dieticians, Mental Health Support Workers, Occupational Therapist and other family therapist. We are a close and supportive team with weekly MDT meetings and monthly reflective groups.
Ability to demonstrate knowledge, competence and an interest in working with children who present with complex mental health needs in addition to eating disorders is essential for the role. The Principal Systemic & Family Psychotherapist will also need to be flexible and have the necessary skills and experience to provide high quality care that is both evidence based and client focused. Additionally, he/she will need to demonstrate supervision and leadership skills.
Working for our organisation
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK.
Our 3,982 staff care for people in hospital and in the community, helping them to recover and go on to lead full and productive lives. We aim to be the best organisation of our kind in the country.
We provide care and treatment for more than 800,000 people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, delivering services in the community (at home, in GP surgeries and care homes), hospital, specialist clinics and forensic (secure) units.
We’re rated good overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Together, we’re committed to promoting hope and wellbeing, working with patients, service users, carers, families and partners across the communities we serve.
We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.
The regulations mandating vaccination for in-scope roles in the NHS have now been removed. The Trust does however continue to encourage and support staff to be vaccinated as this remains the best line of defence against COVID19. Vaccination data will be collected by our recruitment team during your on-boarding if you are happy to provide a copy of your COVID pass.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
CAMHS is a fast growing, friendly and proactive service. We offer staff benefits which are outlined in the candidate pack and a great level of job satisfaction.
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required and the link below will also provide useful information.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Post-graduate training in systemic family therapists as accredited by IFT or AFT
- Professional registration with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
- Training in systemic supervision.
- Training or willingness to undertake training in FT/AN and Multi Family Therapy Group approach for eating disorders.
Desirable criteria
- Post-qualification training in one or more additional specialised areas of systemic family therapy practice
Experience
Essential criteria
- Substantial length of practice working as qualified systemic family therapist.
- Clinical experience and skills in engaging young people who have an eating disorder and their families/carers
- Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialized systemic family therapy in eating disorders.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups in CAMHS services, and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings
- Experience of maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
- Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
- Experience of representing systemic family therapy within the context of multi-disciplinary care.
- Experience of the application of systemic family therapy in different cultural contexts.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of service development.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialized psychological therapies and assessment methodologies.
Skills
Essential criteria
- Skills in the use of complex methods of systemic family therapy assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Knowledge and skills of the application of systemic family assessment and therapy within child and adolescent populations.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
Desirable criteria
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the UKCP.
- Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.
- Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
Desirable criteria
- Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Mikael Penttinen
- Job title
- Principal Family & Systemic Psychotherapist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
For more information and an informal chat please contact:
Mikael Penttinen, Interim Principal Family & Systemic Psychotherapist – [email protected]
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