CBT Therapist - Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service

Job overview

NHFT have an exciting vacancy available for a CBT Therapist in the Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service (SPMHS). This is an established award-winning team, which has expanded in line with the Long-Term Plan for Mental Health.

The SPMHS supports women/birthing people who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties in the perinatal period (from 12 weeks of pregnancy until 2 years postpartum). The psychology team provides evidence based psychological therapies and comprises of Clinical Psychologists, Applied Psychologists, and Psychological Therapists. The therapies provided may include EMDR, Trauma focused CBT, CBT for anxiety-based disorders (including OCD), Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Compassion focussed Therapy, Parent Infant Psychotherapy, and Family Therapy. Psychological interventions are provided on both a group and one-to-one basis and both remote and face-to-face interventions are available.

We are looking for a CBT Therapist who has an interest in working with women/birthing people experiencing perinatal mental health conditions including post-natal depression, post-partum psychosis, perinatal anxiety disorders, PTSD, and maternal OCD. This is a multi-disciplinary service with lots of opportunities for joint working and service development.

Main duties of the job

Following a period of induction and training, the post holder will provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and intervention for women/birthing people and their families who are under the care of the SPMHS. The post-holder will receive supervision from a senior psychologist / psychological therapist within the team and will support the development of psychologically informed care across the multidisciplinary team and wider perinatal mental health local pathway. The post holder will be involved in multi-disciplinary team discussions to inform psychological thinking throughout the service. The post holder will be expected to work closely with all members of the SPMHS and network of Psychologists and Psychological Therapists in NHFT and contribute to service, practice, and clinical governance developments, both within the team and the wider network. They will contribute to audit, policy and service development, and research within the area served by the service. The post holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please ensure you read the job description and person specification attached and that your supporting information reflects the relevant skills and experience you have, as your application will be shortlisted against these criteria.

Please note we are a countywide service, providing both face-to-face and remote intervention. Ability and willingness to travel for work is essential – there are two bases for SPMHS in Campbell House and Rectory Road. We also regular work out of family hubs and children’s centres as well as providing home visits.

There will be opportunities for further training via local and regionally delivered training programmes. We have strong links with the East Midlands Regional Perinatal Network. The post holder will also be expected to contribute to the development of a locally agreed programme that delivers training to health and social care professionals in Northamptonshire. We have developed an exciting induction programme to meet the Perinatal Competency Framework and provide regular supervision and training for all our staff.

Training and experience of working with individuals with a broad range of psychological and psychiatric problems within a core professional role, alongside a strong interest in working in perinatal services is essential. Experience of working in the Perinatal Mental Health field is desirable but not required. We would expect the applicant to have developed their knowledge of Perinatal Mental Health Conditions, prevalence rates, treatment interventions, and Safeguarding Policies and Procedures, although formal training in these areas is not required. Although perinatal experience is not essential, we do expect that the applicant has an interest in this area, can demonstrate knowledge of perinatal services, and can evidence transferable skills. They must also be able to work effectively with a range of professionals from other services (e.g. health visiting, Maternity, Children’s Services and the Third Sector services).

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.