Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist (Band 7 - 8a development)

Job overview

We have a rare opportunity to join our expanding child and adolescent psychotherapy workforce within 0-18 Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Services in the Wirral.

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced child and adolescent psychotherapist or someone looking to take their next step with a 7 to 8a development post.   You must be registered with the Association of Child Psychotherapists and applications from final year trainees will be considered.

Wirral CYPMHS comprises: an Access Service (which includes a Mental Health in Schools provision); a 0-18 Team (a Multi-Disciplinary Team for children and young people who present with moderate to severe mental health difficulties, with a clinical offer which includes generic CYPMHS work, psychiatry, psychology, CBT, DBT, EMDR, IPT-A and systemic family therapy and a specialist Eating Disorders Service. There are also Multi-Disciplinary LD/Neurodevelopment CYPMHS Team, and an Intensive Support Team (for CYP with Autism).

Main duties of the job

Child psychotherapy is an established element of our service provision. The child and adolescent psychotherapists work closely together under the leadership of the Trust-wide consultant to offer psychoanalytic assessments, brief, short-term and long-term psychotherapy, together with parent/carer work and family/relational work. There is scope to offer reflective practice, consultation and supervision, and support to develop areas of special clinical interest as part of the job planning and appraisal process and in line with service need (e.g. STPP, care experienced children or early years work).

The service offers placements to clinical trainees from NSCAP and there is support to develop service supervision skills at the right time.

Applicants must comply with Trust policy and governance requirements, including risk management, safeguarding, outcome monitoring, clinical record keeping, training and development.

Please contact Emma Higgs (Principal Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist) [email protected] to arrange an early discussion about this post or an informal visit. To find out more about child and adolescent psychotherapy in our Trust please contact Dr Tim Smith (Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist) [email protected]

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please download a copy of the job description (see ‘documents to download’ section below) for full details of the main responsibilities for this role.

At CWP, our recruitment selection processes are based on both competence (see person specification for details) and values.

CWP recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust’s Values in their everyday life and we use a values-based approach in our interviews, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust’s Values and think about how these align with your own personal values. The supporting information section in your application should reflect your understanding of the Trust’s Values and associated behaviours and you should provide examples from your work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviours.

An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page. Further help and support for completing your application can be accessed via our website. If you need any further guidance to help you complete your application, contact our recruitment team via email at: [email protected] or by calling 01244 393100.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer ‘YES’ to the question: ‘Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?’

Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.

The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post and encourages applications from armed forces reservists or cadet force adult volunteers.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16 per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team CWP very soon!