CYPMHS Lead Cognitive Behavioural Therapist

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced CBT therapist to join our Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS).

This is a brand new post that will support implementation of the expansion of our Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) alongside providing professional leadership to our many CBT therapists and wellbeing practitioners across the CYPMHS footprint.

We are looking for someone who can strengthen delivery of CBT across all ten of our CYPMHS teams , including core CYPMHS, MHSTs, Crisis Response/Home Treatment, and Children & Young People's Eating Disorders.

The ideal candidate will be someone who will thrive in a role that balances service development, provision of supervision, and delivery of CBT-based interventions to young people under the care of MHSTs.

Main duties of the job

To provide clinical and professional leadership for CBT therapists and wellbeing practitioners within the CYPMHS service line

To work collaboratively with other lead psychological professionals to develop and strengthen the psychological therapies offer across the service line

To work with managers and clinical leads to implement the expansion of MHSTs, in line with the national target to provide support to 100% of schools

To take a role in the CYPMHS Senior Leadership Team

To undertake and support service development, audit and research activities

To have oversight of clinical supervision for CBT therapists and wellbeing practitioners in the service line

To provide clinical supervision to CBT therapists

To provide CBT-based therapeutic interventions to young people and their families who are being supported by our MHSTs

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical To hold a caseload of highly complex psychological assessment, treatment and consultation work based upon a highly specialised, conceptual framework and employing research-based evidence.

To be responsible for the provision of highly specialist cognitive behavioural psychotherapy with clinical autonomy drawing on a range of models, and to incorporate specialist theoretical and practical knowledge. To practice in a manner that is inclusive and considerate of the needs of the child/young person and family within the highly complex systems in which they live.

To be responsible for implementing a range of highly specialist cognitive behavioural psychotherapy interventions with children/young people and their families, including groups, drawing upon different explanatory models, to maintain a number of provisional hypotheses in reaching a formulation and a treatment plan.

To work in ways that are sensitive to the needs of children/young people and their families from a wide range of racial, cultural and religious backgrounds. This includes an ability to understand and offer therapeutic intervention to children and young people with a wide range of external and systemic influences on their mental health, as well as individual factors such as neurodivergence.

To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, taking into account multiple and highly complex factors which may conflict or contribute to high levels of ambiguity and instability for children/young people and their professional networks.

To exercise responsibility and autonomy, within supervisory, managerial and accountability structures, for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients engaged in psychological therapy.

To deliver case management as required, ensuring effective assessment, care planning and risk management processes are maintained. Involve the views of families, referring agents and other professionals involved in the network of care including organising and chairing (as required) multi-agency meetings.

To organise and provide CBT in line with service and training needs. To provide live supervision of other psychological therapists where needed.

To hold responsibility for standards of clinical practice within CBT in CYPMHS and MHSTs, by ensuring appropriateness of referrals, competence of therapists, and suitability of supervisors.

To work jointly and collaboratively with other team members in order to enhance and develop the provision of services to young people and their families. To provide specialist theoretical cognitive behavioural knowledge and skills in childhood or adolescence. To have an effective knowledge base of other modalities so as to engage and work with colleagues in other disciplines.

To provide consultation, advice and guidance to colleagues, teams and external agencies, which is underpinned by highly specialist theoretical cognitive behavioural knowledge pertinent to childhood and adolescence, to promote effective multi-agency work. To contribute highly specialist knowledge to the process of managing risk within the multi-agency network.

Undertake and oversee risk management as a senior clinician, offering consultation and advice to high-risk emergencies, contributing to the team's duty rota as appropriate and considering the protective and risk factors present in the network of significant relationships.

To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of children, young people and their families, and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both multi and uni disciplinary care. To effectively communicate professional opinions, verbally and in writing to other relevant professionals.

To maintain current knowledge of the operation of video equipment and promote ethical and effective use in line with Trust Policy. Introduce the practice to children, young people and families in a sensitive manner,

To engage with using routine outcome measures as clinically appropriate including their use in clinical practice and inputting data into clinical records.

To work collaboratively with families and contribute to the Trust's and CYPMHS' service-user participation agenda.

Teaching, Training and Supervision To provide highly specialised professional supervision (including live supervision, where necessary) to CBT practitioners, wellbeing practitioners and other professionals both within the service and in partner agencies.

To provide supervision to professionals training in CBT and support them to meet the requirements of their training.

To support training of other professionals and therapists, to familiarise them with cognitive behavioural models of practice, and to support them to apply core CBT skills in clinical practice. To offer CBT-focused supervision where appropriate.

To develop CBT-related training opportunities within the teams and support the development of a bespoke cognitive behavioural training plan for staff based on best practice and the evidence base. Implementation of cognitive behavioural training across the service line to all staff groups that are delivered by the Trust.

Work collaboratively with partner agencies within the principles of THRIVE. This will include joint working; clinical supervision; consultation; training and service development aiming to develop joint working across agencies and disseminate psychological practices.

Management, Policy and Service Development Convene, attend and chair meetings as appropriate.

Identify CBT-related priorities and initiatives within and across services and advise managers on the level of resources required for service development.

Contribute to the service's evidence-based practice by utilising research skills and engaging with audits and evaluations as appropriate.

To act as a senior clinician in interview processes and undertake selection and recruitment activities on behalf of the service e.g., shortlist, interview and assist in the induction of recruited staff.

To manage the workload of CBT practitioners and, where appropriate, provide line management to psychological professionals.

Provide specialist knowledge to a variety of disciplines to contribute to service development and primary care.

To exercise responsibility for managing the CBT resources available to the service both in terms of delivery of psychotherapy and ensuring access to appropriate clinical materials.

Take a clinical leadership role within the service and Trust, including taking responsibility for a section of service delivery delegated to them.

Participate and contribute to the decision making within the Trust on specific areas of delegated responsibility.

Contribute to service and Trust policy development as appropriate.

Research and Service Evaluation To maintain up-to-date knowledge of the evidence base in relation to CBT and other related psychotherapies, with a focus on building expertise in children and young people's mental health

To contribute to planning and implementing systems for evaluation and monitoring of therapeutic practice and outcomes of clinical work within the CYP MH service line

To carry out research in order to contribute to knowledge within the clinical specialty or advance a particular service area.

Undertake and participate in appropriate audit, quality assurance programmes and research.

Continuing Professional Development

To receive and engage in regular clinical supervision in accordance with Trust Clinical Governance Standards and the Code of Practice and ethical guidelines of BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies).

To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice through active participation in internal and external CPD training BABCP requirements for CPD and accreditation.

To contribute to the development of best practice in CBT by taking part in regular supervision and appraisal and maintaining awareness of current developments in the field.

To maintain BABCP accreditation as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist.