Highly Specialist DBT Therapist

Job overview

We are looking to recruit an experienced clinical/counselling psychologist/Psychotherapist/Nurse Practitioners accredited as DBT Practitioner to join the existing DBT team within the Mood and Personality (MAP) pathway.

The successful candidate will provide line management support and clinical expertise to the Band 7 DBT clinicians within the service. They must  have experience of working with clients with complex EUPD presentations and delivering CBT skills.

The clinical role includes the full comprehensive DBT programme: screening, assessment, pre-treatment, individual therapy, DBT skills group and attending Consult.

The post-holder will contribute to ensuring that psychological perspectives are visible and influential in the team’s work more broadly. This may include teaching and case consultation with members of the treatment team involved in client care.

The post holder will be line managed by the MAP Psychology & Psychotherapy Lead and will work very closely with the MAP psychological Therapists within the CMHT and PCMHT.

Main duties of the job

To provide Dialectical Behaviour Therapy service to clients with Borderline/Emotionally-Unstable Personality Disorder (BPD/EUPD) and comorbid difficulties associated with underlying emotional dysregulation.

The job will entail delivering comprehensive DBT (individual DBT sessions, DBT skills training [group sessions], DBT telephone coaching and attending weekly DBT Team Consult meetings), planning and delivering DBT-S groups within the community teams, conducting specialist assessments and comprehensive monitoring of clinical outcomes.

The job will also require the post holder to offer consultation to other professionals, attend MDT meetings, offer advice and consultation to other MDT professional and contribute to the treatment decision making process.

The postholder will be expected to work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the DBT team.

The post holder in collaboration with the MAP psychology Lead will plan and deliver training or teaching as required by the service and teams. The post holder will also be required to contribute to service evaluation, audit and research.

The post holder has the overall responsibility for managing some aspects of the DBT pathway and waiting list for the DBT service.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To manage and deliver a comprehensive Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Service for adults in Southwark with a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder(BPD).

To be involved in the delivery and supervision of DBT-informed stepped care interventions for (transdiagnostic) adults in Southwark with emotion regulation difficulties. To offer specialist clinical input to wider services where appropriate. To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe and trauma-informed environment. To ensure that systems are in place and working effectively for the clinical and professional support of other DBT therapists within Southwark DBT Service. To undertake service evaluation, audit, research, QI and policy development. To work as an autonomous professional within relevant professional guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by principles and policies or procedures of the service, taking responsibility for interpreting policies within defined parameters. To agree outcomes/results with clinical/professional lead and to decide how they are best achieved.