Highly Specialist Family and Systemic Psychotherapist

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join the secondary mental health Psychology & Psychotherapy Service for Older People as a Senior Family Therapist registered with UKCP for 0.6 WTE. The role involves the provision of systemic family therapy to service users over the age of 65 (and their families). Referrals present with various complex and chronic mental health presentations, and sometimes other comorbid physical conditions, as well as social care needs.

The older adult family therapy clinic sits within the wider Psychology and Psychotherapy Service for Older Adults. The clinic offers  therapy to couples, families and their support systems across the 4 boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Croydon. Referrals are seen in two clinic bases;  Lewisham and Croydon.

Staff in the Psychology & Psychotherapy service work alongside the CMHTs for older adults. We are therefore looking for an enthusiastic Senior Family Therapist who is aware of the importance of close working relationship with Multi-Disciplinary Team colleagues. You must show an understanding of the issues older adults and their families experience, as well as an interest in working with older adults and their networks,  although prior experience with this age-group is not essential.

You will be expected to work autonomously, with service users and their families and to support other professionals by offering supervision, consultation, and systemic formulation.

Main duties of the job

• To provide highly specialist systemic psychotherapy to Older Adults and their families under the care of the Psychology & Psychotherapy Service for Older Adults; including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes.
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
• To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.
• To promote service evaluation, audit and research.
• To work as an autonomous professional within AFT and UKCP guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by the policies and procedures of the service, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions with support of clinical supervisor
• To be active in the provision of staff support within their area, including but not limited to Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve. To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

KR 1 Clinical and Client Care

• To provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for clients (individuals, couples, families and social networks where the identified client has complex mental health needs).
• To provide culturally appropriate psychological or psychotherapeutic interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required.
• To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.
• To provide reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users and their families.
• To select and deliver evidence-based specialist therapeutic interventions, drawing from a spectrum of ideas and models, monitoring outcome and modifying and adapting interventions as necessary, based on the highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, couple, family or group.
• To promote psychological support for carers (or families as appropriate) of referred clients.

KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning

• To contribute to the effective working of the Psychology & Psychotherapy Service for Older Adults and to a psychologically/psychotherapeutically informed framework for the service.
• To contribute to the team or service’s delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
• To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
• To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients in order to develop and review care plans.
• To liaise with the service/s MDT and other professionals.

KR 3 Policy and service development

• To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
• To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
• To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.

KR 4 Care or management of resources

• To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust’s equipment and physical resources.
• To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.
• To ensure the cleanliness and safe functioning and use of equipment that will be used by clients or other persons.
• To monitor and advise clients on the safe use of materials and processes.
• To ensure adequate confidential and safe storage for artefacts produced during the therapy process in line with professional guidelines.
• To be responsible for obtaining, storing and maintaining all materials and equipment for the provision of therapy in work setting within budgetary constraints.

KR 5 Management and supervision

• To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of a paid assistant if required, under supervision from a more senior therapist.
• To supervise trainees within own area of specialism after completion of the relevant Supervision Training.

KR 6 Teaching and Training

• To provide occasional specialist training in psychological/psychotherapeutic approaches to care to other professions as appropriate.
• To disseminate research/service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance

• To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
• To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.

KR 8 Research and development

• To undertake regular complex service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.

KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

• To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior therapist according to discipline, professional body and Trust guidelines.
• To maintain own Continuing Professional Development in line with professional body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and professional Standards for Continuing Professional Development.
• To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
• To comply with professional body Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics/Standards of Proficiency.

KR10 General

• To travel to ………….(e.g. home visits, community placements, meetings) as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
• To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
• [Delete where not relevant to the post] To work flexibly which may include offering some regular commitment to late clinics or Saturday working, within the overall Job Plan.
• To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations (such as challenging behaviour, abuse etc) and to support others involved in such situations through Trust-wide approaches including Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve.