MHST Senior Psychological Therapist

Job overview

We are recruiting a Band 8a Senior Psychological Therapist (CBT) to join us. This post is offered as a 9‑month fixed term contract or as a 9‑month secondment opportunity.

MHSTs were developed following the 2017 Green Paper – Transforming Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Provision. We have three core functions:  1)    To deliver evidence-based interventions to children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties 2)    To support schools to develop their whole school approach to mental health and emotional wellbeing 3)    To provide timely advice to school/ college staff to ensure that young people get the right support at the right time

We are an innovative integrated model with Thought-Full being delivered across both Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the Education and Skills department of West Sussex County Council.

Thought-Full (the name of the West Sussex Mental Health Support Teams in Schools) is a unique, integrated team led by West Sussex County Council and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. This work is a crucial strand of the Government’s 2017 Green Paper ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’ and part of the strategic vision for the development of children’s mental health provision across Sussex as described in the Foundations for our Future strategic plan. Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHST) sit within the ‘getting help’ aspect of the Thrive model.

Main duties of the job

As a Senior Psychological Therapist in Thought-Full you will work closely with the Service Lead and Educational Psychologists, playing a key role in the development and delivery of Thought-Full in West Sussex.

You will work with another Senior Psychological Therapist, supporting all the teams across West Sussex. You will oversee the clinical governance of the service. This will mean ensuring appropriate guidance and policies are in place for all aspects of the clinical delivery of the service (e.g. clinical standards, risk, supervision). This will involve utilising research and service development skills as well as leadership skills. As MHSTs are predominantly based on a CBT model, sound knowledge and experience of delivering low and high intensity CBT interventions, and supervision of CBT practitioners, is essential. Knowledge of other key theories and models when working with children and young people is also required.

You will also oversee the supervision in the service. You will supervise Band 7 Senior Mental Health Practitioners and ensure that supervision of assistant, junior and trainee practitioners is provided. You will support the clinical development of the team and deliver appraisals alongside service managers.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

In order to be a successful Senior Psychological Therapist in our team you will be:

-    Registered with the NMC, HCPC or BABCP via a core professional qualification – Applications are welcomed from OT’s, Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists and CBT Therapists -    Experienced/ trained in CBT -    Experienced working with Children and Young People suffering from mental health difficulties  -    Passionate about supporting the prevention and early intervention of mental health difficulties for children and young people Experienced working within a mental health setting -    Experience in supervision -    Experience of leadership

It would also be advantageous if you are: -    Experienced working within a school or have a good understanding of the school system

See attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details.