Principal Clinical Psychologist / Child Psychotherapist / Systemic Family Psychotherapist

Job overview

This role is an exciting opportunity to lead an established specialist CAMHS Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) service in South West London and St George’s NHS Trust. The team is a multidisciplinary team working with young people and their families across Sutton, Merton, Wandsworth, Kingston and Richmond. It provides intensive, evidence-based therapy for young people who struggle with high levels of emotion dysregulation, self-harm and other self-destructive behaviours in an outpatient setting.

Training in Prolonged Exposure therapy for trauma will be offered to the successful applicant.

This team is a well established, energetic and dedicated. It has built strong relationships with other CAMHS services across the boroughs and has close links with other DBT teams working with young people across the South London Partnership.

Main duties of the job

We seek an able and committed CAMHS professional with DBT training to provide high quality clinical and professional leadership in working with young people and families.  CAMHS services in South West London have a positive and supportive culture, and the post holder will join a vibrant group of clinicians within the DBT team, and with the wider Psychology and Psychotherapies group.

Applicants will have:

• Training and experience delivering DBT
• Experience in working with children and young people in a variety of community settings, particularly with those presenting with complex high risk, emotional dysregulation and self-harm
• Experience in working in multi-disciplinary settings and accustomed to interagency working
• Knowledge of Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and Procedure
• Experience in working with trauma and disordered eating presentations is desirable
• Experience with service evaluation or research is desirable

Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Dr Oliver Schauman, Consultant Clinical Psychologist [email protected], and/or Lucy Trotman (Team manager) [email protected] to discuss the post.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Ensure the systematic provision of a high-quality specialist psychological therapies service including clinical psychology, child psychotherapy and systemic family psychotherapy to children, young  people and their families/carers within the designated clinical service area
• Supervise and support the psychological assessment and therapy provided by other psychology and psychotherapy (P&P) staff and other clinical members of the team who provide psychologically based care and treatment by agreement with the CAMHS Psychology and Psychotherapies lead
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service area, working with the CAMHS P&P lead to coordinate psychological assessment, treatment and therapy resources across the teams
• Utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research. To propose and implement policy changes within the designated clinical service area
• Practice clinically within a designated setting, and by example will uphold high standards of psychological and psychotherapeutic assessment, treatment and care.
• Be a source of advice and guidance in relation to risk management and safeguarding.
• Be responsible for the clinical governance structures that support and guide multi-disciplinary colleagues providing psychological therapies in community settings in designated service areas. These governance structures include professional and clinical supervision, PADR processes, CPD and training needs, and recording standards.
• Directly provide clinical supervision to psychology and/or psychotherapy colleagues, and professional supervision to colleagues from a range of psychology and psychotherapy disciplines. Some supervision may be provided across borough boundaries.
• Have a significant role in ensuring that the quality of child mental health work provided in the community is reflected both in clinical records and in data collected that will include the CAMHS minimum data set and CYP IAPT measures. It will be important to contribute to efforts to maximise the benefits of the electronic clinical record system that the service has adopted, and to ensure that clinicians record risk in accordance with policy and guidance.
• Provide coordinated service leadership in designated areas in conjunction with Clinical Leads and Team Managers, advising on service developments.
• Coordinate with Team Managers and Clinical Leads in managing clinical performance concerns.
• Work to promote synergy and connection between local authority, third sector and health services so as to foster joined-up care and to maximise the benefit of available mental health resources for  children, young people and their carers.
• Promote service user involvement in shaping services.
• Promote equality of access to healthcare and awareness of how social difference can influence treatment outcome and service user experience.