Job summary
Swale CYPMHS is seeking a motivated and skilled Band 7 Clinical Psychologist, Family Therapist, CBT Therapist or Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist to join our multi-disciplinary team.

You will provide specialist assessment, formulation and evidence-based therapeutic interventions for children, young people and families presenting with emotional, behavioural, neurodevelopmental and complex mental health needs.

The role will involve direct clinical work, parent/carer work, consultation, MDT care planning, liaison with schools and partner agencies, outcome monitoring, supervision where appropriate, and contribution to service development and clinical governance.

We welcome applications from clinicians who are compassionate, reflective and committed to delivering high-quality, inclusive and child-centred care within Swale CYPMHS. The role will require travel across the locality and wider Kent and Medway sites as needed.

This is aligned with the Band 7 JD, which describes specialist assessment, therapeutic intervention, parent work, MDT input, school observation, outcome monitoring, audit and supervision responsibilities within CYPMHS.

We are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.

Main duties of the job
You will provide specialist assessment, formulation and evidence-based therapeutic interventions for children, young people and families accessing Swale CYPMHS.

You will work as part of the multi-disciplinary team, contributing to assessment, treatment planning, risk assessment, care planning, outcome monitoring and review. The role will include direct therapeutic work with children and young people, parent/carer work, consultation, psychoeducation, group work where appropriate, and liaison with schools, social care, GPs and other partner agencies.

You will manage a clinical caseload, provide specialist clinical advice within their professional area, contribute to MDT discussions and support the delivery of safe, timely and effective care for children and young people with emotional, behavioural, neurodevelopmental and complex mental health needs.

You will also contribute to service development, audit, clinical governance, supervision where appropriate, and the development of high-quality evidence-based practice within Swale CYPMHS. This reflects the Band 7 JD responsibilities around specialist assessment, therapeutic intervention, parent/carer work, MDT input, outcome monitoring, audit and supervision.

About us
We are Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway and are rated 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Our teams support children, young people and adults with a wide range of mental health needs. We also provide specialist services, including all-age eating disorder services and neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people, such as autism and ADHD.

Because we work across the whole county and across hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the people we serve.

Our vision is simple: we are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. Everything we do is guided by our values: caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

Join us if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's working well together.

Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description for full details and main responsibilities of the role.

Person Specification
Knowledge and Skills
Essential

• Ability to comprehend and communicate verbally and in writing highly complex and sensitive information in a manner appropriate to a range of settings and audiences, including complex highly emotive situations and those with significantly impaired communication capacities.
• Ability to analyse and manage complex multi-factorial clinical information from a range of sources integrating it into a formulation utilising a variety of psychological perspectives

Desirable

• Record of having published in either, peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books

Qualifications and Registrations
Essential

• For Psychologists: Post-graduate doctorate in clinical/counselling psychology (or its equivalent) as accredited by the HCPC/BPS.
• For Psychotherapists: Specialist post graduate training to masters level or equivalent in a Psychotherapeutic modality (for example CBT or Psychodynamic Psychotherapy) leading to accreditation/registration with UKCP/BABCP/BACP or equivalent

Experience
Essential

• Experience of working as a qualified specialist clinical/counselling psychologist or psychotherapist for a minimum of one year. We also welcome applications from those who are nearing completion of training.
• Experience of working in range of mental health settings with a range of levels of disability and full range of age groups

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.