Highly Specialist CAMHS Practitioner

We are seeking an enthusiastic and creative Highly Specialist CAMHS clinician to join the E&B Team. The post holder will be expected to conduct specialist CAMHS assessment and offer treatment (both individual and group) for young people aged 6-18 presenting with a range of mental health difficulties. The post holder will require a high degree of professional autonomy and self-management, and will be required to account for their professional practice through appraisal and audit. The post holder will directly contribute to the positive working environment within the multi-disciplinary team. The role includes care-coordination, work with the wider network, being part of the duty system and supervisory responsibilities.

The applicant will also be responsible for the Continuing Care role within the local authority which supports assessments, care coordination, attends panel meetings and offers support and advice to the social care team and families.

Job description

Newham CAMHS is a large and vibrant specialist child and adolescent mental health service with a reputation for innovation and flexibility in meeting the complex mental health support needs of Newham's children, young people and families. It is centrally located on one site in Plaistow, Newham, and provides an extensive and growing range of services including multi-disciplinary specialist teams such as the Emotional & Behavioural Teams, Adolescent Mental Health Team, Paediatric Liaison Team, Neurodevelopmental Team, Children in Care Pathway and the Well Being in Newham Schools Team. It meets weekly with community partners and social care as part of the Newham Multi Agency Collective. Practitioners work in Youth Zones and form part of the Vanguard Team - a specialist community psychology led service in Newham, for young people up to 25 years of age impacted by, or at risk of youth violence. There is a broad spectrum of disciplines and a long tradition of effective multidisciplinary and interagency working, outreach and consultation work.

Person specification

Education/ Qualification/ Training

Essential

• oDegree level study or equivalent / Further post degree qualification
• oCurrent Registration with appropriate professional body
• Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy Honours degree. Postgraduate Diploma / MA in Psychoanalytical Observational Studies or recognised equivalent. Masters in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy: Child & Adolescent. Registered with the APC. or Clinical or Counselling Psychology Honours degree. Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS. Registered with the HCPC. or Family & Systemic Psychotherapy Qualification in appropriate mental health/social welfare profession such as Social Work, Clinical Psychology, Nursing or Counselling. Masters or Doctoral level qualification in Systemic Psychotherapy or AFT agreed equivalent. or Creative Therapies Masters (or equivalent) in Arts Therapies Registration with the HCPC (or in the case of Dance Movement Psychotherapists registration with ADMPUK) oEvidence of continuous and relevant professional training and development (CPD) in keeping with qualification period. or Mental Health Nursing Registration Mental Nurse or Children's Nurse (Part 3/8/13 or 15 of the UKCC Register) Relevant post-graduate qualification in Child and adolescent mental health. (e.g. ENB 603, appropriate/relevant degree, years 1 and 2 family therapy training etc) ENB 998 or equivalent

Desirable

• oQualifications/ training in specialist skills e.g. systemic therapies, neuropsychology, MBT training, ADOS training, trauma therapies

Experience

Essential

• oSubstantial post qualification experience within the specialty of CAMHS assessed experience of working at an equivalent to Band 7 or 8A level in child and adolescent mental health.
• oExperience of liaison and joint work with other statutory services, including Social Services and Education, and voluntary agencies, including crisis management.
• oExperience of assessing children and adolescents for intervention including risk assessment.
• oExperience of providing evidence based interventions to patients with complex problems.
• oExperience of working in a multi-ethnic community and of working with interpreters
• oExperience of working in inner city communities and awareness of the potential impact of discrimination and disadvantage on mental health. Able to provide a culturally competent service.
• oExperience of working in multi disciplinary or multi agency teams
• oExperience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care co-ordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
• oExperience of providing clinical supervision.

Desirable

• oExperience of developing and implementing care pathways.

oExperience of teaching/training

oExperience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings and specialist school provisions.

oExperience of management responsibilities.

oService development experience.

oExperience of teaching, training and professional and clinical supervision.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• oCommunication & Relationship skills
• oA high level ability to communicate effectively at both a written and oral level complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to adolescent clients, their families, carers and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS
• oAble to use highly specialist skills of empathy and diplomacy to overcome significant barriers to understanding and acceptance often in a highly emotive and sometimes hostile atmosphere.
• oAble to provide consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• oAssessment and formulation skills and able to draw upon a broad theoretical knowledge base in the analysis of highly complex facts or situations to arrive at appropriate formulations. Able to compare and select from a range of treatment options based on formulations.

oAbility to practice in an emotionally sensitive way and to deal with hostility and antagonism, to impart difficult news.

oSkills of negotiation.

oSkills of assessment and formulation of highly complex clinical and staff situations.

oAble to initiate, flexibly plan, organise and prioritise a broad range of complex activities or programmes over time.

oCompetency and confidence in the selection and administration of cognitive assessment and neuropsychological test equipment.

oCompetent IT skills (e.g. keyboard skills).

oAbility to write coherent, clear and relevant reports.

oAble to record and report on clinical information as required.

Competent in use of advanced IT packages in addition to word processing, e.g., SPSS

oAbility to develop content and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.

oResearch & Guidance

oUp to date knowledge of psychological research and national guidance relevant to the client group

oKnowledge of legislation and its implications for clinical practice with this client group.

oFormal training in Clinical supervision

oRecord of providing training and supervision to others to widen the availability of CBT.

oHigh level of competency in cognitive assessment and psychological therapies.

oAble to be flexible and adapt approach according to need.

oAble to accommodate disruption to plans owing to the often crisis nature of the Acute working environment.

oAbilities to deal with stressful situations arising with staff or clients.

oAdvanced keyboard skills including competency in the use of other IT packages e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, SPSS

Desirable

• oEvidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS or other institution
• oFormal training in Leadership Skills
• oMasters or Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis and qualitative research techniques.

Other

Essential

• oCommitment to Equal Opportunities
• oEnthusiasm for a broad range of psychological phenomena, an interest in models of service delivery, and an ability to articulate the value added by clinical psychology services within the context of multi-disciplinary mental health services.
• oAble to manage effectively frequent exposure to highly distressing/highly emotional circumstances and exposure to traumatic circumstances.

oAbility to endure prolonged periods of concentration for extended client therapy sessions.

oAbility to deal sensitively with stressful situations including staff and /or organisational problems, child abuse, family breakdown, serious mental ill health, and to cope with verbal abuse, aggression from service users, families etc and to recognise and diffuse potential physical abuse from clients. Able to contain and work with organisational stress and hold the stress of others.

oRespectful approach to service users, families, carers, colleagues and other professionals

oAble to give guidance, to negotiate and handle confrontation effectively and professionally.

oAble to respond calmly and flexibly to rapidly changing priorities.

oAbility to demonstrate leadership and management skills.

oWorking to Professional Guidelines

oAbility to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers, other young people and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.

oAbility to identify and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.

oAbility to articulate and interpret clearly the role of the profession of clinical psychology based upon a good understanding of the framework of government and national professional policy.

oMust be accountable for own professional actions and interpretation of policies

Desirable

• oHighly Specialised academic interest to stimulate a thoughtful and reflective Psychology Team and to encourage research confidence and awareness within the wider organisation.
• oRecord of having published in either peer reviewed or academic professional journals and/or books

About the employer

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.