Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist (CAMHS)

NHS; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A community health service provider in Plymouth is looking for a full-time Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist to deliver specialist psychotherapy services. The role involves working directly with children and families while managing referrals and maintaining a high-quality service. The ideal candidate will have a Doctorate in Psychotherapy and experience in CAMHS, with responsibilities including providing psychodynamic assessment, oversight of clinical management, and supervision of trainees and other staff. A commitment to collaboration and improved mental health outcomes is essential.

Benefits

Opportunities for continuous professional development

Collaborative working environment

Supportive supervision and training

Qualifications

• Experience in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy required.
• Ability to work autonomously under clinical guidelines.
• Qualified to provide psychodynamic assessments and treatments.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist psychotherapy services to children and families.
• Manage the CAMHS psychotherapy waiting list effectively.
• Engage with families to assess needs and provide support.

Skills

Mental Health assessment skills

Communication

Autonomous management

Psychoanalytic therapy

Collaboration in multi-disciplinary teams

Education

Recognised Qualification in Child/Adolescent Psychotherapy

Membership of the Association of Child Psychotherapists

Job description

Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist (CAMHS)

An opportunity hasarisen within the Plymouth CAMHS Therapies pathway to employ a full time Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist. The post holder will support the provision of a specialist Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy service within the Therapies Pathway, working directly with children, young people, andfamilies across Plymouth.

Our aim is to improve Children, Young people and Families mental health through the effective delivery of regularly reviewable longer and short-term psychotherapy interventions. Using the Anna Freud iThrive framework to inform and provide safe, effective, cost efficient, timely and accessible services. These services will be in accordance with national and local priorities and responsive to the needs and views of local children young people and families.

The post holder will participate in the provision of high quality, evidence-based, psychodynamic assessment and treatment of children, young people and families with highly complex emotional and behavioural difficulties. They will alsoprovide training and consultation to parents, carers and staff within Livewell Southwest

Main duties of the job

Assessing the suitability of referrals into Psychotherapy.

Be responsible for the clinical oversight and management of the CAMHS psychotherapy waiting list.

Providing a high-quality specialist psychoanalytic childpsychotherapy service to individuals, carers, families, and groups, within the pathway andacross CAMHS pathways, in line with best, evidence-based practice.

Engageand communicate with children, young people and families across a wide range ofsocial, language and cultural barriers. Engage and communicate withinterpreters and advocates for children, young people and families about thespecific needs of children, young people and families of specialistpsychotherapy services.

Use analytical and judgment skills and be responsible for taking clinical management decisionsin complex clinical issues.

Offersupervision to child & adolescent psychoanalyticpsychotherapists, psychological therapists, trainee psychological therapists and psychological practitioners as appropriate.

Be part of reviewing service provision, of the CAMHS Therapies pathway/Psychotherapy service and support with implementation of change when needed.

Support the offer of safeguarding supervision alongside two other clinicians. Training provided.

This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route.

Please note that Livewell may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline.

All staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service.

About us

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health hubs.

As an organisation with a strong social conscience we are guided by our values, kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability, while empowering staff and those we serve.

We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right time and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead healthy, independent lives.

We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programs ensure a smooth transition into our organisation.

Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental health, neuro-diverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.

Job responsibilities

The purpose of the job is to improve the psychological healthand wellbeing of children and young people.

The post holder will be an experienced Psychotherapist whowill undertake assessments and intervention with young people and theirfamilies in relation to a range of complex emotional, psychological, andbehavioural problems. Namely psychoanalytically informed long and short-terminterventions.

Our aim is to improve children and young people's mentalhealth,through the effective deliveryof regularly, reviewable longer and short-term psychotherapy interventions, usingthe Anna Freud I Thrive framework to inform and provide safe, effective, costefficient, timely and accessible services that are in accordance with nationaland local priorities and responsive to the needs and views of local children,young people and their families.

The post holder will provide a qualified, high-qualityspecialist psychoanalytic child psychotherapy service to individuals, carers,families, and groups, within and across CAMHS pathways, in line with best,evidence-based practice.

This post holder will work directly with children and youngpeople as well as providing training and consultation to parents, carers, andstaff in our partner agencies. The pathway will work within the locally agreeddemand and capacity model which is determined for each staff member through thejob planning process.

The post holder will also provide clinical oversight withinthe pathway. This will include working with Children and Young people who areliving in and responding to demanding circumstances and will be both complexand challenging.

Other dimensions:

To be responsible for the oversight and management of theCAMHS psychotherapy waiting list alongside the CAMHS pathway manager.

To use analytical and judgment skills and be responsible fortaking clinical management decisions in complex clinical issues.

To provide consultation and advice about psychoanalytic andchild psychotherapy issues to other members of the team/service and otherprofessionals working with service users.

Take a lead with team safeguarding processes andsupervision.

To offer supervision to child & adolescentpsychoanalytic psychotherapists, psychological therapists, traineepsychological therapists and psychological practitioners as appropriate.

To work autonomously within professional guidelines andexercise responsibility for the systematic governance of professional practicewithin the service/pathway.

To contribute to and take responsibility for local servicedevelopments and implement policy changes as the psychotherapy lead.

To undertake audit and research relevant to the pathway.

To manage an autonomous caseload for children and youngpeople who are experiencing highly complex and persistent mental healthdifficulties including exposure to domestic violence and other trauma.

To provide formal, highly specialist assessments of childrenand their parents/carers, to inform and assist in planning care pathways, bothwithin the CAMHS service and with other agencies, considering relevant evidencebase research, theory practice and highly complex processes which have shapedthe child, their parents/carers and family.

To provide individual short- and long-term psychoanalyticpsychotherapy for children either individually or with their parent/carers withthe focus of the work being based in parent/child relationships.

To provide highly specialist, psychoanalytically basedassessment and treatment to families who may be highly dysfunctional, withcomplex and persistent problems.

To provide psychoanalytic group work, including providingtraining to other professionals in psychoanalytic group work practice.

To participate in regular review and ongoing discussion ofcases in treatment with other members of the multi-disciplinary team and whereappropriate, co-ordinate and organise network meetings with professionalmembers of other agencies.

To be responsible for continually monitoring and evaluatingrisk to / from children and young people in own caseload and during supervision/ consultation discussions. This may be due to Child Protection concerns;emotionally led behavioural issues or other risk behaviour in theirparents/carers

To be responsible for the application of a range oftheoretical and practical knowledge acquired over a significant period of time(e.g., developments in psychoanalysis, child development, attachment theory,neurobiology, systems theory, and group work.

To exercise autonomous professional responsibility based onthe Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics of the Association of ChildPsychotherapists.

To contribute directly and indirectly to a specialistpsychoanalytically informed understanding and care to the benefit of allclients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the clientgroup, their parents / carers, and families.

To be responsible for a highly specialist training,internally and externally on a particular area of clinical specialism.

To provide highly specialist psychoanalytic supervision tocolleagues within CAMHS including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, socialworkers, art therapists, and trainee psychologists.

To receive regular clinical and service-related supervisionfrom your clinical supervisor, in accordance with good practice guidelines andthe supervision requirement of Livewell Southwest

To gain highly specialist experience and training relevantto a specific area of clinical specialism.

To maintain and develop skills in the area of professionalpost-graduate teaching, training, and supervision.

To contribute to the development and maintenance of thehighest professional standards of practice, through active participation ininternal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultationwith the Clinical Pathway Manager

To take part in the LWSW annual appraisal and individualperformance review programme.

To devise and develop research programmes relevant to thetreatment methods of psychoanalytic psychotherapy as appropriate within CAMHS

To promote and undertake audit as appropriate within CAMHSAudit Programme

To utilise theory, literature, and research to supportevidence-based practice in all areas of clinical practice.

To participate and lead in the development of specialistservices both within CAMHS and externally with other agencies

To support and enhance the continual quality initiativetowards improving services for service users.

To be responsible for contributing to the development.Implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the Child and AdolescentPsychotherapy Service, in conjunction with the Clinical Pathway Manager.

To participate in activities of the Child and AdolescentMental Health Services as appropriate and required.

To maintain accurate and up to date records of clinicalactivity

To ensure appropriate, safe, clinical environment forchildren in treatment including provision of appropriate play materials.

To be part of a team of Child and AdolescentPsychotherapists who provide services to the CAMHS Child and Adolescent MentalHealth Service

To maintain and develop links with other Child andAdolescent Psychotherapists in the region.

To collaborate with colleagues in the multi-disciplinarychild and adolescent mental health services in the planning and provision ofservices.

To liaise and collaborate with colleagues from variousprofessions in health, education, and social services as well as the voluntarysector.

To report to the Clinical Pathway Manager and other servicemanagers as identified.

To communicate sensitively with children and young people,with their families / carers, to ensure the highest quality of care.

Person Specification

Circumstances

• Ability to travel across the Livewell footprint. Reasonable adjustments will be considered as per the Equality Act.
• Ability to work flexibly (hours of work and duties) both as an individual and with other colleagues in LSW and with partner agencies.
• Able to undertake the demands of the post with reasonable adjustments where required.

Qualifications

• Recognised Qualification in Child/Adolescent Psychotherapy (equivalent to Doctorate Level Degree)
• Membership of the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) registered.
• Evidence of current CPD as recommended by professional body.
• Relevant & significant post qualifying experience working within CAMHS.
• Breakaway/management of aggression training.
• Experience of safeguarding supervision
• An understanding of the system of health, social care, education and third sector for children and families.
• Understanding which supports the implementation of quality and patient safety, health and safety legislation, local and national policy around safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
• Mental Health assessment skills
• Knowledge of the key strategies and policies affecting childrens mental health services and how that is located into a wider strategic picture of child health and well-being.

Aptitude and Ability

• Able to maintain appropriate professional boundaries
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with patients, families and staff, about highly complex and sensitive matters in situations of potential conflict or psychological/emotional pain, and where mental health problems affect relationships
• Ability to express complex and multi-layered concepts in clear and appropriate ways across a range of contexts and where there may be considerable resistance, through reports, publication or public presentation
• Ability to contain and work with emotional distress both within the patients, their carers and within organisations, and to hold the stress of others
• Capacity to reflect and contain intense feelings that are evoked in oneself by exposure to highly distressing emotional material
• Ability to remain still and maintain intense concentration over long periods of time, in clinical settings where there may be high levels of distress, verbal or physical aggression or chaotic activity
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative way with colleagues
• Ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team with a varying theoretical perspectives
• Well developed communication skills both oral and written.
• Able to reason, including the ability to analyse, interpret, evaluate and draw assumptions from data and information. Able to utilise complex information to identify solutions.
• Able to analyse and find solutions to operational issues, providing solutions and motivating people to solving problems.
• Ability to communicate effectively (including sensitive information) verbally, adjusting language, style and content as appropriate to the audience.
• Sensitive to the needs of others and is able to deal with conflict and issues of poor performance in an effective and non confrontational manner.
• Has a strong degree of personal integrity and is able to reflect upon own actions and make changes where necessary.
• Self motivating and able to work on own initiative
• Ability to work with ambiguity and in an immediate environment that is subject to rapid and fundamental change
• Ability to work with defined management arrangements
• Ability to work within Trust policies, procedures and guidelines.
• Ability to function independently
• The ability to maintain working partnerships with other organisations in the delivery of integrated care.
• Effective leadership skills that motivate and involve a team.
• Good organisational and time management skills with an ability to prioritise
• Dealing with highly complex sensitive or contentious information where there may be barriers to understanding.

Experience

• Relevant & significant Clinical experience as a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist within CAMHS or alternative.
• Extensive knowledge of normal and abnormal child development and other relevant theories, practices, and research in the field of child and adolescent development
• Substantial experience in working in multi-disciplinary, multi-agency context
• Knowledge of Child Protection legislation
• Knowledge of research methodology
• Experience of recent research and audit
• Knowledge about risk assessment and how to support all staff members in assessing and managing risk.
• Knowledge of the range of specific clinical and therapeutic skills relevant to working with children and young people aged 0-19 and their families.
• Experience of working with partner agencies.
• Work with non-communicating children
• Experience of working across the age range.

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.

Full-time,Part-time,Job share,Flexible working