CYP Eating Disorder Family Therapist/ Psychologist

The Methodist Church in Britain; Barking; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

North East London NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a fully qualified psychologist/therapist to join its Eating Disorder Service for young people under 18 and their families in a multidisciplinary team.

The post focuses on assessment and treatment using Family Based Treatment and CBT, including risk assessment, formulation and therapy for carers, with opportunities for supervision, training, and involvement in MDT and clinical governance.

Qualifications

• Fully qualified and HCPC registered as a clinical or counselling psychologist.
• Experience in eating disorders within a multidisciplinary service.
• Experience across diverse service user groups and care settings.
• Ability to provide expert risk assessment and formulation.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist assessments and evidence-based treatment including Family Based Treatment and CBT for people with eating disorders.
• Develop complex psychological formulations from multidimensional assessments to guide care packages.
• Deliver individual and group therapy for carers and supervise staff within the service.
• Hold full responsibility for treatment and discharge decisions for service users.
• Offer specialist consultation and training to local teams and external services.
• Carry out risk assessments and advise on risk management within the MDT.
• Communicate complex information with care for distress, confidentiality and safeguarding.
• Contribute to research, audits and evaluations of interventions and training.

Job description

This post sits in the community Eating Disorder Service of North East London NHS Foundation Trust, working with young people aged 18 and under and their families. The role centres on assessing and treating eating disorders, chiefly through Family Based Treatment and CBT, alongside formulation, risk assessment and therapy for carers. It also covers consultation, supervision and training for other teams, plus clinic and in-patient work within a multidisciplinary team. Applicants must be fully qualified and registered as a family therapist, clinical or counselling psychologist.

What the job involves

• Provide specialist assessments and evidence-based treatment, including Family Based Treatment and CBT, for people with eating disorders
• Develop complex psychological formulations from specialist multidimensional assessments to guide care packages
• Deliver evidence-based individual and group therapy for carers of people with eating disorders
• Hold full responsibility and autonomy for the treatment and discharge of service users managed by the service
• Give specialist eating-disorder consultation, liaison and supervision to NELFT teams, local PCTs and independent sector services
• Carry out specialist risk assessments and risk management decisions, and give expert opinion on risk to NELFT teams
• Communicate complex information, including abuse, harm to others, child protection and diagnosis, with care for distress, hostility and confidentiality
• Advise, train and supervise staff on managing aggression, self-harm, suicidality and hostility
• Advocate for service users and families to secure their care package, communicating it under the care programme approach
• Ensure therapies are compatible with other treatments offered to the service user
• Attend MDT and external stakeholder meetings, and work in outpatient clinics and with in-patient units
• Contribute to research, audits and evaluations of the service's interventions, and deliver FBT training to mental health teams

Qualifications

• BSc in Psychology
• MSc in Systemic Family Therapy or Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology

Registration & licences

• HCPC registration as a clinical or counselling psychologist
• Accreditation by UKCP, HCPC or another appropriate accrediting body

Experience

• Clinical experience working with people with eating disorders
• Experience across a wide range of service user groups, the whole life course and the full range of clinical severity
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for psychological care within a multidisciplinary care plan
• Experience of assessing and treating service users across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential

Skills & knowledge

• Highest level of interpersonal and communication skills

Nice to have

• Experience of representing psychological therapy within multidisciplinary care
• Experience of applying psychology in different cultural contexts
• Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision