Mentalization Based Lead Practitioner

South West London & St George's Mental Health NHS Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

South West London & St George's Mental Health NHS Trust is advertising a leadership role within the Wandsworth Complex Needs Service for a highly specialist clinician to lead Mentalisation Based Therapy (MBT) and MBT training. You will deliver MBT interventions while supervising clinicians and trainees across the Trust, with a focus on service improvement and high‑quality MBT practice.

The post holder will co‑lead on team working, governance of psychological practices with the Consultant

Qualifications

• Specialist MBT clinician with leadership responsibilities.
• Experience in MBT training, supervision and accreditation.
• Ability to deliver MBT interventions and drive service development.

Responsibilities

• Lead MBT delivery within Wandsworth CNS.
• Oversee MBT training, supervision and accreditation across the Trust.
• Support governance of psychological practices with the Consultant Psychiatrist.
• Promote evidence‑based interventions for personality disorders.
• Identify CPD needs across the service and sector.
• Propose and implement service development changes aligned with transformation programme.
• Develop consultancy and liaison pathways to build clinical skills.
• Maintain caseload and deliver assessments and treatments for high‑risk patients.

Skills

MBT expertise

Clinical leadership

Train & supervise clinicians

Education

Professional qualification in mental health

Job description

We are excited to be advertising a new position within Wandsworth Complex Needs Service for a highly specialist clinician to take on a leadership role within the service. Wandsworth Complex Needs Service is a well established MBT and Psychotherapy team providing treatment for adults with complex emotional needs including people who may experience significant emotional dysregulation, recurrent risk and long-standing relational difficulties. The post has been developed to provide leadership for Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT) and MBT training within Wandsworth Complex Needs Service. The post holder will deliver MBT interventions while leading on the training, supervision and accreditation of clinicians and trainees within the team and across South West London and St George's NHS Trust. The post holder will also lead on service improvement and development, supporting the ongoing promotion and delivery of high-quality MBT practice across the service and Trust. This post is open to suitably qualified professionals from a range of disciplines within the mental health professions, with relevant experience and expertise in MBT.

• To be committed to co-leading on and enabling effective team working and the coherent delivery of Mentalisation Based Therapy (MBT) and other psychological based interventions for people with a diagnosis of EUPD.
• To promote a high standard of patient care.
• To ensure teams adhere to the Trust's CPA policy and the standards set out in the Community Operational Policy and PD Pathway.
• To work autonomously within professional guidelines and hold joint clinical responsibility with the Consultant Psychiatrist, for the governance of psychological and psychotherapy practices within Wandsworth CNS, in the delivery of evidence-based interventions for people with personality disorders.
• To provide consultation and informal supervision to teams working with patients with complex emotional needs to support the development and implementation of treatment plans within their services, and where appropriate assisting teams to develop care pathways that enable patients to work towards referral for specialist Mentalization Based Treatment.
• To ensure that there are clear and effective systems for the identification of CPD needs across the service/sector in relation to evidence based interventions for people with personality disorders within the community service line.
• To propose and implement policy and service development changes within the area served by the service, in line with the PD Trust Transformation programme.
• To develop and maintain consultancy and liaison pathways within the organisation to develop clinical and profession skills when working with patients with EUPD needs.
• To hold a caseload and deliver assessment & treatment to those patients diagnosed with severe PD within specialist Tier 3 PD services, and work in conjunction with the Tier 2 community teams in the delivery of clinical work with this patient population.

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust. We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' - we aspire to be 'outstanding'. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027. We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do. We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.