PDCS Trainee Therapist

CPFT; Peterborough; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 29,000; Part time

Job summary

CPFT is seeking a suitably experienced therapist to support group-based treatment programmes for adults with personality disorders. The role involves MBT group delivery, mentoring junior practitioners and leading in safeguarding and record-keeping within a busy NHS mental health service in Peterborough.

The post emphasises flexible work in a predominantly group-based pathway, with opportunities to contribute to crisis support and family involvement as needed.

Qualifications

• Significant clinical experience in psychotherapy.
• Knowledge of MBT/DBT.
• Ability to mentor and lead junior staff.
• Experience delivering psychological therapies in mental health settings.

Responsibilities

• Provide therapy within a structured MBT pathway.
• Conduct 1:1 pre-treatment assessments and risk assessments.
• Deliver MBT group therapy and co-facilitate extended therapy programmes.
• Contribute to safeguarding, record-keeping and clinical governance.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Clinical leadership

Mentoring

Crisis management

Communication skills

Education

MBT/DBT accreditation

Bachelor's degree in psychology or related field

Job description

Main area Psychological Therapy Grade Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 22.5 hours per week (Days and hours to be discussed and confirmed) Job ref 310-ASMH-8179762-A

Site CPFT Old Town Hall Town Peterborough Salary £39,959 - £48,117 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 25/10/2026 23:59

Job overview

We are seeking a suitably experienced therapist to support the delivery of our group-based treatment programmes for adults with personality disorders.

The team offers a full range of services and there may be opportunities to be involved in other aspects of treatment (e.g., working with families, supporting with crisis calls). Most of our work is group based.

This role will suit someone who enjoys working in a clinical capacity. You will need to be skilled at managing emotional distress and the psychological impact of the work upon yourself. You will have sufficient clinical experience to enable you to mentor new and junior practitioners, and show clinical leadership within the context of group treatment (e.g., notice and take responsibility for associated aspects of care; record keeping, following up safeguarding etc). Clinical supervision and reflective practise sessions are provided.

Main duties of the job

Your primary role will involve actively providing therapy to clients in our structured treatment pathway. You will have a role in completing 1:1 pre-treatment assessments and engaging service users as they enter our team. This includes accurate completion of clinical records, completing risk assessments and safety plans, and following up safeguarding concerns.

You will have a role in delivering our 12-week introductory MBT group and in co-facilitating the extended 18-month therapy programme; weekly therapy (delivered in group format accompanied by individual sessions). Our current service need is for someone to work in our MBT programme, but the post requires the successful applicant to work flexibly and adaptably to meet the needs of the service.

All clinical staff undertake some training to manage crisis calls and may be required to support the Duty telephone lines at busy times.

Working for our organisation

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead fulfilling lives.

Our clinical teams deliver a wide range of NHS services across inpatient, primary care and community settings, including children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, and research and development.

To achieve our goals, we recruit high calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities' employer, we welcome applications from all sections of the community, particularly under represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

All appointments are subject to the successful completion of a probationary period.

Please note we reserve the right to close adverts early should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all roles. If you apply for a post that does not attract sponsorship, your application will be withdrawn from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at https://www.cpft.nhs.uk

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

• Undertake training to manage crisis calls
• Liaise with the Clinical Lead, Line Manager and Team Manager
• Triage referrals
• Formulate, implement, and evaluate therapy programmes for clients
• Communicate, in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, to patients, family carers and others as appropriate, information that may be contentious or highly distressing
• Attend multidisciplinary meetings
• Produce reports on clients
• Provide psychotherapeutic interventions for cases referred to the team. This will involve the use of evidence based psychological interventions especially MBT and DBT.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in psychology, or a core profession and basis for registration (nursing, or allied health professional), or a trained and registered psychotherapist
• Willingness and ability to embark on the appropriate level of training or work towards MBT Practitioner Accreditation.
• Knowledge of MBT and/ or DBT
• Accreditation as an MBT therapist/ DBT therapist
• Training / qualification in delivering psychological therapies

Experience

• Significant clinical experience working directly with service users in a therapeutic environment
• Experience of working with service users with Personality Disorder
• Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets
• Proven ability to communicate clearly in difficult and complex situations.
• Experience of working in mental health services
• Experience of delivering psychological therapies
• Experience of collecting data to demonstrate clinical outcomes
• Experience of working with patients presenting with high level of distress and managing risk situations.

Skills & Abilities

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, enabling formation of networks with professionals within the Trust and from other agencies to promote effective team working with clients.
• Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from clients.
• Willingness to take initiative and be pro-active to support the development of the programme
• Regard for others and respect for individual rights of autonomy and confidentiality
• Able to undertake/seek out supervision as required
• Ability to promote psychological models with clients, carers and staff in an understandable and person-centred way, clearly outlining goals and potential outcomes.
• Demonstrates a knowledge of the issues surrounding work and the impact it can have on mental health / benefits & employment systems
• Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies.
• Formal training in psychological therapies.
• Introductory or full training in MBT.

Other

• Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.
• Ability 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.
• Ability and willingness to travel independently to locations throughout the organisation

Here at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) we are dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion. We deliver many of the NHS services that are provided outside of hospital and in the community such as physical, mental health and specialist services.

We are a health and social care organisation, offering a wide range of services, including:

• Integrated physical and mental health services for adults and older people;
• Specialist mental health and learning disability services;
• Children’s community services in Peterborough;
• Ground-breaking research

We strongly encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people and members of our ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ communities. For further information about our positive equality, diversity and Inclusion work, please visit https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/equalityanddiversity .

CPFT is looking to build upon its pool of temporary workers with Temporary Staffing Services (TSS). You will be asked at interview if you would be willing to register with TSS. This is an excellent opportunity for those looking to take on additional hours that are flexible around your personal circumstances.

Please be advised that in line with the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List, 2020 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust currently are unable to accept applications from overseas candidates whose country of residence is classed as a 'Red List' country.

Applicants who require entry into the UK will be required to provide a valid police certificate from the relevant authority from each country (except the UK) where the applicant has been present for 12 months or more, 10 years before the date of visa application, while aged 18 or over.

If you are successful at interview you will be subject to pre-employment checks, including a DBS (if appropriate), references and Occupational Health. To ensure a smooth process please bring all identity documents to your interview. A list of required identity documents will be attached to your interview invitation.

All communications will be sent to you via TRAC Systems. By applying for this post you are agreeing to CPFT transferring the information contained in this application to TRAC. If you are made an offer, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.