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South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good'.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

The Perinatal Mental Health Service has a diverse and highly skilled team of perinatal psychological therapists who are committed to providing evidence-based interventions to women and their families that are accessible and acceptable to the diverse South London population. We are recruiting for two 12 month secondment opportunities covering maternity leave in Lambeth and Southwark .

Our psychological workforce and the therapeutic modalities that we offer are a key part of delivering the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan. This post focuses primarily on delivery of perinatal psychological therapies for maternal mental health problems, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). There is a focus on coproduction, quality, supervision and ongoing audit and evaluation, keeping the experience of service users at the heart.

The successful applicant will join a friendly and supportive psychological therapies service that offers excellent opportunities for research and continuing professional development.

We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. Dependent on the role we offer ongoing training and development in different therapeutic modalities relevant to the area. Specialist perinatal psychology clinical and professional supervision will be provided from within the service.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or Accredited Cognitive Behaviour Therapist to provide psychological assessment and intervention to women and their families in the perinatal period, as well as contribute to the multi-disciplinary team.

We would like to hear from those who have experience delivering psychological therapies in secondary care or within a MDT setting, and are proficient in delivering NICE concordant interventions for depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis and bipolar affective disorder.

You will ideally have experience of working with women and their families within the perinatal period and / or a keen interest to develop knowledge and skills in this area. Specialist perinatal supervision will be provided and you will join a friendly and supportive team of specialist perinatal psychologists and psychological therapists.

Working for our organisation

Perinatal Mental Health Teams (PMHTs) are secondary care mental health teams that specialise in supporting women in the perinatal period (pregnancy through until 12 months postnatal) who have severe and complex mental health difficulties.

We assess and treat a range of difficulties including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychosis, personality disorders and eating disorders. The service is designed to provide timely input to women and their families to mitigate the impact of mental health disorder on the child.

We are a multi-disciplinary team including psychiatry, psychology, nursing, occupational therapy, and nursery nursing. The service works closely with maternity/obstetric services as well as other agencies (e.g., health visiting and social services). We have close links with the Mother-Baby Unit (MBU) in-patient unit at the Bethlem Royal Hospital.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the full job description for further information.

This post is open to Clinical Psychologists, Counselling Psychologists and Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists who have the relevant professional registration. Perinatal mental health experience is not essential, but desirable. Qualification/accreditation in one or more of the following is very relevant, although not essential: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT).

Person specification

Qualifications & Professional Registration

Essential criteria

Psychologist: Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent; OR MSc and PG Diploma in Counselling Psychology; Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC, if applicable.
CBT Psychotherapist: Post-graduate qualification and BABCP accredited as a CBT psychotherapist
Completed training course in clinical supervision.

Desirable criteria

Training in or experience of psychological interventions for complex presentations (e.g., EMDR, DBT, schema therapy).
Training in or experience of providing family or couple interventions.
Training in or experience of utilising video feedback to enhance mother-infant interactions.

Experience

Essential criteria

Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in secondary care mental health services.
Experience of specialist psychological assessment and the delivery of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and other evidence based interventions with service users who have a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in the perinatal period.
Experience of supervising assistant and trainee psychologists having completed the relevant training.
Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.
Experience of carrying out post-doctoral research, audit or service evaluation projects.

Desirable criteria

Pre or post qualification experience of working in a specialist perinatal mental health service or mental health service in maternity.
Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in the perinatal period

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessments and interventions for women presenting with mental health difficulties in the perinatal period.
Knowledge of the impact of maternal mental illness on the baby, including the impact on the mother-infant relationship.
Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment.
Advanced knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics.
Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
To select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources.
To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers, and for meetings as required.
To plan allocation of tasks to assistant psychologists.

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

That all applications for this post will need to be made online
That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe'

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

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.

Documents to download

8a Psychology JD and PS (PDF, 314.3KB)
SLaM Staff Benefits (PDF, 1.1MB)
Happy to Talk Flexible Working (PDF, 680.1KB)

Senior Perinatal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/CBT Therapist

Senior Perinatal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/CBT Therapist

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