• We are inviting applications from enthusiastic psychologists for a full-time Band 7 post with our ITP Team.
• We are a friendly, welcoming, fast developing, innovative, national and specialist ITP day programme team working with young people (11 - 17 years) and their families. We offer an inclusive and supportive team environment and are keen to support your professional development and wellbeing.
• The Intensive Treatment Programme (ITP) of the Maudsley Centre for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders (MCCAED) is an intensive day programme for young people with restrictive eating disorders who have not been able to make progress in outpatient treatment and who may be at risk of being admitted for inpatient treatment.
• ITP is a therapeutic group programme, with groups taking principles from CBT for Eating Disorders, Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Cognitive Remediation Therapy, and Art Therapy, as well as CBT for comorbid difficulties (anxiety, low mood, perfectionism etc).
• You will contribute to the provision of services to meet the needs of these young people in the MCCAED ITP Service - this includes but is not limited to therapeutic meal supervision, facilitation of therapeutic groups, facilitation of individual therapy sessions and family-therapy for Anorexia Nervosa.

Main duties of the job

• To deliver specialist applied psychotherapeutic service in the MCCAED Intensive Treatment Programme (ITP day hospital). Working collaboratively to assess the needs of the service users, planning, implementing and evaluating the care given in ITP.
• To provide clinical work as required by the service. This will involve facilitation of therapeutic groups, and individual and family therapy sessions.
• To work following clinical guidelines and the policies and procedures of the service, seeking help from clinical/professional supervisor or manager as needed.
• To provide daily therapeutic meal support to young people. This involves staff eating snacks and lunch alongside young people. Meals within the programme are timed, with the expectation that staff are able to eat what is required within the time frame (10 minutes for snacks, 15 minutes for lunch, 20 minutes for dinner). For lunches, a vegetarian and meat option are available daily, however where possible staff should be able to eat what the young people eat.
• Due to the nature of the service, the role will be primarily face-to-face, with the occasional option to work from home during half terms.

About us

• MCCAED is a specialist service for children and adolescents with eating disorders, consisting of Family Therapists, Clinical Psychologists, Clinical Nurse Specialists, and Assistant Psychologists alongside Paediatric, Art Therapy and Dietetic input.
• The service provides outpatient family therapy for eating disorders, an intensive day patient service (ITP) for young people with restrictive eating disorders and innovative multi-family therapy interventions for both Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. The service has also recently launched a national and specialist service for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).
• The Intensive Treatment Programme (ITP) evolved as a more intensive treatment (education, meal support, therapeutic groups, psychological therapy - family and individual) to be used when recovery is not progressing in outpatient work and to provide an alternative to inpatient treatment when young people are acutely unwell.
• Flexible working:
  
  As one of the few Trusts in London we are proud to offer flexible working as part of our new ways of working, and we are happy to talk flexible working at the interview stage. In this role you will be able to work Monday to Friday in the time frames from 8am to 6pm, giving you the very best of good work life balance.

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Assessment and treatment of young people with eating disorders. This will include group facilitation, therapeutic meal support, and individual and family therapeutic work for young people with eating disorders.
• Assessment and treatment of common comorbidities including depression, anxiety, self-harm and OCD.
• Contribution to service development through service evaluation, audit and research.

• To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.

• Provision of consultation or training to other professionals.
• To act in a manner that supports a psychologically informed framework for the service.
• To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management
• To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations and challenging behaviours and to support others involved in such situations.
• To take responsibility for seeking supervision and support for yourself and not going beyond your scope of practice.
• To work flexibly which may include offering some regular commitment to work some hours outside of normal office hours (e.g. until 6.30pm on one or two evenings per week), within the overall Job Plan. It is expected that you may need to work some hours outside of normal office hours and be flexible in your ability to change your working pattern frequently and at short notice to meet the needs of the service. This may include working early mornings, later evenings or Saturdays as part of the core working hours/working pattern for this post.
• To work within an MDT and actively promote relationships with colleagues. This will include liaising closely with the senior ITP staff, education staff and ancillary services such as catering service providers.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent, or MSc PG Diploma in Counselling Psychology
• Registration (or eligibility for registration) with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature.
• Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience.
• Experience of developing and carrying out research projects.

Desirable

• Experience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with eating disorders.

Understanding and Knowledge

Essential

• Theoretical knowledge of a wide range of psychopathology and the evidence base for relevant treatment
• Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers, and for meetings such as CPA and case reviews.
• To plan allocation of tasks to assistant psychologists
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour

Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Michael Rutter Centre

DeCrespigny Park

London

SE5 8AZ

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

334-CHI-5608538