We are excited to be expanding our team and inviting applications from passionate and enthusiastic people who want to make a real difference to families lives. If you are a clinical psychologist or child and adolescent psychotherapist with the skills and knowledge to contribute to our service provision we want to hear from you.

The post is based in the innovative and highly regarded Blackpool Parent-Infant Relationship Service (PaIRS). The Blackpool Parent-Infant Relationship Service is predominantly for children aged 0-2 year old and their families, but also provides group therapeutic interventions to the 2-5 cohort working in partnership with CAMHS and universal health, to ensure that families are able to access support where there are difficulties in the nurturing relationship. We have been commissioned to provide a clinical service and also provide strategic leadership, development and investment in the perinatal period up until the child's 5th birthday across Blackpool.

The service provides therapeutic interventions, training, consultation, and supervision across the large multi-agency network of mixed professionals.

We are keen to appoint someone who has a passion and drive to keep the voice of the infant at the heart of early years service provision. This post can be offered as a Band 7 preceptorship, for example in the case of the post holder being newly qualified.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work as a highly specialist practitioner developing and implementing a community based therapeutic service to parents to be, infants, children and their families with a particular focus on 0-2s, early intervention and prevention and support for high risk and vulnerable families (e.g. socially excluded families). They will work autonomously to provide assessment and interventions with parents/carers and infants and their families grounded in a trauma-informed framework along with the principles and techniques of psychotherapy or clinical psychology (depending on their professional background). They will be part of a supportive and nurturing multi-disciplinary team and be provided with funding and time to access relevant Continuing Professional Development (CPD), for example Circle of Security, Compassion Focused Therapy, or a range of different therapeutic approaches relevant to the role and in line with the post holders interests. The service is led by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and all staff have access to clinical, peer and specialist (e.g. safeguarding) supervision.

The training and strategic development aspect of the role involves acting as a specialist resource, and contributing to multi-agency training of relevant professionals across Blackpool who so far have really valued this input. The post holder will offer consultation and clinical supervision to professional colleagues.

About us

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is ideally situated just a forty five minute drive from Manchester. The Trust provides services to the 440,000 residents of Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre and North Lancashire, as well as specialist tertiary care for Cardiac and Haematology patients.

As one of the United Kingdom's largest coastal resort, Blackpool has plenty to offer its residents - it's not just a good place to work it's a great place to live . In addition to its bustling centre and historic seafront, the town is world famous for its many attractions, including the famous Blackpool Tower. Blackpool also offers a number of scenic cycling routes round our local parks and across the surrounding countryside, as well as boasting panoramic views of the coast on its picturesque Promenade. Further afield, Blackpool also benefits from less than three-hour connections via rail to Edinburgh in the north and London in the south

Job description

Job responsibilities

1. To provide specialist psychoanalytic psychotherapy/ psychology assessment for the identified cohort who may be experiencing severe, highly complex and persistent mental health difficulties and to make decisions about treatment options taking into account relevant evidence based research, theory, practice and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes.

2. To formulate and implement plans for therapeutic intervention and management from the point of referral.

3. To develop specialist provision for the parents of infants and young children using models of practice employed within other Under 5s services.

4. To provide specialist expertise through advice and consultation to other members of the service and colleagues within the network.

5. To contribute to the psychological care of families on the neonatal unit both directly and indirectly (via training and consultation with staff)

6. Post-holder will be expected to hold and work their own caseload within the context of the service.

7. To be part of the service Duty rota screening referrals and providing appropriate information, advice, support, consultation to a range of professionals, and families, which operates from 9am-4pm Monday-Friday.

8. Communicate complex information and issues to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, persuading them of the need for change and influencing their decision-making when appropriate using tact and diplomacy.

9. Translate information into clear and appropriate formats, such as written documents or graphical representations to ensure understanding across a range of audiences.

10. To actively participate in the service weekly presentation, referral, CPD and business meetings.

11. To attend and contribute as an independent clinician to multidisciplinary and multi-agency meetings as appropriate.

12. To ensure appropriate liaison with professionals from external agencies.

13. To participate in the audit and evaluation of clinical work and the service as a whole.

14. To contribute to the development of best evidence-based practice within the service.

15. To work closely with other members of the multidisciplinary team and communicate effectively regarding parents, infants and young children.

16. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of patients and manage a caseload in line with the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics of the Association of Child Psychotherapists/HCPC.

17. To assist in the management of the service caseload, as required.

18. To produce reports on families, in a timely manner, that convey the key findings of assessment, formulation and treatment outcome in a way which does justice to the complexity of the problems described which takes account of confidentiality and in a way which is understandable to the recipients of the reports.

Personal

1. To participate in regular line management supervision and clinical supervision.

To fully participate in and contribute to, clinical supervision of staff in the service.

3. To ensure the development, maintenance and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external Continuing Professional Development training and development programmes. In particular, to continue to developing expertise in the area of 0-5 Mental Health and through participation in CPD activities as agreed with Clinical Lead and Service Manager.

To fully participate in, and contribute to, training events associated with the service.

To gain additional highly specialist experience and training relevant to Parent-Infant Relationship service (PaIRS).

General

1. In collaboration with others, to contribute to the development of the service across Blackpool and wider as required by the needs of the service.

2. Contribute to development and planning of the Under 5s service offer in the service and universal health and Parent-Infant Relationship Service.

3. To communicate and work with other staff and agencies including CAMHS, adult mental health, early years, education, children social services and voluntary sector agencies, to provide an integrated and accessible service for Under5s.

4. To participate in service evaluation and research activities associated with the service, as appropriate to this role and as required by the Clinical Lead.

6. To utilise theory evidence based literature and research to support effective practice.

To represent a professional view point in relation to nationally accepted good practice and to ensure a high level of ethical standards and professional conduct.

Act as source of specialist knowledge on a dedicated project or projects, preparing briefings for senior management and external partners as well as contributing expertise to media briefings.

To maintain records consistent with the current legislation.

To undertake the administrative duties appropriate to the tasks.

To be aware of the mechanisms of Clinical Governance, Quality Assurance and audit of the services

Additional information

1. To contribute to pre and post qualification training and supervision for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists or/ trainee clinical psychologist where appropriate.

2. To provide as appropriate specialist clinical supervision or case consultation for professional trainees of related professions and for professionally trained members of the service.

3. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with parents, infants and young children across a range of agencies and settings where appropriate.

To act in accordance with the policies of the Trust (including child protection and resuscitation), Directorate, Department, Association of Child Psychotherapy/HCPC Professional Practice and Ethical Guidelines.

To comply with service standards and practices to ensure that safe practices are maintained at all times.

The post holder has a responsibility to ensure the preservation of NHS property and resources.

The post holder follows policies in their own role which are determined by others. The post holder is required to comment on policies, procedures and possible developments.

It is a requirement of all staff to comply with all infection control policies and procedures as set out in Trust Infection Control Manual.

Work closely with Centre for Early Childhood Development to identify, highlight and share new concepts, models, methods, practices, products and equipment which will support the development and mobilisation of the service.

Regular horizon scanning of best practice and ways of working across the system at a local level, nationally through connection with other PaIRS and internationally through research and attendance at events and seminars.

Share summaries of recent publications with internal and external colleagues where relevant.

This job description is not exhaustive. The tasks described are representative of the duties it is expected the post holder will undertake within the grade of their post.

Person Specification

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and Neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Professional registration with the HCPC
• Doctorate level qualification as a Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist as recognised by the Association of Child Psychotherapists.
• Full membership of the Association of Child Psychotherapists

Desirable

• Parent-Infant Psychotherapy Training
• Training in a specialist therapeutic modality appropriate to the clinical population served and service requirements (e.g. DBT, CAT, CBT, EMDR, MBT)
• Supervision qualification

EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE

Essential

• Experience working with families and or perinatal & infant mental health.
• Substantial experience working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and full range of settings including secondary care, community, inpatients and acute care settings.
• Experience of specialist psychological/psychotherapy assessment, formulation, and intervention with clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course, presenting problems that reflect the full range clinical severity, including maintain a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse of physical abuse.
• Doctoral level knowledge (or its equivalent) of research design and methodology, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical/counselling psychology.
• Doctoral level (or equivalent) knowledge of child and adolescent psychotherapy, including highly developed knowledge of psychoanalytical theories and models of development, psychopathology, family and institutional dynamics (specific to child and adolescent psychotherapy).

Desirable

• Experience of working with women with complex mental health difficulties in the perinatal period.
• Experience of working therapeutically with the relationship between parents and their infants.
• Experience of delivering therapeutic group work.
• Experience of teaching & training using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology/ psychotherapy in different cultural contexts.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to perinatal mental health.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in relation specifically to perinatal and infant mental health.
• Personal experience of coping with life stressors.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS (specific to psychology). High-level knowledge of the theory and practice of
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