The pioneering and award-winning Family Safeguarding Service in Hertfordshire is expanding further due to its success, and we are seeking two Band 7 Psychological Therapists who are motivated to help change the lives of some of the most vulnerable families in Hertfordshire. (Applicants at band 6 will also be considered for a band 6 to 7 progression posts).

The posts are based within a brand-new reunification team who will provide support to birth families, enabling children looked after to return home, when it is safe to do so.

This is an exciting opportunity for Psychologists with an interest in this very specialist field to contribute to the delivery and on-going development of our family assessment and safeguarding service. Part time working and Job shares will be considered.

Main duties of the job

Hertfordshire Children's Services has received funding to expand the successful Family Safeguarding model to work with children looked after and their birth families. The Family Strengthening Team will be fundamental to this innovation by proactively supporting birth families to create sustained change for themselves and their children. The team will be multi-disciplinary consisting of specialists working together to address domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse. It will also include the exciting new 'Life Coach' role, which will focus on supporting birth families to engage and access community resources. The team will work to the Family Safeguarding model by working with parents to build on strengths and identify positive changes through motivational interviewing.

The posts are focused on psychological assessments and interventions with parents whose children have become Children Looked After and would therefore suit a practitioner with some experience of assessing and intervening with adults with complex needs. It will also involve delivering interventions to improve the relationships of parents/carers and their children. The post comes with considerable training opportunities in post qualification training in therapeutic approaches such as cognitive behaviour therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, Mentalization Based Therapy, trauma informed and trauma skilled interventions (e.g., EMDR, Narrative exposure therapy).

About us

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is an outstanding organisation with ambitions to match. We are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from theCare Quality Commission, and our aim is to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country.

Our family of over 3500 members of staff provide health and social care for over 400,000 people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services, plus medium and low secure learning disabilities services.

The care we provide makes a fantastic difference to the lives of our service users, their families and carers - everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:

Our Trust values are:

Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.

These values are at the core of who we are, everything we do, and how we do it!

Would you like to be part of the HPFT family? Would you like work with us to ensure our service users live the fullest lives possible they can? Would you like to be supported in your career to be the best that you can be?

Then please read on...

Job description Job responsibilities

You will be managed by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and work alongside a team of psychologists, mental health practitioners, social workers and other professionals with parents and their children where there is high risk of severe parenting problems including maltreatment and neglect. The post includes providing specialist assessments and evidence-based interventions (individual and group interventions) with parents, children and their families and systems with emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties, consultation to the multi-disciplinary safeguarding service, compiling psychological reports and contributing to the development and evaluation of this innovative service. You will join a dedicated and enthusiastic multi-disciplinary team committed to developing the highest standards of clinical assessment and treatment for the most vulnerable infants, children and parents. There will be ample opportunity to apply a wide range of core psychology skills.

The psychologists will be based in the Family Safeguarding Service of Hertfordshire County Council but are employed by Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust and practice governance is provided from the NHS Trust.

The post-holders will be based at Hertfordshire County Council offices in Stevenage, Hertford or Hemel Hempstead. A hybrid model of agile, virtual and face to face working is in practice. Assessments and Interventions can sometimes take place in service users homes and at different sites across Hertfordshire so a car driver with access to a car is essential (unless the candidate is unable due to a disability). There are professional links across Hertfordshire, with structures in place for supervision and governance. There are also strong links with the University of Hertfordshire Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Training Course with opportunities for contributing to teaching and taking trainee clinical psychologists on placement.

Hertfordshire County councils Childrens Services has been rated as good (with parts of the service rated as outstanding) and HPFT was rated outstanding in our most recent CQC inspection.

Person Specification KNOWLEDGE, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE Essential

• Postgraduate qualification in one of the core mental health professions e.g. psychiatric nursing, clinical psychology, counselling psychology, medicine, social work and occupational therapy, a recognised qualification in cognitive behaviour therapy or to have substantial other relevant experience and with demonstrable competence to work in the mental health field.
• Diploma and / or M.Sc. in CBT leading to demonstrable eligibility for accreditation with the BABCP.
• OR Completion of DBT Intensive Training and PG Certificate in DBT. Continuing registration with body overseeing practice of core mental health profession, e.g. NMC or HCPC.

AREAS OF EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, adult mental health and in patient settings
• Experience of delivering psychological assessments and evidence based interventions (e.g. cognitive behaviour therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy etc.) according to the client's presenting difficulties
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life span's presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
• Knowledge of whole life span development and the impact on emotional, psychological and mental well -being
• Experience of multi -disciplinary team working and inter -agency collaboration
• Ability to provide consultation to other professional and non -professional groups
• Awareness of Child and Adult Safeguarding Procedures
• Awareness of current NHS initiatives and Developments
• Experience of service quality monitoring e.g. clinical audit, evaluative research, etc.
• Experience of working in a community mental health setting
• Experience of service development/project management

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

367-EAN-6287-A