Cognitive Behaviour Therapist

We are looking to appoint CBT Therapists to join our modernised Buckinghamshire-wide mental health and wellbeing service. The service is designed to provide young people with expert help at the time they need it, with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust working in association with the charity Barnardo’s.

You will be working in a community based team delivering a service to children, young people and their families in a supportive and lively multidisciplinary team, where differences in training are respected and valued. As well as offering specialist CBT assessments and interventions, you will have the opportunity to play a significant role in the delivery of a modernised and comprehensive service to young people with moderate and severe mental health issues.

The post requires an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual who is willing to make a real change. If you are quality focused, enthusiastic, motivated and ready for a challenge, possess excellent communication and organisational skills then you are the person we are looking for this post.

We are happy to accept newly qualified clinicians awaiting BABCP accreditation and will support them in their development.

To provide a qualified CBT service to the clients served by the Bucks CAMHS Getting More Help service.
To supervise and support the CBT assessment and therapy provided by CBT trainees. Also to provide consultation, supervision and support to other clinical members of the service who provide CBT based
care and treatment. To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the governance of CBT practice within the service/team. To utilise skills for audit, policy, service development and research.

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust is a community focused organisation that provides physical and mental health and social care with the aim of improving the health and wellbeing of all our patients and their families.

We provide a wide range of services for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset. These services are provided in a range of settings including inpatient hospitals, out-patient settings and people’s own homes. Our focus is on delivering all care as close to home as possible.

We are a leading Trust for teaching, training and research, with close links to both Oxford and Oxford Brookes Universities. We pride ourselves on being caring, safe and excellent, and we expect our staff to commit to and demonstrate these values.

Benefits of working for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust include:

• Excellent opportunities for career progression
• 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, with an increase to 33 days with continuous service
• NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
• Staff accommodation
• Competitive pension scheme
• Lease car scheme
• Cycle to work scheme

Clinical

• To provide specialist assessments under supervision, including CBT assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.
• To plan and implement protocol driven CBT treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems, based upon the client’s problems, and employing methods of proven efficacy.
• To implement appropriate CBT interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
• Under supervision, to be responsible and accountable for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by CBT based standard care plans.
• To provide CBT advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
• Under supervision, to undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on aspects of risk assessment and risk management from a CBT perspective
• Under supervision, to act as care coordinator taking responsibility for initiating, planning and review of care plans including clients, their carers, referring agents and others involved in the network of care.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
• To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with appropriate professional codes of practice / BABCP and Trust policies and procedures
• Under supervision, to take part in the duty rota for emergency assessments as agreed with the operational manager.

Teaching, training and supervision

• To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior CBT therapist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
• To gain additional specialist experience and skills relevant to CBT and the service as agreed with the professional lead / line
• To support with clinical supervision of CBT trainees and students on placement as appropriate to the post holder’s own level of qualification and experience.
• To provide advice and consultation to other members of the treating team in the provision of CBT based interventions to help improve client functioning.
• To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the young people across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.

Management, recruitment, policy and service development

• To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where CBT and/or organisational matters need addressing.
• To be involved, as appropriate, in the shortlisting and interviewing of assistant / graduate psychologists / staff as required

Research and Service Evaluation

• To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies and services and participate in the development of high quality, responsive and accessible services.
• To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
• To participate in appropriate research as appropriate to own level of experience and within agreed service objectives.
• To participate in service evaluation, with colleagues using research methodology to address a clinical question or improve services.

General and Professional

• To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the post holder’s professional and service manager(s).
• To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in CBT across the service, by continuing to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of CBT.
• To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.