Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist

Job overview

The postholder will be required to provide a specialised contribution to the clinical assessment and psychotherapeutic treatment of children, adolescents and their carers within the specialist field served by the Portman Clinic.

The postholder, with support from senior colleagues, will offer teaching and consultation to practitioners both within and outside the Trust and disseminate knowledge and expertise to professionals within those domains appropriate to the work of the Clinic. In addition, he or she will, where appropriate, be expected to provide information about cases which will contribute to the research being carried out by others within the clinic.

Main duties of the job

In collaboration with colleagues the postholder will provide specialized assessment of patients referred to the Portman Clinic, based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex information derived from a variety of sources including interviews with patients, and reports from other professionals involved in the care, treatment and/or supervision of patients.

The postholder will be responsible for implementing a range of psychotherapeutic interventions for individuals, families and groups as appropriate. The complexity of this specific patient group will constantly impact on the therapist and the therapeutic relationship and the work is of essence therefore skilled. Hostility, verbal and sometimes physical aggression, anxieties, ambivalence about engagement, management of risk, distressing or overwhelming experiences, issues about honesty and dishonesty and perverse psychopathology will commonly affect the treatment. The clinician will be expected to use existing knowledge and theoretical frameworks in a creative and innovative way to address highly intricate clinical situations that will differ for 3 each patient. The postholder will be professionally supported in this through weekly clinical meetings and fortnightly unit meetings which are mandatory for all clinical staff and will also have the opportunity to attend weekly supervision with a more senior colleague.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for more information on the role requirements and duties.