CAMHS Assistant Psychologist (N&S ITP)

• To assist practitioner psychologists in the delivery of a 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, under the direct guidance, close clinical and professional supervision, of a practitioner psychologist. This may involve co-facilitation of therapeutic groups, and individual and family therapy sessions.
• 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.
• To assist in clinically related administration, i.e. assessment/discharge reports, conduct audits, collect statistics, develop audit and/or research projects.
• To work following clinical guidelines and the policies and procedures of the service, while closely supervised and regularly seeking help from clinical/professional supervisor or manager.

• 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. It has been at the forefront of developing evidence-based family interventions for eating disorders and is renowned worldwide for the psychological treatments it offers to children and adolescents with eating disorders and their families.
• 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).
• 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.
• MCCAED is based at the Pears Maudsley Centre, for Children and Young People, Maudsley Hospital, which is located at Denmark Hill less than 5 minutes from the train station (zone 2). Our Trust headquarters is also located at Denmark Hill. We also provide services and operate across other locations, such as London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; and substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Lambeth, Greenwich and Wandsworth.

Essential

• A First-class or Upper-second-class Bachelors degree with Honours in Psychology or an equivalent conversion course that is accredited by the British Psychological Society and confers the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society. (A)

Essential

• Sufficient post-graduate experience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs in order to be able to work clinically without direct supervision. (A/I)
• Post-graduate experience of conducting research projects or audits. (A/I)
• 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. (A/I)

Desirable

• The Trust encourages and welcomes applications from people with lived experience of mental health challenges. We see this as valuable and recognise the positive impact this experience can have on the work we do. (A/I)

Desirable

• A good working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and skills in statistical data analysis (SPSS). (A/I/T)
• A good working knowledge and understanding of young people and families in a mental health setting (A/I)

Essential

• Skills in relevant psychological assessment and interventions that enable working as a pre-qualified practitioner with clinical supervision. (A/I/T)
• Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data. (A/I/T)

Essential

• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, participating in effective team functioning and holding team roles. (A/I)
• Ability to communicate complex, sensitive or contentious information to people who may have impediments to understanding. (A/I)