Key Responsibilities: To provide evidence-based interventions including family and individual cognitive behavioural interventions.....
Key Responsibilities: To provide evidence-based interventions including family and individual cognitive behavioural interventions to service users and their families seen within the Kent and Medway eating disorders team using specialist knowledge and breadth of understanding of child and adolescent mental health theories, evidence-based assessments and interventions and to manage complex cases. To take an active role in developing the research activities of the team and audit and interpret complex data to develop own and others understanding of mental disorders. To contribute to the training activities of the team both within the service and externally. To use and maintain skilled standards of personal professional clinical practice in the treatment modalities required by the children and young people treated by the team and be a resource to the whole service in maintaining the skills of others. To provide specialist assessments and evidence-based interventions for service users with an eating disorder. To provide consultation and advice to members of own team and other teams on psychological issues, primarily Family Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural models of understanding eating disorders in young people. To provide consultation and advice on risk assessment and risk management of service users with an eating disorder to members of own team and other teams. To provide supervision to staff on Family therapy based or cognitive-behavioural interventions as appropriate with service users with an eating disorder. To undertake research into eating disorders. To provide training in working with eating disorders to mental health teams and other specialist services. Specialist Clinical Skills To provide specialist assessment and clinical formulation for patients and their families/carers who are dealing with complex mental health needs including eating disorders and related problems. To provide specialised consultation to relevant professional systems including local and national mental health teams, general practitioners, schools, social services To select and administer specialist assessments, interpreting and integrating highly complex data drawn from several sources including psychological tests and rating scales To provide assessment and follow up reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users. To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations common to eating disorders (such as concerns about the potentially life-threatening nature of the illness, challenging behaviour, verbal abuse etc) and to support others involved in such situations. To work as an independent and autonomous professional within relevant professional guidelines and the policies and procedures of the service, taking full responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions. To select and deliver specialist evidence based psychological treatments including systemic family therapy, multi-family therapy and individual therapies as appropriate. To provide such therapies with clinical autonomy drawing on a range of interventions and theoretical models. To practice in a way which is inclusive and considerate of the needs of each individual in the system including all family members and their varying developmental stages and current emotional state, monitoring outcome and modifying and adapting interventions in an appropriate way. To work in ways which are sensitive to and appropriate to the needs of individuals and families from a wide range of racial, cultural, religious and social backgrounds. This includes ability to understand and offer therapeutic interventions to a variety of family forms including single parents, same sex couples and their families, extended families and people with mental health difficulties. To travel to network meetings (e.g. in-patient CPAs, community placements, family therapy meetings in other services) as appropriate and when required across Southend. Essex and Thurrock. To contribute to the effective working of the team and to a psychologically and systemically informed treatment framework for the service. To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans in keeping with trust policies To act as care co-ordinator, taking responsibility for initiating planning and reviewing care plans under enhanced CPA or role as appropriate. To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations such as aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and support others who are involved in such situations. To communicate skilfully and sensitively highly complex information relating to the children and adolescents varying eating disorder conditions to them and their families and the wider professional system around them taking account of sensory and cultural barriers to communication.
