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Job summary

Main area
Systemic Family Therapist
Grade
8b
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Part time - 15 hours per week
Job ref
152-M175.25
Employer
Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Inpatient CAMHS
Town
Bournemouth
Salary
£25,782 - £29,958 p.a.
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
06/08/2025 23:59
Interview date
17/09/2025

Employer heading

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust logo

Senior/Lead Systemic Family Therapist

8b

 

 

Job overview

We are seeking a Senior/Lead Systemic Family Psychotherapist to join our Child and Family Mental Health Service within our CAMHS acute care pathway. 

The inpatient CAMHS offer is expanding to include a brand new purpose built 8 bed High Intensity Environment alongside our 10 bed General Adolescent Unit.

In Dorset, we are transforming our child and adolescent mental health service into a Family Mental Health model that embraces and adopts the Thrive framework. The inpatient service falls within the Getting More Help and Getting Risk Support quadrants of Thrive.

We aspire to offer families a service that is built on compassion, social connection, and participation with our peers and parent peers, and a service that is understanding of the need to work in partnership with the wider network of education, social care and 3rd sector services in order to deliver support for families based on their needs.

You will work clinically on  our newly developed  10-bed adolescent inpatient unit, and provide wider professional and clinical leadership for systemic psychotherapy across the acute pathway.

This is a part-time post of 15 hours per week.  The post holder is required to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service.

Employment in this post requires an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, which the Trust will cover the cost of.  Applicants who subscribe to the DBS update service are able to present a valid DBS certificate instead of requiring a new check.

Main duties of the job

Core elements include:

  • To provide high quality, highly specialised, evidence based systemic Family Therapy to individuals, their families, and carers receiving inpatient care.
  • To work as a member of a multi disciplinary team to provide assessment and interventions for individuals, and their families who have been admitted to the inpatient service.
  • To provide family therapy advice and supervision to colleagues across C-CAMH service.
  • To provide leadership for the systemic psychotherapists within the service, and to promote the role and purpose of systemic psychotherapy within Children's services.
  • To lead on the co-ordination of systemic evidence-based interventions across CAMHs and to liaise with partner agencies to support integration and collaboration across all Children's services.

 

Working for our organisation

At Dorset HealthCare we're on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We're a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here - it's one of the reasons the CQC rated us 'outstanding' in 2019. It's also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you're looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do, and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities, and we celebrate diversity. We're an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you'll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don't know. And you'll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion, and expertise in all we do.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification.  When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contact [email protected]

Person specification

Knowledge, Skills and Training

Essential criteria
  • Masters or Doctoral level qualification in Systemic Psychotherapy.
Desirable criteria
  • Eligibility for UKCP registration. The Maintenance of UKCP Registration by attendance on short or long training courses to meet CPD requirements.
  • Registration as clinical supervisor
  • Training in an additional evidence based systemic intervention e.g. Multi-Family Group Therapy, NVR

Job Specific Experience

Essential criteria
  • Previous experience as a systemic family therapist working within CAMHS, Eating Disorders or Adult Mental Health
  • Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
  • Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychotherapeutic care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan
  • Skills in the use of complex methods of systemic assessment and treatment of individuals, couples, family systems, groups and organisations, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria
  • A proven commitment to working in partnership with service users and carers in the delivery of effective services
  • Ability to motivate and lead as well as to offer high quality supervision with a focus on competency

Additional Requirements

Essential criteria
  • Ability to work with complex and distressing situations e.g. family breakdown, domestic violence, child abuse including sexual abuse, children and young people who present a risk to themselves and others, and mental illness – mental health problems. This entails seeing family members and their wider system in different combinations. Potentially verbal and physical abuse from patient and/or carer – risk of aggression.
  • To undertake supervision and training of other professionals in holistic integrated assessment and multi-modal therapeutic intervention with children, young people, and their families, alongside a respect for other perspectives and other clinical core skills.To undertake supervision and training of other professionals in holistic integrated assessment and multi-modal therapeutic intervention with children, young people, and their families, alongside a respect for other perspectives and other clinical core skills.
  • To develop support for colleagues for working with looked after children and social services

Employer certification / accreditation badges

National Interim Quality MarkNHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardModern Slavery ActApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyAge positiveInvestors in PeopleImproving working livesArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)Mindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerCare quality commission - OutstandingPrince's Trust - Proud to support the Prince's trust - Youth can do itStep into healthHappy to Talk Flexible WorkingArmed Forces Covenant

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Dr Amanda Leather
Job title
Clinical Lead across CAMHS acute pathway
Email address
[email protected]
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