Skip to main content

This site is independent of the NHS and the Department of Health.

Please wait, loading

Job summary

Main area
DBT Practitioner
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 6
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
455-NLFT-1066
Employer
North London NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Barnet Springwell Centre
Town
London
Salary
£45,953 - £54,254 Per annum including HCAS
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
20/08/2026 23:59

Employer heading

North London NHS Foundation Trust logo

DBT Practitioner

NHS AfC: Band 6

Thank you for your interest in North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT).

As of 1 April 2026, NLFT has formally merged with Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust—marking the start of an exciting new chapter. This is a unique opportunity to join a forward-thinking organisation at a time of transformation, where we are strengthening access to mental health services, responding more effectively to complex and specialist needs, and advancing our work in education, research and innovation.

By bringing together our combined expertise, we are building a stronger, more collaborative Trust—one that delivers consistent, high-quality care and improved outcomes for the diverse communities we serve.

At the heart of our approach is The North London Way. We are committed to:

  • Working collaboratively at every level, guided by our shared values
  • Shaping a positive, inclusive culture where staff and service users thrive
  • Empowering our teams with the skills, tools and autonomy to drive meaningful change
  • Delivering excellence and continuously improving the quality of care we provide
  • Embedding research, innovation and technology across our services
  • Taking a trauma-informed approach in everything we do

We are proud to be an inclusive employer that values diversity. We actively welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly from our local communities, and are committed to creating opportunities for everyone—including apprentices, veterans and care leavers.

The North London Way to deliver: Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.

Our trust website is:  https://www.northlondonmentalhealth.nhs.uk/ 

As a values‑driven Trust, we recruit through our values. Our selection processes focus on behaviours, attitudes, and examples that reflect our organisational values and commitment to compassionate, high‑quality care.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a set of technology that can perform various tasks that typically required human intelligence. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role.

We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it’s important that examples and responses genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey.

Further guidance can be found in the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit  https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1.

North London NHS Foundation Trust is committed to fair and transparent recruitment and requires applicants to provide accurate information, as misleading details may affect their application or employment and may be verified in line with the Fraud Act 2006. For further information please visit https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1.

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated clinician with a passion for working therapeutically with individuals with complex emotional needs within a supportive and dynamic specialist team.

This important role is part of the Barnet Complex Emotional Needs (CEN) Pathway. The remit of the dynamic DBT Pathway is to offer Barnet residents referred into the service a consistent evidence-based therapeutic approach, to reduce inpatient admissions and to support the quick transitions of those in an inpatient service back into the community.  

The post holder will be joining a established and vibrant DBT Pathway and will be working closely with the Barnet Adult Psychology Team and the Complex Emotional Needs Pathway Team.  

Ideally you will have a strong enthusiasm to work in a psychologically informed way and had experience of DBT, but this is not essential as training will be provided. 

The post holder will provide formal DBT psychological interventions using a trauma -informed approach whilst undertaking necessary training to upskill for this role as required.  

The post holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of appropriate professional practice within the service/team.  

Main duties of the job

As a Band 6 DBT Practitioner, you will play a key role in delivering specialist Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to adults experiencing severe emotional dysregulation and complex mental health difficulties. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you will provide high-quality, evidence-based interventions that support recovery and promote meaningful change.
 
Key responsibilities include:
  • Delivering individual DBT-informed interventions and co-facilitating DBT skills training groups.
  • Managing a caseload of service users with complex emotional and relational difficulties, including those presenting with significant risk.
  • Undertaking comprehensive assessments, care planning, risk assessment, and ongoing clinical reviews.
  • Supporting service users to develop skills in emotional regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness.
  • Participating in weekly DBT consultation meetings and contributing to the maintenance of DBT treatment fidelity.
  • Working collaboratively with service users, carers, and partner agencies to ensure coordinated and person-centred care.
  • Maintaining accurate clinical records and contributing to service evaluation and outcome monitoring.
  • Providing specialist advice, consultation, and support to colleagues within the wider mental health services.
  • Contributing to service development, quality improvement initiatives, and the promotion of psychologically informed practice.
 

Working for our organisation

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.

Our Five-Year Strategy:  

  1.  We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
  2. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all
  3. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.

 

Why NLFT?

  • We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities.
  • We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives.
  • NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme
  • Excellent internal staff network

 

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

 
  • Jointly assess patients for suitability for DBT. Where the problems appear to be too complex or severe to be appropriate for level of experience refer to manager/supervisor for advice on how to manage the case. 

  • To formulate and implement DBT focused treatment plans, in particular identifying repeating patterns of crisis and advise ways of altering these, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the patient’s problems. 

  • To educate and involve family members and others in treatment as necessary, conveying DBT formulations with sensitivity in easily understood language. 

  • To support the implementation of a range of DBT psychological interventions (group and individual) for prospective patients. 

  • To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management. 

  • To work closely with referrers, services and colleagues to collaborate around the delivery of DBT interventions. 

  • To deal appropriately with the intense emotional atmosphere surrounding therapy contacts which may be highly distressing on a daily basis and to work with frequently intense concentration for the clinical sessions of assessment and therapy.  

Person specification

Qualifications/ Registrations

Essential criteria
  • Core health professional qualification (Nursing, Social work, Occupational Therapy Psychotherapist) and Registration with the appropriate professional body
Desirable criteria
  • Basic Training Certificate in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) or a desire to engage in DBT training

Skills/ Abilities

Essential criteria
  • Strong interest and desire to work with patients with complex emotional needs and personality disorder in trauma informed way
  • Experience of facilitating psychoeducational and therapy groups for patients
  • Experience of working with carers and family members
  • Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team and working within a multicultural framework
  • Experience in developing risk management plans and psychological treatment pathways
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of running and delivering DBT groups in a clinical setting

Experience/ Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Knowledge of the theory and practice of DBT
  • Skills in the use psychological assessments, intervention and management
  • Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to patients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
  • Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the post-holder’s professional body
Desirable criteria
  • Enthusiasm about evidence-based practice and about using patient feedback as well as team performance data to develop service as best suited for the needs of our patient population.

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria
  • An enthusiasm and commitment to the psychological treatment in the field of Personality Disorder
  • Ability to maintain professional boundaries and form positive therapeutic relationship with service users and carers
  • Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to “hold” the stress of others
  • Ability to demonstrate NLFT Trust Values
Desirable criteria
  • A commitment to the evaluation of services, enthusiasm for both multi-professional and uni-professional audit

Other Requirements

Essential criteria
  • Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situation and severely challenging behaviours
  • Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleJob share policyAge positiveImproving working livesCare quality commission - GoodArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerCare Leaver CovenantStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into healthAccredited Living Wage Employer

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.

Application numbers

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Morgan Papadopoulos
Job title
Senior DBT Practitioner
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
020 8702 4033
Apply online nowAlert me to similar vacancies