Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Overview of Main Responsibilities 

CLINICAL

• Provide specialist psychotherapeutic assessment of patients referred to the CNWL Talking Therapies IAPT Service for High Intensity Counselling, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of quantitative and qualitative sources including self-report measures, rating scales, assessing for suitability of the treatment. Ensure the outcome of assessment is communicated to the referring agent and other professionals involved. Determine suitability of the approach and refer on unsuitable individuals to appropriate agencies and/or provide advice, including psycho-education, as appropriate.

• Formulate and implement plans for the specialist psychotherapeutic treatment and/or management of patients' mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of those problems derived from a broad theoretical knowledge of counselling, and employing methods based upon evidence of proven efficacy within modality. It is expected that the postholder will treat patients across the range of severity.

• Be responsible for implementing a range of specialist High Intensity Counselling, and other IAPT modalities interventions for individual patients, couples and groups, adjusting and refining psychotherapeutic formulations as practice and experience demand, and drawing upon different explanatory models and objective IAPT modality framework/s to maintain a clinical individualized focus whilst maintaining ethical and legal standards.

• Comply with caseload and set activity requirements which include number of contacts and recovery rates, for a High Intensity post as per IAPT national guidelines and local IAPT implementation board.

• Regular and prompt entry of clinical data relating to patients on caseload and make it available for supervision and for the patient as required.

• Regularly monitor and evaluate therapy programmes and progress, using objective measures where appropriate, and communicate this to referring agent and other professionals involved as appropriate.
• Evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical, developmental and cultural processes and systems, which have shaped the individual.
• Include family members and others involved in clients’ problems in therapy programmes, where and if necessary.
• Assess and deliver therapy programmes in the community or GP Surgery and other settings within the service, as necessary.
• Discharge patients as appropriate and arrange follow-up as appropriate on completion of therapy. Ensure outcome and follow-up of treatment is communicated to the referring agent and other professional involved as appropriate.
• Exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment,
  treatment, discharge and onward referral of patients whose problems are managed by psychotherapeutic interventions.
•  Assess and manage clinical risk to self and others. Involve other agencies as appropriate.
• Adhere to relevant professional codes of conduct, policy and guidance of  Accreditation requirements for individual registrants on the Professional Standards Authority register of Accredited Counsellors including UKCP, BACP, BPC etc.
• Maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data-entry and recording, report writing for the purposes of personally generated clinical, audit, teaching and research information.
• Exercise responsibility for professional self-governance in accordance with the HCPC, BPC and BACP and other relevant professional codes of practice and conduct and Trust policies and procedures.
• Develop and maintain knowledge of local resources and relationships with relevant statutory, voluntary and community groups and organisations.
• Develop and propose innovative responses to identified needs of the diverse and multi- cultural community the service serves in collaboration and consultation with colleagues from CNWL Talking Therapies IAPT Service and other relevant teams and agencies.