Practitioner Psychologist / Systemic Family Therapist
| Dyddiad hysbysebu: | 05 Mehefin 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cyflog: | £33,758.00 i £35,949.00 bob blwyddyn |
| Gwybodaeth ychwanegol am y cyflog: | £33758.00 - £35949.00 a year |
| Oriau: | Llawn Amser |
| Dyddiad cau: | 28 Mehefin 2026 |
| Lleoliad: | Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 6GA |
| Cwmni: | NHS Jobs |
| Math o swydd: | Parhaol |
| Cyfeirnod swydd: | F0052-CAFHE06371 |
Crynodeb
Attach is a psychology-led service supporting children in care that has recently launched within West Sussex County Council. We offer direct assessment and therapy, support for foster and residential carers and reflective supervision and training for social work colleagues with the aim of improving the lives of young people in care. The Attach service is made up of experienced mental health practitioners who have worked for most of their careers in the NHS, and have all moved across to social care. We are excited to be part of West Sussex County Council and are learning together about the opportunities available here. Working within a local authority our referrers are our colleagues; this enables closer working relationships and opportunities to influence change at both a systemic and individual level. There are regular training opportunities within the local authority. The role focuses on improving emotional wellbeing, placement stability, relational health and trauma informed practice across childrens social care services. The post holder will provide psychologically informed assessment, consultation, formulation, therapeutic intervention and workforce support for children and young people who have experienced trauma, adversity and disrupted attachment and who, for the most part are growing up outside their birth families. We have two roles: 1.) Psychological practitioner Grade12, 0.7FTE: support to Children in Care and their carers/networks You will be part of a growing team of clinicians, in responding to requests for specialist therapeutic support for children we care for. We are not a mental health service, but instead in an early intervention service providing psychologically informed care to strengthen relationships between children we care for and their key adults, and where needed direct individual, dyadic or systemic therapeutic interventions with children and their parent-people. You will be part of regular triage meetings, where you will share in clinical decision making, as well as clinical team and business meetings. Unlike more traditional mental health service models, in Attach we provide a range of different interventions to meet the needs of the population we service, for example offering: - Drop In consultations to social work colleagues, with the aim of providing a thinking space to unpick clinical dilemmas and develop psychological formulations with related care plans - A series of time-limited consultation spaces to adults caring for children with the aim of both making sense of behaviours that cause concern, and exploring ways to move forward together - Leading reflective practise groups for social work colleagues - Collaborating with colleagues in delivering a range of different training offers to the network of adults involved in caring for children 2.) Psychological practitioner Grade12, 0.6FTE: support to Children in Care who are unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people and their carers/networks In this role, whilst also part of the growing Attach team described above, this post would work closely with a co-worker supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people and their networks e.g. Personal Advisors in the Care Leavers service and social workers in the Child Asylum Team. The current post holder has been a lone clinician developing these pathways of support for the past couple of years. They are working as a mental health practitioner (occupational therapist by profession), and they provide 0.7FTE of support. The UASC role will hold a caseload of unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people who have been referred by their social worker, due to concerns about their emotional wellbeing e.g. sleep, anxiety, depression, isolation and trauma through their journey to the UK. Together, you would triage these referrals and individually develop and disseminate packages of care to young people. This will include initial assessments, network meetings to share an understanding of well-being need, as well as a variety of evidenced based and trauma-informed interventions which are time-limited. Sometimes this work necessitates working alongside an interpreter. Examples of additional offers which are currently offered include offering a reflective practice space for social workers in the Child Asylum Team, adapting trauma-narrative work with young people, attending dyadic developmental psychotherapy training level 1 (DDP level 1), and making use of ideas in supporting carers and social workers. Finally, a monthly therapeutic nature-based group is delivered, co-run with the South Downs Trust. Feedback from UASC young people have described appreciating feeling connected with their peers and re-connecting to nature; the group has also helped to boost their self-esteem and reduce feelings of isolation. In both roles, there are real opportunities for innovation here as the Attach team; this includes the possibility of shaping a service to fit the needs of the children and services we are supporting. We are looking for clinicians who are passionate about improving outcomes for children in care and who have energy and enthusiasm to help grow and shape a new service. The post holders will receive a comprehensive induction which will include opportunities to shadow and to co-work. The post holders will receive regular clinical supervision from senior colleagues in the Attach team, in addition to ongoing opportunities for co-working, attending a team journal club to keep current with evidence-based thinking, and taking part in regular team case discussions. Practitioners will receive professional supervision appropriate to their core training, and this will be purchased externally where this expertise does not exist within the service. The team has links to the University of Surrey Clinical Psychology Doctorate programme and the opportunity to provide placements to Clinical Psychology trainees. We are also interested in making links with other professional training courses. What we can offer: A welcoming and forward-thinking psychological service embedded within Childrens Services influencing how West Sussex supports children in care through compassionate, psychologically informed approaches. Hybrid working arrangements to support your work-life balance Opportunities to shape an integrated psychological model Management and clinical supervision by senior clinicians within the Attach service Peer support and ongoing CPD An inclusive and values-driven team culture that supports innovation and reflective practice As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. Note: Please apply directly through the West Sussex County Council website. Link below in "Supporting Links"