ELFT (East London NHS Foundation Trust) is making a positive difference to thousands of people’s lives, providing support so that they can fulfil their potential and enjoy healthy lives.

Specialist Systemic/Family Psychotherapist
The Coborn Centre for Adolescent Mental Health
AfC Band 7
One year fixed term full time: 37.5 hours 

We currently have an opportunity for an innovative and motivated Specialist Systemic/Family Psychotherapist to join our team at the Coborn Centre in East London. The post provides an opportunity to work within a very experienced multi-disciplinary team with a complex and challenging client group. The successful candidate will be supported by our Lead Family Therapist and by colleagues within the team. The Coborn Centre is located in well resourced, purpose built premises at Newham University Hospital. We currently work with 12-18 year old young people and their families across the East London boroughs of Newham, Hackney & Tower Hamlets as well as Luton and Bedfordshire. The Centre which opened in 2006 comprises of 12 acute beds, 16 intensive care beds and up to 9 day patient places. The service has led the way in the design of adolescent mental health facilities nationally. We have recently been awarded an excellent by the QNIC accreditation process as well as being recently accredited as Outstanding by the CQC.

The client group is varied and challenging. Young people present with eating disorders, psychosis, OCD, and emerging and unstable personality difficulties.  We have an eclectic and dynamic staff group and are seeking a candidate who has an interest in developing our current service, and leading our clinical care. 

You will provide specialist family systemic assessments and therapeutic interventions to young people and their families and also offer a systemic perspective to the multidisciplinary teams in relation to the assessment, formulation and treatment of young people. From the assessment, time limited interventions are offered both directly and through consultation with members of the wider multi-disciplinary team, i.e. medical, nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, art therapies, social work and education. 
A range of therapeutic orientations is represented in the wider team including psychodynamic, systemic and cognitive behavioural perspectives. As a team, we are currently developing our skills in the areas of Mentalisation and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. Systemic input begins at admission and is focussed on enabling young people to return to their Community as soon as possible. 

You will join the Family Therapy team which consists of Lead Family Therapist and systemic practitioner. You will be involved in developing the Systemic provision in the service through providing supervision and support to the wider MDT as well as hold a clinical case load. There will be considerable opportunities for developing your skills, sharing your clinical expertise and developing your capacity to enjoy multi-disciplinary team working. We would value your input to our quality improvement programme, and the development systemic skills within the wider team. We are committed to staff development and reflective practice, with considerable resources in the Team and wider trust to support this.

For further information on the above post please contact either Elaine ODwyer, Lead Family Therapist on 0207 540 6789 or email elaine.o'dwyer1@nhs.net.

ELFT has been named one of the HSJ Top 10 best places to work in healthcare, HSJ Provider Trust of the Year and graded as Outstanding by our regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2018. We believe that staff who feel valued by the Trust and are truly engaged in the organisation deliver better outcomes for our patients. This Trust is clinician-led, and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services.

We have set ourselves the mission to improve the quality of life of all we serve, and have embarked on an ambitious Quality Improvement Programme to transform the culture of the Trust to one of continuous improvement, delivered through participation of all staff and with service users, carers and families at the heart of our efforts to improve.

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Geographic areas our services cover

ELFT provides a wide range of community and inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, older adults and forensic services to the City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire, Luton and psychological therapy services to the London Borough of Richmond.

It is recommended you apply for the post as soon as possible as adverts may close earlier if there is a high response.

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If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note we do not request references prior to interviews.