Perinatal Parent Infant Psychotherapist

The opportunity has arisen for a suitably qualified Parent-Infant Psychotherapist post within the Hillingdon Community Perinatal Mental Health Service.

This position is open to applicants who have substantial years post-qualification experience; however, appropriately qualified candidates with demonstrable expertise and experience in perinatal mental health who have less than significant years post-qualification experience may also be considered.

The parent-infant psychotherapist will have a significant role in contributing to the specialist interventions for families offered an extended period of care and will provide psychotherapeutic treatment promoting the quality of the relationship between the mother and her infant.

Aligning to the Long-Term Plan, our service now offers a review at 12 months post-natal for provisions of Extended Period of Care up to 24 months post-natal. We also offer Partners Screening for mental health needs in significant others and additional signposting.

The Team provides a Monday‑Friday, 9.00‑5.00 service based at the Hillingdon Riverside Centre, Uxbridge. The successful applicant should have the flexibility to work occasional extended opening hours to facilitate early or late clinic appointments, home visits or training.

Applicants must have excellent clinical skills and experience with a wide variety of patient groups across the whole life span. In addition to the focus on maternal mental health, specialist perinatal mental health services also consider the context and the infant‑parent‑infant relationship.

Applicants must have a proven ability to formulate, document, implement and review plans for the psychotherapeutic treatment and management of women with a full range of clinical problems. They should demonstrate an ability to thoroughly assess risk, to formulate safe and effective risk‑management plans and document these clearly and effectively.

We are looking for an experienced parent‑infant psychotherapist with excellent interpersonal skills. They must be keen to work pro‑actively, be confident and motivated, flexible and willing to show initiative. They must be robust, resourceful and willing to work in an environment that can be demanding and challenging. Appropriate training, support and regular supervision will be provided by the Lead Parent‑Infant Psychotherapist and by the MDT, as well as group supervisions Holding the Baby in Mind.

We expect applicants to have experience of managing their own caseloads in a complex multidisciplinary context and to have experience of participating in formal child protection procedures.

• Flexible approach with a broad range of applied psychotherapeutic techniques, given the variety and time‑specific nature of treatment during pregnancy, around birth and in the postnatal first year.
• Experience in the field of perinatal mental health, especially parent‑infant interventions in complex high‑risk cases. Ability to develop outreach clinics for pregnant and postnatal women with mental health problems while working as an autonomous practitioner. Good communicator, skilled in liaison and able to offer advice and consultation to midwives, health visitors and other relevant professionals.
• Provide an efficient, effective, comprehensive and specialist psychological assessment and psychotherapy treatment plan for women and their partners during the perinatal period. Patients with moderate to severe, highly complex and persistent mental health problems are seen within this service. The work will include offering an opinion on diagnosis/formulation to patients seen within the Perinatal Service in discussion with the Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist.
• Provide the particular highly specialist areas of expertise gained in post‑qualification specialist training to perinatal patients who present with complex and persistent mental health problems within the perinatal period.
• Provide advice and consultation from a psychological perspective around parent‑infant relationship and the psychotherapeutic care to psychologist and non‑psychologist colleagues, and to other non‑professional carers, working autonomously within…