Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist

The postholder will be required to provide a specialised contribution to the clinical assessment and psychotherapeutic treatment of children, adolescents and their carers within the specialist field served by the Portman Clinic., In collaboration with colleagues the postholder will provide specialized assessment of patients referred to the Portman Clinic, based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex information derived from a variety of sources including interviews with patients, and reports from other professionals involved in the care, treatment and/or supervision of patients.

The postholder will be responsible for implementing a range of psychotherapeutic interventions for individuals, families and groups as appropriate. The complexity of this specific patient group will constantly impact on the therapist and the therapeutic relationship and the work is of essence therefore skilled. Hostility, verbal and sometimes physical aggression, anxieties, ambivalence about engagement, management of risk, distressing or overwhelming experiences, issues about honesty and dishonesty and perverse psychopathology will commonly affect the treatment. The clinician will be expected to use existing knowledge and theoretical frameworksin a creative and innovative way to address highly intricate clinical situations that will differ for 3 each patient. The postholder will be professionally supported in this through weekly clinical meetings and fortnightly unit meetings which are mandatory for all clinical staff and will also have the opportunity to attend weekly supervision with
a more senior colleague.

The Portman Clinic was founded in 1933 for the specific purpose of studying and treating delinquency and sexual deviancy. The Portman Clinic is a NHS England commissioned national specialist outpatient clinic offering psychoanalytically orientated assessment, treatment and management for children, adolescents and adults who suffer from problematic sexual behaviours or engage in delinquent, criminal or violent behaviour. Treatment offered is individual, group and couple therapy.

The aim of the Portman Clinic is to develop a body of knowledge on criminality, sexual deviancy and violence through its clinical work and to disseminate this expertise through consultancy, teaching and training, research and publication.