Job responsibilities
To
provide a qualified specialist clinical or counselling psychology service to
patients who are seen within the designated clinical speciality/area, across
all sites and sectors of care by:
a) Providing specialist psychological
assessments and therapy
b) Offering advice and consultation on
patients psychological and neuropsychological care to non-psychologist
colleagues and to other non-professional carers
c) Developing, supporting and
maintaining effective working relationships with other disciplines within the
service areas, including attending Team meetings
d) Using research skills for audit,
policy and service development and leading on research projects within the
area served by the team/service
e) Proposing and implementing policy
changes within the specialist area served
f) Line managing Early Career and
Senior Clinical or Counselling Psychologists in the discrete clinical speciality
that the post covers and making a contribution to the general management,
governance and supervision of the clinical/counselling psychology service as
agreed
g) Working autonomously in the delivery
of these duties within professional guidelines, the evidence-based literature
and the overall framework of the Team, Department of Clinical & Health
Psychology and Trust policies and procedures.
3. JOB DIMENSIONS
National
KSF profile
Core:
Develop and maintain communication
with people on complex matters, issues and ideas and/or in complex situations
Develop oneself and contribute to
the development of others
Monitor and maintain health, safety
and security of self and others
Contribute to the improvement of
services
Contribute to improving quality
Promote equality and value
diversity.
Health
and wellbeing:
Plan, develop and implement
approaches to promote health and wellbeing and prevent adverse effects on
health and wellbeing
Assess complex health and wellbeing
needs and develop, monitor and review care plans to meet those needs
Contribute to protecting people at
risk
Assess physiological and
psychological functioning when there are complex and/or undifferentiated
abnormalities, diseases and disorders and develop, monitor and review related
treatment plans
Plan, deliver and evaluate
interventions and/or treatments when there are complex issues and/or serious
illness.
General:
Plan, deliver and review
interventions to enable people to learn and develop
Test and review new concepts,
models, methods, practices, products and equipment
Prioritise and manage the ongoing
work of services and/or projects
Plan, allocate and supervise the
work of a team.
KNOWLEDGE,
SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
Qualifications
Essential:
Post graduate doctoral level
training in clinical or counselling psychology, including specific models of
psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more
distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, as
accredited by the British Psychological Society.
Desirable:
Pre-qualification training and
qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of
applied psychology.
Training
Essential:
Further training in a specialised
area of clinical practice through formal post- doctoral training (diploma or
equivalent).
or
a combination of specialist short
courses together with an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice based
learning in a specialist area of clinical practice as assessed by an
experienced clinical supervisor to be of equivalent level to a postgraduate
diploma
Completion of formal clinical
supervisor training sufficient to be able to supervise doctoral trainees
Registration as a Clinical or
Counselling Psychologist with Health and Care Professions Council (or other
domain title as agreed)
Desirable:
Post-doctoral training in one or
more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
Special
knowledge including experience
Essential:
Assessed significant experience and
competencies from working as a qualified clinical or counselling psychologist
including significant post-qualification experience within the designated
specialty where the post is located
Experience of working with a wide
variety of patient groups, across the whole life course, presenting problems
that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high
degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing
problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
Experience of specialist
psychological assessment and treatment of patients across the full range of
care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient
settings.
Desirable:
Qualified experience of working
with multi-disciplinary teams and supervising healthcare staff
Experience of working with adults
with the health condition(s) covered by the designated clinical
speciality/area
Experience of working in medical
multi-disciplinary teams and offering systemic interpretations to have an
impact on the team functioning in patient care
Knowledge of specialist therapy
models (e.g., Acceptance and Commitment Therapy [ACT], Compassion Focused
Therapy [CFT] and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing [EMDR]) and their application with people with
physical health conditions
Experience of representing
psychology in meetings with service planners/commissioners to plan the
patient pathway across community and acute services.
Behaviours:
Essential:
Experience of exercising full
clinical responsibility for clients psychological care and treatment, both
as a professionally qualified care co-ordinator (or equivalent in a physical
healthcare setting) and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan
Experience of teaching, training
and provision of professional and clinical supervision
Ability to identify and employ
mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain
clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material
and challenging behaviour.
Practical
Skills:
Essential:
Skills in the use of complex
methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently
requiring sustained and intense concentration
Well-developed skills in the
ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly
technical and/or clinically sensitive information to patients, their
families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside
the NHS
Skills in providing consultation to
other professional and non-professional groups
Doctoral level knowledge of
research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis
as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology
Evidence of continuing professional
development as recommended by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Desirable:
Highly developed knowledge of the
theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies for specific
difficult to treat groups
Knowledge of legislation in
relation to the patient group and mental health.
Other
Requirements
Essential:
Able to fulfil Occupational Health
requirements for the post (with reasonable adjustments if necessary),
including clearance on blood borne viruses in compliance with Trust Policy.
8. CORE BEHAVIOURS AND SKILLS
1. To ensure the development,
maintenance and dissemination of the highest professional standards of
practice through (a) active participation in internal and external CPD
training and development programmes and (b) the encouragement and
facilitation of the active participation of service users in the design,
provision and evaluation of clinical services.
2. To ensure the development and
articulation of best practice in psychology within the service area and
contribute across the service by exercising the skills of a reflexive and
reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular clinical
supervision* and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current
developments in the field of clinical or counselling psychology and related
disciplines.
3. To maintain the highest standards of
clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report
writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in
accordance with professional codes of practice of the HCPC, British
Psychological Society (BPS) and Trust policies and procedures.
4. To contribute to the development and
articulation of best practice in psychology across the service, by continuing
to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner,
taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining
an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical or
counselling psychology and related disciplines.
5. To maintain up to date knowledge of
legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the
specific client group, mental health, clinical/counselling psychology and
health psychology in general.
*
Please note that all post holders of clinical psychology posts receive
clinical supervision. This is not to be confused with management supervision
in AFC terms
9. CORE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
Professional
knowledge:
Skills in the use of complex
methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management
Well-developed skills in the
ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly
technical and/or clinically sensitive information to patients, their
families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside
the NHS
Skills in providing consultation to
other professional and non-professional groups
