Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. If it is identified that you require sponsorship to undertake this role your application may be withdrawn.

KEY RESPONSIBILTIES

1. To provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation and therapy at the same time as offering advice and consultation to non-psychology colleagues and other non-professional carers, working autonomously within professional guidelines and Trust policies and procedures.2. To use research skills in audit and policy development within the area covered by the service.3. To further contribute to the service by teaching, publishing research and providing clinical supervision to Psychologists undertaking doctoral clinical and/or counselling psychology training, assistant psychologists, community nurses and other members of the multi-disciplinary team as required.

Clinical1. To provide specialist psychological assessments of service users referred to the CLDT, based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources. Clinical work will take place across all settings and agencies serving service users served by the team, including family homes, day or educational and residential facilities at an individual or group level.2. To formulate and implement plans for the psychological treatment and management of people with learning disabilities who may have mental health problems and/or challenging behaviours. There will be a need to adjust and refine psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.3. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings. This may involve working in hostile challenging and highly emotive environments and require the highest levels of interpersonal and communication skills. The post holder exercises autonomous professional responsibility for their psychological practice within the CLDT.4. To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to service users care; and to contribute to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care, to the benefit of all users of the service.5. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for service users, and provide advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk.6. To undertake any additional clinical risk assessment training relevant to the role.7. To provide a psychological perspective to case discussion and Care Co-ordination and contribute to the decision making processes of the team for service users across all settings and agencies. To liaise with professionals, families and carers coordinating the delivery of psychological services for service users of the team.8. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment formulation and treatment plans of service users in their care and monitor progress during the course of intervention.9. To undertake complex behavioural work with people with complex behavioural needs, following the services internal PBS pathway as required.10. To maintain up-to-date clinical skills based on current best evidence and best practice for working psychologically with adults with a learning disability.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psycho-pathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Trained in clinical supervision of doctoral trainees (i.e. completed all relevant STAR Training).
• Currently registered with the HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Eligible for BPS Chartered Status. Eligible for full membership of the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP).

Experience

Essential

• Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, seeing service users presenting with a wide variety of mental health and behavioural needs in a range of settings. Offering evidence-based psychological interventions and adhering to appropriate best practice and professional guidance as a qualified clinician.
• Experience of working therapeutically with services users with a learning disability and with people on the autistic continuum; including those presenting with behavioural needs which challenges services.
• Demonstration of current KSF competencies consistent with the 8a profile or the ability to develop into this role.
• Exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care as a care coordinator within the context of a multidisciplinary team.
• Providing psychological advice and consultancy to others as part of a community learning disability team.
• Teaching, training and clinical supervision and field supervisor for doctoral theses.
• Research and development.
• Quality and service improvement and evaluation.
• Undertaking multi-dimensional risk assessment, developing and implementing risk mitigation strategies.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of clinical supervision of others.

Desirable

• Experience of joint working with statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies.
• Post doctorial experience in one or more highly specialist areas of psychological practice, for example, Applied Behavioural Analysis, EMDR, Cognitive Therapy, Positive Behaviour Support.
• Experience of working in services for people with learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges services.
• Experience of working with offenders or those at risk of offending.
• Experience of post-doctoral project management/leadership.
• Experience of delivering trauma informed care and TIC approaches.

Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological approaches for working with challenging behaviour, people on the autistic continuum, and with people with complex mental health needs.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to service users, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS, including Child Protection and Adult Safeguarding.
• Advanced skills in the assessment, formulation, and treatment of people with learning disabilities using a range of models.
• Well-developed skills in risk assessment and risk management including skills to prevent, de-escalate and manage verbal and physical aggression from service users on a day to day basis.
• Ability to engage hostile and reluctant clients and to communicate unwelcome news sensitively and with respect and compassion, in hostile, antagonistic and emotionally charged situations.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology.
• Knowledge of the current policy content and relevant legislation for people with a learning disability and complex behavioural and/or forensic needs; including DSR processes, CTR/CETR & LAEPs.
• Knowledge of MHA and MCA. Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Friary Centre / Flanagan Centre

Lichfield / Stafford

ST16 3AG

Employer's website

https://www.mpft.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)