Job summary
Band 8a Senior Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical or Counselling) or Senior Specialist Psychological Therapist (CBT) 1.0 wte Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford Assessment and Treatment Service
We are delighted to be advertising for a Senior Practitioner Psychologist or Senior Specialist Psychological Therapist (Band 8a) to join the Eastbourne Assessment and Treatment Service (ATS). The ATS is a friendly, well regarded multidisciplinary team that delivers specialist support and clinical interventions to adults with severe and complex mental health difficulties. This post provides an exciting opportunity for someone with sound clinical experience, looking to broaden the delivery of specialist therapy skills and progress their multidisciplinary team working, supervision, training and leadership roles.
Applications are welcome from experienced psychologists with specialist knowledge and skills of working with severe and enduring mental health difficulties. Equally important is experience in MDT teamworking, teaching and supervision. We would also welcome applications from Practitioner Psychologists who are about to qualify (Clinical or Counselling) and this post could be offered as a Band 7 to 8a development opportunity. This would be an excellent post to consolidate your training and progress your career development.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will provide a high quality, specialist applied psychological therapy service to clients, their families or carers, where there are complex presentations. They will have strong skills in assessment, intervention and formulation; and experience of delivering evidence based psychological therapy and be informed by attachment-based models. The post holder will take a clinical leadership role and will have supervisory experience. They will contribute to the supervision of more junior Psychology staff and will support psychological practice within the wider team through consultation, supervision, formulation and training. We have an established group treatment programme and you will be involved in supporting this. There are opportunities for audit, quality improvement and to contribute to service development.
You would be joining a cohesive network of Psychology staff all passionate about improving choice and outcomes for people with complex presentations. We are looking for someone with a strong commitment to team working and service user involvement. You will receive high standards of supervision and will be well supported. We have an established programme of CPD, peer supervision and reflective practice for Psychology staff. This is a good time for career development opportunities and we can support you to access training and specialist supervision. You will have the opportunity to pursue specialist interests and expertise in line with service objectives.
About us
Eastbourne ATS is a compassionate place to work with strong leadership and dedicated staff from all disciplines. We are proud of what we do and strive to maintain and improve the quality of the treatments we provide. We appreciate the demands of providing treatment to people with complex needs and work to ensure that staff are supported by a psychologically safe work environment, with access to a range of staff support services and a culture of learning and reflective practice. We strive to promote a good work-life balance for our staff.
In this post, you would be working primarily from the Eastbourne site, a car is not essential as Eastbourne has good transport links and is easily accessible by rail. There may be the opportunity to consider a hybrid model of working with some days based working from home.
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health, learning disability and substance misuse services throughout Sussex. It aims to realise the potential of everyone who uses its services and delivers care within the region. Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust promotes high quality clinical research and staff involvement in research and quality improvement. Sussex partnership has teaching status and is developing into one of the country's leading teaching mental health trusts. The Trust was rated as Good in the 2019 CQC inspection.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- To provide a qualified, high-quality specialist psychology service to individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams, in line with best, evidence-based practice and trust care pathways.
- To be responsible for holding and managing a clinical caseload and to exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the planning and prioritising of own workload and the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients, within the bounds of the service operational policy.
- To use analytical and judgment skills and be responsible for taking clinical management decisions in complex clinical issues.
- To clinically supervise assistant psychologists, trainee psychologists and junior psychologists, psychological therapists or counsellors and other staff as appropriate.
- To professionally supervise and, when appropriate, manage, assistant psychologists and trainee psychologists
- To provide consultation, mentorship, supervision and advice about psychological issues to other members of the team/service and other professionals working with service users, across a range of agencies/ settings as appropriate.
- To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service/team
- To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit, and to advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
- To utilise research skills to undertake service evaluation, audit and research as appropriate and disseminate the results in the service and nationally.
- To propose and implement policy changes within the area served by the service.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- To provide a qualified, high-quality specialist psychology service to individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams, in line with best, evidence-based practice and trust care pathways.
- To be responsible for holding and managing a clinical caseload and to exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the planning and prioritising of own workload and the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients, within the bounds of the service operational policy.
- To use analytical and judgment skills and be responsible for taking clinical management decisions in complex clinical issues.
- To clinically supervise assistant psychologists, trainee psychologists and junior psychologists, psychological therapists or counsellors and other staff as appropriate.
- To professionally supervise and, when appropriate, manage, assistant psychologists and trainee psychologists
- To provide consultation, mentorship, supervision and advice about psychological issues to other members of the team/service and other professionals working with service users, across a range of agencies/ settings as appropriate.
- To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service/team
- To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit, and to advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
- To utilise research skills to undertake service evaluation, audit and research as appropriate and disseminate the results in the service and nationally.
- To propose and implement policy changes within the area served by the service.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Recognised accredited post graduate level training in a psychological therapy as specified in the Appendix
- OR Post-graduate doctoral level training in applied psychology [or its equivalent for those trained before 1996 or outside the UK*] as approved by the HCPC, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
- *For forensic psychologists working in forensic settings: Masters degree (with the award of the British Psychological Society qualification in forensic psychology or equivalent).
- Professionally registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health Professions Council (HCPC).
Knowledge/Experience
Essential
- Substantial post-qualification/accreditation experience of specialist psychological therapy (assessment, formulation and treatment), as specified in the Appendix, maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- A high level of competence in applying a psychological therapy to complex difficulties appropriate for this therapy with the client group served by the post, and a proven track record of delivering positive outcomes in this therapy
- Experience of offering teaching, training and supervision within a demanding organisational context.
- Experience of representing psychological therapy within the context of multi-disciplinary care within a complex organisational context
- Significant experience of working with the particular client group served by the team/service
- Knowledge of guidance and legislation in relation to the client group
- A high-level specialist knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapy as specified in the appendix, as applied to the client group using this service
- Experience of the application of psychological therapy in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework
- Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the professional registration/accrediting body specified in the appendix
- Post graduate level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex data analysis as practiced within clinical practice settings
- Experience and demonstrated effectiveness in working with the full range of clinical severity served by the service.
- Experience of the application of Psychological Therapy in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapy for specific difficult to treat groups served by the service (e.g. complex comorbidity, physical health problems or disability etc).
- Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the appropriate professional bodies and outlined in the Appendix.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Recognised accredited post graduate level training in a psychological therapy as specified in the Appendix
- OR Post-graduate doctoral level training in applied psychology [or its equivalent for those trained before 1996 or outside the UK*] as approved by the HCPC, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
- *For forensic psychologists working in forensic settings: Masters degree (with the award of the British Psychological Society qualification in forensic psychology or equivalent).
- Professionally registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health Professions Council (HCPC).
Knowledge/Experience
Essential
- Substantial post-qualification/accreditation experience of specialist psychological therapy (assessment, formulation and treatment), as specified in the Appendix, maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- A high level of competence in applying a psychological therapy to complex difficulties appropriate for this therapy with the client group served by the post, and a proven track record of delivering positive outcomes in this therapy
- Experience of offering teaching, training and supervision within a demanding organisational context.
- Experience of representing psychological therapy within the context of multi-disciplinary care within a complex organisational context
- Significant experience of working with the particular client group served by the team/service
- Knowledge of guidance and legislation in relation to the client group
- A high-level specialist knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapy as specified in the appendix, as applied to the client group using this service
- Experience of the application of psychological therapy in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework
- Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the professional registration/accrediting body specified in the appendix
- Post graduate level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex data analysis as practiced within clinical practice settings
- Experience and demonstrated effectiveness in working with the full range of clinical severity served by the service.
- Experience of the application of Psychological Therapy in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapy for specific difficult to treat groups served by the service (e.g. complex comorbidity, physical health problems or disability etc).
- Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the appropriate professional bodies and outlined in the Appendix.
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
