Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a qualified Band 7 Clinical or Counselling Psychologist t to work in City and Hackney Early Intervention in Psychosis Team (EQUIP) offering a service to residents following a first episode of psychosis. Through EQUIP's subsidiary service, Heads Up, it also offers a service for young people who may be at risk of developing psychosis. The teams work with diagnostic uncertainty and focuses on addressing associated distress and disability. The purpose is to minimise the risk of future relapse and maximise the quality of life.
The psychology team works with individuals, couples, families and networks and aims to flexibly offer a plurality of approaches that fits the particular context of the person, including CBT therapies, family therapy approaches (e.g. systemic psychotherapy, behavioural family therapy), and trauma informed and focussed therapies.
There are numerous development opportunities for the successful candidate - there is an active continuing professional development programme within the team, reflective practice spaces, in-service working groups, audit and research projects, and the post holder will receive specialist supervision and support from the wider City and Hackney Psychology department, in which there are also supervision/special interest spaces (e.g. EMDR Supervision; Trauma Supervision and Journal Club).
Main duties of the job
EQUIP offers a service to adult residents of Hackney and the City aged 18 - 65 following a first episode of psychosis. Through its subsidiary service, Heads Up, it also offers a service for people who are at risk of developing psychosis. The team works with diagnostic uncertainty and focuses on addressing the associated distress and disability. The purpose is to minimise the risk of future breakdowns and maximise the quality of life for the individual. This is achieved by working in active partnership with service users, carers and with local voluntary and community groups, in addition to statutory services. The post holder will work alongside clinical psychologists already in post to support individuals and their families in line with NICE guidelines for psychosis and schizophrenia.
The post holder will work in EQUIP to provide a psychology service to service users with a first episode psychosis.
The purpose of the role is to:
- Provide specialist assessment and formulation of service users.
- Provide specialist evidence-based intervention to service users, including CBT for psychosis and Family Intervention.
- Offer psychotherapeutic insights, consultation, and teaching to team members as appropriate.
- The post holder will be committed to supporting the work of the wider psychology service in seeking to provide a high quality, equitable, culturally competent and trauma informed service.
About us
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Kindly refer to the job description and person specification that is attached to the vacancy profile.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Kindly refer to the job description and person specification that is attached to the vacancy profile.
Person Specification
Education/ Qualification/ Training
Essential
- Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by BPS or Doctorate in Counselling Psychology
Desirable
- Must be registered with Health Professions Council as a (Clinical/Counseling) Psychologist
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with a wide variety of service user groups across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity.
- Experience of work in a multi-cultural setting, including working with interpreters.
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs
Desirable
- Experience of working in an Early Intervention Service with first episode psychosis
- Experience of delivering CBT-based psychological assessment and intervention within context of at-risk mental state and/or early intervention for psychosis.
- Experience of working with families and carers, and of delivering family therapy following a theoretical model
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Highly-developed skills in the effective communication of highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to a wide variety of recipients in a range of settings within and outside the NHS, including the ability to produce comprehensive and coherent letters, reports and associated documentation.
- Knowledge of psychological assessment and intervention with clients experiencing a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in early psychosis
- Skills in working in multidisciplinary settings.
- Skills in providing advice and consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Doctoral-level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex, multivariate data analysis as practised within the field of clinical psychology
Desirable
- Working knowledge of the practices and approaches of other key disciplines, professions and agencies involved in the care and management network, including medical, employment, social, educational and criminal justice systems.
Person Specification
Education/ Qualification/ Training
Essential
- Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by BPS or Doctorate in Counselling Psychology
Desirable
- Must be registered with Health Professions Council as a (Clinical/Counseling) Psychologist
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with a wide variety of service user groups across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity.
- Experience of work in a multi-cultural setting, including working with interpreters.
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs
Desirable
- Experience of working in an Early Intervention Service with first episode psychosis
- Experience of delivering CBT-based psychological assessment and intervention within context of at-risk mental state and/or early intervention for psychosis.
- Experience of working with families and carers, and of delivering family therapy following a theoretical model
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Highly-developed skills in the effective communication of highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to a wide variety of recipients in a range of settings within and outside the NHS, including the ability to produce comprehensive and coherent letters, reports and associated documentation.
- Knowledge of psychological assessment and intervention with clients experiencing a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in early psychosis
- Skills in working in multidisciplinary settings.
- Skills in providing advice and consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Doctoral-level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex, multivariate data analysis as practised within the field of clinical psychology
Desirable
- Working knowledge of the practices and approaches of other key disciplines, professions and agencies involved in the care and management network, including medical, employment, social, educational and criminal justice systems.
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
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).
