North Tyneside Council

DBS0911 Clinical Psychologist

The closing date is 21 July 2025

Job summary

The post will be based at The Riverside Family Hub in North Shields. This is an ideal opportunity for someone looking for career progression, experienced in developing trauma-informed practice and looking to work within a dynamic, innovative service.

Experience of managing staff and leading service and organisational development is desirable.

The post-holder will join the specialist multi-agency HIVE Team, leading a therapeutic service for children, young people and their families, working alongside trauma therapists, nurses, occupational therapists, CBT practitioners, teachers and educational psychologists.

The service provides specialist assessment and direct therapy to address the impact of complex developmental and relational trauma. The post holder will be expected to be an excellent clinical practitioner, with the ability to offer supervision, advice and consultation to colleagues, schools and families, on psychological aspects of assessment, formulation, support and therapy.

The post holder will ensure that high quality individualised packages of support are delivered. Whilst a DDP or EMDR qualification is desirable, training will be available for the successful candidate, as this is a core intervention / practice model for the service. This post is part of the expansion of the existing complex trauma pathway and will support delivery of the Framework for Integrated Care: Complex Trauma across North Tyneside Council and partner organisations.

Main duties of the job

We are currently developing our Childrens Homes offer and this role will support with this to ensure the needs of our most complex children and young people are fully understood by staff through formulation, supervision and the development of effective plans. We work closely with other services, both statutory and across the voluntary sector, within North Tyneside, and beyond, to ensure that children and young people access the right services in a timely manner.

We continue to develop our systems change model for CYP Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing and there are many opportunities to be involved in wider strategic work, including children displaying sexually harmful behaviour and the neurodiversity transformation programme.

It is an exciting time to be working for North Tyneside Council and this is a role that offers the opportunity to work creatively, help to shape services and make a significant difference to children, young people and families. Our recent Ofsted ILACS inspection rated the council as outstanding in all areas and The HIVE Team was identified as a real strength. We are also undertaking research through Newcastle University currently to further explore our integrated model of practice.

This is a part-time post (3 days a week) but the council offers flexible working. There could be an option to further discuss hours for the right candidate.

About us

Learn More

For further information about North Tyneside Council, the benefits of working for us, and the many attractions of working and living in North Tyneside please see the councils About Us pages onwww.northeastjobs.org.uk.

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North Tyneside Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and adults at risk of harm. All staff and volunteers are expected to share this commitment and to familiarise themselves with all relevant policies, procedures, and guidance. Within North Tyneside, safeguarding is everybody's business.

Details

Date posted

10 July 2025

Pay scheme

Other

Salary

£67,538 a year pa pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

F0030-25-0008

Job locations

Cobalt Business Park

Silverlink North

North Tyneside

NE27 0BY


Job description

Job responsibilities

To provide and to ensure the systematic provision of a high-quality specialist clinical psychology service to clients in the care of North Tyneside Council, have social care involvement, on the edge of care, and those care experienced, including care leavers, adopted and under SGO arrangements.

To deliver on the Framework for Integrated Care: Complex Trauma (Community). Framework for Integrated Care

To promote and develop a Trauma informed approach across Local Authority Childrens Social Care and beyond.

To support the development and training of staff in psychological understanding and approaches

To supervise and support the psychological assessment, formulation and therapy provided by team members providing psychologically based assessment and therapy. At the same time as offering highly specialist advice, consultation and supervision on clinical presentations where particular expertise is needed.

To promote the needs and interests of children and young people who come under The HIVE Team remit.

To propose and implement policy or service changes to the wider social and health care structures.

To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the team.

To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systemic governance of psychological practice within the service/team.

To role model compassionate and inclusive leadership in order to shape the creation of a collective leadership culture within the service. This means demonstrating a consistent leadership style which (a) engages, enables and empowers others (b) uses coaching to promote ownership of learning and quality improvement and (c) facilitates team working and collaboration within teams / departments and across organisational boundaries.

To support applications to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund when appropriate.

To assist in the pathway planning for children and young people using psychological formulation.

To support the development of effective performance management systems to improve service delivery.

Job description

Job responsibilities

To provide and to ensure the systematic provision of a high-quality specialist clinical psychology service to clients in the care of North Tyneside Council, have social care involvement, on the edge of care, and those care experienced, including care leavers, adopted and under SGO arrangements.

To deliver on the Framework for Integrated Care: Complex Trauma (Community). Framework for Integrated Care

To promote and develop a Trauma informed approach across Local Authority Childrens Social Care and beyond.

To support the development and training of staff in psychological understanding and approaches

To supervise and support the psychological assessment, formulation and therapy provided by team members providing psychologically based assessment and therapy. At the same time as offering highly specialist advice, consultation and supervision on clinical presentations where particular expertise is needed.

To promote the needs and interests of children and young people who come under The HIVE Team remit.

To propose and implement policy or service changes to the wider social and health care structures.

To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the team.

To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systemic governance of psychological practice within the service/team.

To role model compassionate and inclusive leadership in order to shape the creation of a collective leadership culture within the service. This means demonstrating a consistent leadership style which (a) engages, enables and empowers others (b) uses coaching to promote ownership of learning and quality improvement and (c) facilitates team working and collaboration within teams / departments and across organisational boundaries.

To support applications to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund when appropriate.

To assist in the pathway planning for children and young people using psychological formulation.

To support the development of effective performance management systems to improve service delivery.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • First degree in Psychology or related subject with the British Psychological Societys Graduate Basis for Registration.
  • MSc/Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

Desirable

  • Formal training in supervision
  • Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) Level 2
  • Ability to offer EMDR to young people.

Experience

Essential

  • Ability to work on a multi-agency/multi-disciplinary basis.
  • Expertise in the ability to assess, formulate and carry out interventions and evaluations directly with clients who may find it hard to trust adults.
  • Skills in undertaking independent and joint assessments with colleagues from a range of therapeutic modalities, social work teams, schools and other workers of children and young people.
  • Ability to offer a range of indirect specialist services including teaching, training, consultation, liaison, research and audit.
  • Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequency requiring sustained and intense concentration.
  • Excellent engagement skills, sense of humour and ability to maintain optimism.
  • Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups including staff in residential homes and foster carers.
  • Ability to teach/train others using multi-media presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
  • Ability to communicate highly complex, technical and sensitive information in a clear and concise way.
  • Ability to supervise other therapeutic practitioners.
  • Ability to employ and identify mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and situations.
  • Expertise in gathering and analysing complex information regarding clinical presentations and/or research materials and in interpreting such information and formulating plans and options for treatment.
  • Assessed previous experience of working as a qualified psychologist and experience of having gained specialist knowledge.
  • Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of client groups/specialisms and settings.
  • Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of client severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems
  • Experience of managing extreme presentations and emotive and distressing problems.
  • Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients psychological care and treatment both as a professionally qualified care co-coordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
  • Ability to analyse performance data to improve service delivery.
  • Ability to work flexibly

Desirable

  • Experience of accessing the Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund

Knowledge

Essential

  • Highly developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing highly complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the Council. Highly complex information may include communicating formulations in a therapeutic context. Information communicated may be highly sensitive with regards to mental health diagnosis for example, and maybe highly contentious e.g., where psychological expert opinion may conflict with the opinion of the client and/or other professionals.
  • Highest level of training and skill with regards to interpersonal communication given the significant focus of providing complex psychological therapy to individuals.
  • Ability to communicate in very difficult circumstances where information may be highly emotive such as dealing with extreme psychological distress.
  • Ability to work in an atmosphere which may be hostile given the complex nature of some of the information communicated.

Desirable

  • A deep understanding of complex trauma and the impact on child development and relationships.
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • First degree in Psychology or related subject with the British Psychological Societys Graduate Basis for Registration.
  • MSc/Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

Desirable

  • Formal training in supervision
  • Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) Level 2
  • Ability to offer EMDR to young people.

Experience

Essential

  • Ability to work on a multi-agency/multi-disciplinary basis.
  • Expertise in the ability to assess, formulate and carry out interventions and evaluations directly with clients who may find it hard to trust adults.
  • Skills in undertaking independent and joint assessments with colleagues from a range of therapeutic modalities, social work teams, schools and other workers of children and young people.
  • Ability to offer a range of indirect specialist services including teaching, training, consultation, liaison, research and audit.
  • Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequency requiring sustained and intense concentration.
  • Excellent engagement skills, sense of humour and ability to maintain optimism.
  • Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups including staff in residential homes and foster carers.
  • Ability to teach/train others using multi-media presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
  • Ability to communicate highly complex, technical and sensitive information in a clear and concise way.
  • Ability to supervise other therapeutic practitioners.
  • Ability to employ and identify mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and situations.
  • Expertise in gathering and analysing complex information regarding clinical presentations and/or research materials and in interpreting such information and formulating plans and options for treatment.
  • Assessed previous experience of working as a qualified psychologist and experience of having gained specialist knowledge.
  • Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of client groups/specialisms and settings.
  • Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of client severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems
  • Experience of managing extreme presentations and emotive and distressing problems.
  • Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients psychological care and treatment both as a professionally qualified care co-coordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
  • Ability to analyse performance data to improve service delivery.
  • Ability to work flexibly

Desirable

  • Experience of accessing the Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund

Knowledge

Essential

  • Highly developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing highly complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the Council. Highly complex information may include communicating formulations in a therapeutic context. Information communicated may be highly sensitive with regards to mental health diagnosis for example, and maybe highly contentious e.g., where psychological expert opinion may conflict with the opinion of the client and/or other professionals.
  • Highest level of training and skill with regards to interpersonal communication given the significant focus of providing complex psychological therapy to individuals.
  • Ability to communicate in very difficult circumstances where information may be highly emotive such as dealing with extreme psychological distress.
  • Ability to work in an atmosphere which may be hostile given the complex nature of some of the information communicated.

Desirable

  • A deep understanding of complex trauma and the impact on child development and relationships.

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.

Employer details

Employer name

North Tyneside Council

Address

Cobalt Business Park

Silverlink North

North Tyneside

NE27 0BY


Employer's website

https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

North Tyneside Council

Address

Cobalt Business Park

Silverlink North

North Tyneside

NE27 0BY


Employer's website

https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Jane Pickthall

jane.pickthall@northtyneside.gov.uk

01916438365

Details

Date posted

10 July 2025

Pay scheme

Other

Salary

£67,538 a year pa pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

F0030-25-0008

Job locations

Cobalt Business Park

Silverlink North

North Tyneside

NE27 0BY


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