Community Links

Senior Clinical Counselling Psychologist or Psychotherapist

This job is now closed

Job summary

Aspire is an innovative team, developing our ARMS pathway and using approaches such as Open Dialogue, in addition to providing NICE-recommended interventions. Moreover, Inspire North is actively Anti-Racist.

We are looking to employ an enthusiastic individual to join our psychology team who would take a lead in one area of service development. The postholder will also provide individual, systemic and/or group-based therapeutic interventions, in addition to contributing to ideas for preventative work and community engagement. You would be joining a creative and thriving team that includes psychologists, CBT practitioners and systemic family therapists.

This position would be an excellent opportunity to develop an area of special interest and expertise. We are looking for applicants with a strong desire to work with people who express unshared and apparently unusual distressing experiences, and an ability to be a leader within the service.

Aspire is a city-wide service, working holistically with the person and their family/social network to promote recovery, positive mental wellbeing and social inclusion. Community Links is an ambitious, forward-thinking organisation which aims to provide high quality services, adhering to the principles of best practice, promoting equal opportunities and working positively with diversity.

The successful candidate should hold a full UK driving license and have access to a vehicle for work purposes.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be part of the Early Intervention multi-disciplinary team, working with 14 65-year-olds and their families/social networks who meet criteria for a first episode of psychosis or an At-Risk Mental State (ARMS).

The postholder will work as an autonomous practitioner providing specialist psychological formulation and interventions to people who present with a range of psychological and emotional difficulties, in addition to participating in social network meetings to do joint work with colleagues.

The postholder will particularly focus on one area of service provision, working alongside colleagues to facilitate service development, which may includecommunity engagement work and/or supporting the multidisciplinary team to useappropriate psychologically-informed interventions. The postholder will also provide supervision and line management to psychological therapists and trainees.

About us

Community Links as part of the Inspire North Group is a provider of mental health support services to socially excluded groups working with vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals and families. We deliver a range of creative services in partnership with organisations who share our values across sectors and communities.

The organisation expects all its employees to carry out their duties in a professional manner with a client focus, ensuring that respect and courtesy is shown to them, colleagues, other service providers and all those in contact with the organisation. You are expected to uphold the values and ethos of the Inspire North Group at all times.

Date posted

21 November 2023

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£50,952 to £57,349 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

B0447-23-0015

Job locations

Community Links Aspire

Armley Road

Armley

Leeds

LS12 2LB

Job description

Job responsibilities

1. Work with a highly specialised caseload of service users on either the First Episode or ARMS pathways, presenting with severe and complex psychological difficulties including hearing voices, seeing visions, extreme suspiciousness and paranoia, fluctuating moods, severely depressed mood, anxiety and other fears, obsessions and compulsions, specific and complex traumas, problems with eating or repeated interpersonal (personality) issues, and substance misuse. This may happen in a range of health and community settings, including the service users home and potentially lone working.

2. Work jointly with and provide advice to other team members in the provision of individual, family/social network-focused and group-based work, tentatively sharing specialist/expert knowledge around psychological ways of understanding and working with unshared and apparently unusual experiences, including those that would be labelled psychosis, and evaluating outcomes.

3. Work towards and maintain appropriate accreditation for the role, such as in the practice or supervision of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) or Family Interventions (FI).

4. Liaise with and convey highly complex and specialist information to clients and significant others/relevant workers in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, adapting to the communication needs or preferences of the other person(s), including when information that may be contentious or highly distressing.

5. Assess, monitor and (therapeutically) work with risk for clients on personal caseload in ways that empower the service user and/or the family and social network to reduce and manage risk behaviours, and to contribute to multi-disciplinary care planning around risk, in line with organisational and inter-agency (positive risk-taking) policies and procedures.

6. Provide consultation and supervision to colleagues and people on training placements, in addition to the line management of junior members of the psychology team (as agreed with the Psychological Therapies Lead).

7. Participate in regular supervision, team meetings and other meetings as required.

8. Be the clinical lead for a specific area of work within the EI team, working alongside and in conjunction with operational leads, as agreed with thePsychological Therapies Lead (for example, ARMS pathway, individual psychological approaches on the First Episode pathway, or systemic thinking and practice on the First Episode pathway).

9. Contribute to the development of skills and knowledge within the service and within Inspire North. This includes identifying gaps in knowledge/skills and providing guidance and training to address these.

10. Support and contribute to a positive client-led service culture and philosophy, within the overall framework of the recovery-orientated aspire Early Intervention approach, ensuring that support undertaken is meaningful, respectful, and promotes self-determination

11. Contribute to service and policy development as appropriate to the grade and in line with the standards set by the Care Quality Commission.

12. Contribute to and help develop robust mechanisms for audit, data collection and clinical governance.

13. Ensure that client records and other information systems are completed accurately and within agreed timescales.

14. Keep up-to-date with relevant policies, guidelines, legislation, procedures and practices, including those relating to risk, personal safety and the safeguarding of all adults and children

15. Work autonomously within Professional Codes of Conduct and to be aware of changes in these, including maintaining appropriate professional boundaries at all times

16. Identify own training and professional development needs in conjunction with your line manager and participate in training opportunities as directed, including any professional registration requirements.

17. Partake in Inspire Norths Personal Development Review system.

18. Represent Community Links in a knowledgeable and professional manner at all times.