Principal Clinical Psychologist

Job responsibilities

Responsible for highly providing specialist psychological interventions to children and young people within the CIC pathway who are particularly vulnerable; are at increased risk of developing complex mental health problems; can find it hard to form secure attachments and have frequently experienced abuse, trauma, and loss in their early years. In addition, there is a higher incidence of neuro-developmental disorders, speech and language or specific learning difficulties.

The post holder will be providing a highly specialist mental health service to children, young people, their families, and foster carers where there are identified mental health problems. These include high levels of trauma, risk taking behaviour including self-injury, harm to others and suicidality.

The post holder has full freedom to act within this designated area working within professional ethics and adhering to Livewell policies and is accountable for their own professional actions.

Assessment

Highly specialist psychological assessment with children and young people who have complex presentations. Gathering, interpreting, and integrating data from a variety of sources including medical reports, psychometrics, range of psychological tools and observational methods with the individual, family members and others involved in their care.

Formulation

To formulate plans for the formal psychological treatment and / or management of an individuals problems across the full range of care settings based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the patients problems. Drawing upon and selecting the most appropriate psychological model from an in-depth knowledge of a range of theoretical positions and evidence of efficacy.

Intervention

Take a specialist and senior clinical role in the organisation, delivery, adaptation, development, management, and evaluation of psychological therapies aimed at preventing or reducing highly complex and persistent mental health / behavioural problems. In doing so to a) draw upon an in-depth knowledge of a range of psychological models, theories, interventions, and their evidence base and b) maintain several provisional hypotheses c) monitoring efficacy and outcome and altering the intervention accordingly d) intervene with parents, carers, professional staff, and organisations supporting the child.

Communication with patients carers and families

Communicating complex and sensitive information concerning the psychological assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients that be contentious in a highly skilled and sensitive manner. This can involve explaining psychological assessments, formulation, management strategies, theory, and models. This information will frequently be communicated in emotive, contentious, and hostile circumstance. It will communicate in face-to-face situations, in meetings, in written reports and formal legal contexts.

e.g. court reports. This material will be communicated to a) to parents, carers, families, staff teams b) professionals across health and other agencies c) senior managers across agencies d) with children and young people who have impaired cognition, sensory disabilities, communication disorders (e.g. severe autism) for whom English or any other form of spoken language is not the first means of communication.

Records

Maintain contemporaneous records to the standard required by Livewell Southwest and the British Psychological Society (BPS), i.e. to record activity in clinical records, on computerized systems, outcome forms, to contribute to Health Care Incident Reporting, Serious Untoward Incident Review and Complaints as necessary.

Advice, consultancy, and training

Providing highly specialized psychological expertise, training, teaching, and consultancy to promote the wellbeing of children and young people. That may be delivered to parents and the wide range of experienced professionals from health and partner agencies. It will include presenting data, research, and psychological theory. Also developing, evaluating, and reviewing consultancy and training interventions, ensuring the interventions is effective and appropriate.

Multi agency working.

To work collaboratively within a health multi-disciplinary team and with wider multi agency teams this work will include:

Developing effective working relationships and communicating on a day-to-day basis with a wide range of staff and professional colleagues across health and partner agencies in PCC and community settings. There may be conflict of professional opinion.

Coordinating, chairing, participating, and recording multi agency professionals meetings and case conferences that will involve a range of specialist senior professionals e.g. Paediatricians, Social Workers, Head Teachers.

Providing comprehensive, highly specialist psychological, detailed verbal and written reports to the multi-agency and disciplinary team supporting the child or young person that may be presented in legal proceedings. With an awareness of issues of consent and sharing information on a need-to-know basis. Risk assessment and management. To undertake risk assessment and management. To advise colleagues and other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management. To make decisions about future care pathways, placements, safeguarding.

Access to therapy. To participate in meetings and decisions about accepting and rejecting request for involvement and managing a waiting list.

Supervision-To seek out regular appropriate clinical supervision and professional guidance.

Diversity-To demonstrate awareness of diversity issues, inequalities in health and power.

Development of a high quality responsive and accessible service. As a senior clinician take the lead in initiating and organising, in collaboration with the Clinical Pathway Manager and other members of the MDT the development of a high quality responsive and accessible service for children and young people, their carers and families.

Advise and inform service managers and the Professional Lead on the development of services for children and young people within the CIC pathway by identifying need and making significant contributions to proposals for planning, policies and strategy as agreed by the professional and line managers.

Interpret and implement policies, procedures, service developments and systemic interventions for the provision of psychology and psychological therapy to CAMHS CIC.

Representing CAMHS CIC if the Modern Matron requires them to at city wide working groups delivering integrated or joint delivery of services.

To advise or act as an advisor / consultant to other specialist clinical psychologists as appropriate and agreed with the Clinical pathway Manager and Modern Matron.

To provide data for commissioners on request.

To promote and contribute to a culture. That foster.Staff and Children, young people and familys participation in service improvement.Progressive attitude to service improvement that is free from harassment and bullying and respects the dignity and diversity of all staff and service users. Pathway culture that develops and empowers people and recognises achievement and promotes continuous development of staff and teams and pathways.

Audit and research activities.

To lead on research within the CAMHS CIC Pathway.The post holder will be expected utilise research expertise to initiate, develop and participate in clinical research, evaluation, and audit and / or supervise other colleagues in his / her own profession undertaking research.To provide research advice and supervision to other staff within the team and wider CAMHS.To utilise theory, evidence-based literature, and research to support evidence-based practice.To adapt and develop psychological therapies when required and evaluate efficacy.To keep abreast of research and clinical developments relevant to CAMHS CIC.To supervise trainees and students research and audit activities on placement to doctoral / publication standard on clinically relevant research and service evaluations. To integrate research and evaluation findings into local practice

Communication

To ensure excellent communication and working relationships across the service, within the CYPFS, within senior professional staff and managers in LSW and partner agencies.The post holder will work closely with other CAMHS pathways.Also, with the external agencies of social care, education, voluntary sector and user groups, networks, and organisations that integral to this community post.

To comply with the Organisational Integrated governance requirements

This may include writing policy and procedure documents relating to service deliver, clinical practice and business.

Please see Job Description for further information.

Qualifications

Essential

• Postgraduate doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained before 1996)
• Registered Chartered Clinical Psychologist

Desirable

• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychology practice

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist for a minimum of 3 years post qualification within the designated speciality where the post is located.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course of presenting with the full range across the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings, maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse, and the threat of psychical abuse.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients psychological care and treatment, and within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
• Experience of consultation to organisations and groups and psychological practices and processes.
• Experience of preparing and delivering consultation and training to a wide audience of varying skill and ability.
• Experience of professional and clinical supervision

Desirable

• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Knowledge
• Doctoral level knowledge of clinical psychology including highly developed knowledge of theory and practice of specialised psychological assessment and therapies in specific difficult to treat groups.
• In this case children and young people with a trauma presentation.
• Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of two or more distinct psychological therapies.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, both qualitative and quantitative as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
• Knowledge of legislation, policy and documentation and its implications for clinical and professional practice in relation to children.
• Evidence of continuing professional practice as recommended by the BPS.
• Skills
• Skills I the use of complex methods of psychological assessment and intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Complex clinical formulation skills
• A high level ability to effectively communicate both a written and oral level complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to clients and their families, carers and a wide range of professional persons within and outside of the LSW.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Ability to design and deliver complex training packages to a wide variety of audiences.
• Competence in high level research evaluation and audit.

Desirable

• Knowledge
• Highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics neuropsychology

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).