Job summary
An exciting opportunity for a Band 7 Psychologist has arisen in our unit, one of the few departments in the country offering high intensity multidisciplinary residential pain management programmes. We are seeking a committed practitioner Clinical, Health or Counselling Psychologist with a keen interest in chronic pain management. The successful candidate will join our multidisciplinary team and will be involved in running pain management programmes, offering individual psychological interventions and contributing to multidisciplinary assessments. We offer a wide range of services, including residential pain management programmes, outpatient programmes, virtual programmes, a one-to-one pathway and a self-directed, therapist supported online programme.
We welcome applications from experienced Band 7 Psychologists, but will also consider candidates who recently completed clinical training and are eligible for HCPC registration.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will provide a professional psychology service to patients in the specialist field of chronic pain, offering highly specialist psychological assessment, treatment and consultation. This includes helping patients with chronic pain to live a full and healthy life, using evidence-based ACT principles and methods. Skills in both group-based an individual therapy are essential. Psychologists are integral members of the multidisciplinary team, working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team's policy and procedure. They have responsibility for ensuring the theoretical integrity of the programme and guiding the multidisciplinary team in providing a high-quality service based on current research and knowledge. They offer advice about clients' psychological care to other professionals as well as non-professional carers.
Our unit has strong research and training links with the Institute of Psychiatry and regularly provides placements for trainee clinical psychologists. The department plays a key role in training health professionals from varied backgrounds and frequently hosts visitors from the UK and overseas. The post holder will be expected to contribute to training and supervision.
You will have a keen interest in psychology applied to physical health, and will ideally have some experience in working with chronic health conditions.
About us
If you are looking for a chance to be part of a well-established and reputable clinical and research centre at the cutting edge of clinical health psychology, we would like to hear from you. Our department has implemented a number of exciting and novel service developments (including an online pain management programme and virtual group programmes).
The Pain Management Service is a friendly unit, where psychologists are valued for the contribution they make to the multidisciplinary team; they work closely with pain consultants, clinical nurse specialists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists.
There is a commitment in the team to research, audit and evaluation work, and you would input into the process of audit and service development. There are seven clinical psychologists and an assistant psychologist based within the multidisciplinary unit.
You will have opportunities to link up with other psychologists working within the Trust and will be encouraged to network with members of the Faculty of Clinical Health Psychology. Regular CPD events are held within the Trust, Kings Health Partners and the service. This is a well-supported position with ready access to individual and peer supervision.
We are privileged to be in a prime location in central London, just opposite the Houses of Parliament with many amenities on site and near-by. There are good public transport links (Waterloo, Westminster and Victoria Stations are all close)
Job description
Job responsibilities
Main Clinical responsibilities
- To provide specialist psychological assessments of patients referred to the pain management team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with patients, family members and others involved in the patients care. This mainly includes contributing to multidisciplinary assessments.
- To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a patients physical and psychological health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of their problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for groups and individuals, within and across teams. This will include outpatient, individually tailored treatment for chronic pain and related problems such as depression, anxiety and trauma as well as inpatient group pain management treatment and therapist supported online programmes.
- To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
- To exercise professional responsibility for assessment, treatment and discharge.
- To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals internal and external to the service contributing directly to patients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
- To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
- To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
- To ensure that all members of the treating team have access to a psychologically based framework for the understanding and care of service users, through the provision of advice, consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
- To ensure provision of a care package appropriate to the patients needs, and where necessary, advise on and facilitate referrals to other services.
- Jointly with other psychologists, to ensure that the programme remains consistent with ACT and the psychological flexibility model on which it is based.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Main Clinical responsibilities
- To provide specialist psychological assessments of patients referred to the pain management team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with patients, family members and others involved in the patients care. This mainly includes contributing to multidisciplinary assessments.
- To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a patients physical and psychological health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of their problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for groups and individuals, within and across teams. This will include outpatient, individually tailored treatment for chronic pain and related problems such as depression, anxiety and trauma as well as inpatient group pain management treatment and therapist supported online programmes.
- To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
- To exercise professional responsibility for assessment, treatment and discharge.
- To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals internal and external to the service contributing directly to patients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
- To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
- To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
- To ensure that all members of the treating team have access to a psychologically based framework for the understanding and care of service users, through the provision of advice, consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
- To ensure provision of a care package appropriate to the patients needs, and where necessary, advise on and facilitate referrals to other services.
- Jointly with other psychologists, to ensure that the programme remains consistent with ACT and the psychological flexibility model on which it is based.
Person Specification
Knowledge/Qualifications
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical, counselling or health psychology as accredited by the HCPC
- Eligible for Chartered status with the British Psychological Society
Desirable
- Further training in health psychology, pain or long-term condition management
- Training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Previous Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity.
- Maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Experience of using evidence based psychological interventions for the assessment and treatment of a wide variety of psychological problems, working in both multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary teams
- Experience of providing both group-based and individual interventions
Desirable
- Experience in the field of health psychology, particularly working with chronic conditions.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of teaching, training other professionals in psychological concepts and/or professional and clinical supervision.
Skills
Essential
- Well developed communication skills both written and verbal, with the ability to communicate complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS.
- Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
- Skills in providing psychological therapies in both individual and group settings.
- Skilled in psychological assessment, intervention and management, including facilitating external referrals
- Ability to teach and train others using a variety of complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
Desirable
- Skills in using virtual platforms and tools to provide assessment and clinical interventions
- Knowledge of the recent literature and practice of specialised psychological therapies in physical health (e.g. chronic pain) and the use of psychological interventions, including cognitive behavioural techniques, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy techniques (ACT), and mindfulness techniques
Person Specification
Knowledge/Qualifications
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical, counselling or health psychology as accredited by the HCPC
- Eligible for Chartered status with the British Psychological Society
Desirable
- Further training in health psychology, pain or long-term condition management
- Training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Previous Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity.
- Maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Experience of using evidence based psychological interventions for the assessment and treatment of a wide variety of psychological problems, working in both multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary teams
- Experience of providing both group-based and individual interventions
Desirable
- Experience in the field of health psychology, particularly working with chronic conditions.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of teaching, training other professionals in psychological concepts and/or professional and clinical supervision.
Skills
Essential
- Well developed communication skills both written and verbal, with the ability to communicate complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS.
- Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
- Skills in providing psychological therapies in both individual and group settings.
- Skilled in psychological assessment, intervention and management, including facilitating external referrals
- Ability to teach and train others using a variety of complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
Desirable
- Skills in using virtual platforms and tools to provide assessment and clinical interventions
- Knowledge of the recent literature and practice of specialised psychological therapies in physical health (e.g. chronic pain) and the use of psychological interventions, including cognitive behavioural techniques, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy techniques (ACT), and mindfulness techniques
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).
