Job summary
We are seeking a passionate Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychologist to join the Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (FCAMHS) at West London Forensic Service (WLFS). This is part-time post for 3 days per week (0.6wte) at Band 8B which is fixed-term for 1 year (providing cover for maternity leave).
FCAHMS provides a specialist service for children and young people who present with a high risk of harm towards others and/or who are in contact with the youth justice system in eight boroughs across North West and Central London. FCAMHS will provide expert advice and consultation, specialist assessments and interventions, and will offer support as children and young people make transitions into and out of secure services. The service is a tertiary referral service for CAMHS teams, CAMHS/Youth Offending Team link workers and neurodisability services for young people and other agencies.
Main duties of the job
The post-holder will work as a member of the FCAMHS clinical team, providing a high quality, specialist applied psychology service to children and young people, their families or carers, where there are highly complex presentations. In addition, the post holder will support psychological practice within the team through consultation, supervision, formulation and training.
The post holder will utilise research skills for research, audit, service development and clinical governance skills within the service.
The post holder will provide line management to qualified, trainee and assistant psychologists as delegated by the lead psychologist.
About us
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK. It provides a broad range of forensic mental health care in adult male and female services, across high, medium and low security settings, as well as in a community and court diversion setting. West London Forensic Service has been rated as outstanding by the CQC.
The psychological therapies department, which comprises a team of over 30 psychologists and psychological therapists, is well-established and supportive with high standards of clinical supervision and excellent opportunities for continuing professional development.
We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post-holder will be responsible, as a member of the psychology service, to provide a full and comprehensive specialist clinical psychology service to young people, their families or carers where there are highly complex presentations. Responsibilities will include provision of specialist psychological assessments and therapies, the provision of specialist risk assessment and advice on risk management, and the provision of psychological advice and consultation to others involved in service user care.
The post holder will work as a clinical member of a multi-disciplinary team, which will include responsibility for ensuring the systematic provision and governance of a high quality specialist clinical psychology service to service users. The post holder will plan, organise and contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit, and to advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
As an autonomous practitioner he/she will be responsible for their own work and interventions and for the interpretation of agreed guidelines and policies. The post holder will supervise and support the psychological assessment and practice provided by other psychologists, psychological therapists and other clinical members of the service who provide psychologically based care and treatment and to provide clinical and professional leadership to appropriate clinical staff.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post-holder will be responsible, as a member of the psychology service, to provide a full and comprehensive specialist clinical psychology service to young people, their families or carers where there are highly complex presentations. Responsibilities will include provision of specialist psychological assessments and therapies, the provision of specialist risk assessment and advice on risk management, and the provision of psychological advice and consultation to others involved in service user care.
The post holder will work as a clinical member of a multi-disciplinary team, which will include responsibility for ensuring the systematic provision and governance of a high quality specialist clinical psychology service to service users. The post holder will plan, organise and contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit, and to advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
As an autonomous practitioner he/she will be responsible for their own work and interventions and for the interpretation of agreed guidelines and policies. The post holder will supervise and support the psychological assessment and practice provided by other psychologists, psychological therapists and other clinical members of the service who provide psychologically based care and treatment and to provide clinical and professional leadership to appropriate clinical staff.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical/forensic psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developments as accredited by the BPS.
- Registration with the Health Professions Council as a Clinical/Forensic Psychologist.
- Completion of further post-doctoral post-qualification specialist training including training in supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
Personal
Essential
- Able to maintain intense concentration frequently and for prolonged periods with unpredictable patients
- Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour
- Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multi-disciplinary setting.
- Interest and ability to contribute to service development
Experience
Essential
- Completion of a minimum of four years full-time (or equivalent part-time) post-doctoral qualified experience (including 2 years at a highly specialist level) with the client group of the post or a related client group.
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Experience and formal training in the supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.
Desirable
- Experience of working directly with children and young people posing a risk to others.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Able to make judgements involving complex facts or situations, which require the evaluation of a range of options (e.g. the assessment of specialist clinical conditions and the determination of treatment options)
- Able to plan, prioritise and organise own patient caseload, treatment programmes involving other staff, and other aspects of the work such as research activity.
- Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multimedia materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group, mental health and child protection.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
Desirable
- Experience of training multi-agency advisors
- Experience of consultation and/or supervision within a multi-agency context
- High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies and assessment methodologies.
Other Requirements
Essential
- Knowledge of the professional code of conduct of the BPS
- Must be capable of being guided by precedent, clearly defined policies, procedures and codes of conduct
- Able to reflect on own professional practice through the clinical supervision process
- Willing to participate actively in CPD in line with BPS guidelines
Desirable
- Record of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical/forensic psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developments as accredited by the BPS.
- Registration with the Health Professions Council as a Clinical/Forensic Psychologist.
- Completion of further post-doctoral post-qualification specialist training including training in supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
Personal
Essential
- Able to maintain intense concentration frequently and for prolonged periods with unpredictable patients
- Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour
- Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multi-disciplinary setting.
- Interest and ability to contribute to service development
Experience
Essential
- Completion of a minimum of four years full-time (or equivalent part-time) post-doctoral qualified experience (including 2 years at a highly specialist level) with the client group of the post or a related client group.
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Experience and formal training in the supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.
Desirable
- Experience of working directly with children and young people posing a risk to others.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Able to make judgements involving complex facts or situations, which require the evaluation of a range of options (e.g. the assessment of specialist clinical conditions and the determination of treatment options)
- Able to plan, prioritise and organise own patient caseload, treatment programmes involving other staff, and other aspects of the work such as research activity.
- Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multimedia materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group, mental health and child protection.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
Desirable
- Experience of training multi-agency advisors
- Experience of consultation and/or supervision within a multi-agency context
- High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies and assessment methodologies.
Other Requirements
Essential
- Knowledge of the professional code of conduct of the BPS
- Must be capable of being guided by precedent, clearly defined policies, procedures and codes of conduct
- Able to reflect on own professional practice through the clinical supervision process
- Willing to participate actively in CPD in line with BPS guidelines
Desirable
- Record of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
