Job summary
We are seeking an experienced Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) with a specialist interest in systemic psychotherapy to work in our friendly service based at Springfield Hospital. Ideally the postholder will have experience of working within a specialist eating disorders service. However, this is not a prerequisite and we will offer in-house training, regular supervision and a thorough induction to all new staff in order to develop knowledge and skills of working with eating disorders. The post is currently established as a full-time post but we are also keen to hear from people who would prefer to work part-time hours. If you are newly qualified and working at Band 7 level please get in touch too.
Career Progression pathways and development opportunities:
We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. We have career pathways available, where you will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience to progress into other roles across different specialties. For this role, we offer ongoing training and development in supervision of trainees and newly qualified practitioner psychologists and we have close links with the Prudence Skynner Family Clinic. We also have many opportunities to develop specialist knowledge and skills in working within the field of adult eating disorders.
Main duties of the job
The postholder would offer highly specialist psychological and systemic assessment and psychotherapy to service users and their family system. They would also provide specialist advice and consultation to colleagues, external agencies and carers, and be able to work with an appropriate level of professional autonomy within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the Trust's policies and procedures.
In addition, the postholder would deliver evidence-based knowledge and practice and participate in audit, research and service development.
We offer a regular programme of workshops for Family & Friends of our service users and the postholder would join colleagues from other disciplines in delivering some of these online and in-person workshops and groups. There is also plenty of opportunity to develop this program and bring in new ideas.
The provision of clinical/ counselling psychology / systemic psychotherapy trainee placements and supervision of the trainee is highly encouraged.
We are looking for someone who can bring compassion and tenacity to the task of helping clients across three rather different parts of our service. Good communication is key, both in the direct clinical work and in liaising with other team members involved in the patient's care. Being organised and good with time management would be also very beneficial in this post.
About us
We offer a number of excellent staff benefits and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. Some of our benefits are highlighted here:
- Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
- Work life balance, we support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working, job sharing, term-time working, compressed hours and working from home.
- Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
- Subsidised car parking - You can park at any of our sites at a reduced rate of £20/month.
- NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.
Other benefits include:
- Eye examinations
- Looking after your health
- Cycle to work scheme
- Car lease scheme
- Season ticket loan
- Childcare vouchers
- Staff restaurants
- Free gym membership
Job description
Job responsibilities
Clinical
- To provide specialist psychological assessments of patients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
- To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients 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 individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
- 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 autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
- To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals both within the outpatient team and other eating disorder service teams/ CMHTs, contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
- To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.
- To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients 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 clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
Teaching, Training and Supervision
- To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior clinical psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
- To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other MDT staffs psychological work as appropriate.
- To provide professional and clinical supervision of doctoral trainee clinical/counselling psychologists, trainees and assistant/graduate psychologists where appropriate, having been trained in their clinical supervision.
- To contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of clinical and/or counselling psychology, as appropriate.
- To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.
- To agree through a personal development plan continuing education to maintain and develop skills.
Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development
- To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the services operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
- To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
- To manage the workloads of doctoral trainee clinical/counselling psychologists and assistant and graduate psychologists where appropriate, within the framework of the team/services policies and procedures.
- To be involved, as appropriate, in the short listing and interviewing of assistant/graduate psychologists and qualified staff at Band 7 and below.
- To work as a member of organisational groups, working parties etc within the team, as requested.
- To contribute to the development of user and carer involvement within the team.
- To manage own workload effectively and efficiently, taking into account the needs of the team and the flexibility required to sustain client engagement.
Research and Service Evaluation
- To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
- To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.
- To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision
Job description
Job responsibilities
Clinical
- To provide specialist psychological assessments of patients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
- To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients 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 individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
- 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 autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
- To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals both within the outpatient team and other eating disorder service teams/ CMHTs, contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
- To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.
- To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients 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 clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
Teaching, Training and Supervision
- To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior clinical psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
- To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other MDT staffs psychological work as appropriate.
- To provide professional and clinical supervision of doctoral trainee clinical/counselling psychologists, trainees and assistant/graduate psychologists where appropriate, having been trained in their clinical supervision.
- To contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of clinical and/or counselling psychology, as appropriate.
- To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.
- To agree through a personal development plan continuing education to maintain and develop skills.
Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development
- To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the services operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
- To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
- To manage the workloads of doctoral trainee clinical/counselling psychologists and assistant and graduate psychologists where appropriate, within the framework of the team/services policies and procedures.
- To be involved, as appropriate, in the short listing and interviewing of assistant/graduate psychologists and qualified staff at Band 7 and below.
- To work as a member of organisational groups, working parties etc within the team, as requested.
- To contribute to the development of user and carer involvement within the team.
- To manage own workload effectively and efficiently, taking into account the needs of the team and the flexibility required to sustain client engagement.
Research and Service Evaluation
- To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
- To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.
- To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision
Person Specification
Training and Qualifications
Essential
- Successful completion of post-graduate doctoral level training in Clinical/Counselling Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS prior to July 2009, or approved by the HCPC from July 2009, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS/HCPC
- Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the appropriate professional domain
- Formal training in the supervision of either doctoral level trainee clinical or counselling psychologists
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
- Clinical Systemic Supervision Training Registration as Clinical Supervisor by Association for Family Therapy (AFT)
Experience
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological and systemic 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
- Demonstrate further specialist training/experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision while working as a specialist clinical/counselling psychologist or as a specialist cognitive behaviour therapist (significant demonstrable experience) or an alternative agreed by the Head of Psychology and Psychotherapies
Desirable
- Experience of working with clients with eating disorders, delivering psychological assessment and treatment, including cognitive-behavioural therapy, on an individual and group basis
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
- Experience of the application of clinical/counselling psychology in different cultural contexts
Knowledge & Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological and systemic assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
- 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
- Ability to multi-task while leading a systemic psychotherapy workshop requiring intense concentration and skills for using a one-way screen, recording equipment and involving members from different professional backgrounds in service delivery simultaneously
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology
- Ability to work with a racially and culturally diverse community in a wide variety of contexts
Desirable
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. eating disorder, personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc)
- Knowledge of physical risk pertaining to the eating disorders and of co-morbid physical difficulties (e.g., diabetes, obesity)
- High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies, including cognitive-behavioural therapy
Person Specification
Training and Qualifications
Essential
- Successful completion of post-graduate doctoral level training in Clinical/Counselling Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS prior to July 2009, or approved by the HCPC from July 2009, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS/HCPC
- Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the appropriate professional domain
- Formal training in the supervision of either doctoral level trainee clinical or counselling psychologists
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
- Clinical Systemic Supervision Training Registration as Clinical Supervisor by Association for Family Therapy (AFT)
Experience
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological and systemic 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
- Demonstrate further specialist training/experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision while working as a specialist clinical/counselling psychologist or as a specialist cognitive behaviour therapist (significant demonstrable experience) or an alternative agreed by the Head of Psychology and Psychotherapies
Desirable
- Experience of working with clients with eating disorders, delivering psychological assessment and treatment, including cognitive-behavioural therapy, on an individual and group basis
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
- Experience of the application of clinical/counselling psychology in different cultural contexts
Knowledge & Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological and systemic assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
- 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
- Ability to multi-task while leading a systemic psychotherapy workshop requiring intense concentration and skills for using a one-way screen, recording equipment and involving members from different professional backgrounds in service delivery simultaneously
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology
- Ability to work with a racially and culturally diverse community in a wide variety of contexts
Desirable
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. eating disorder, personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc)
- Knowledge of physical risk pertaining to the eating disorders and of co-morbid physical difficulties (e.g., diabetes, obesity)
- High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies, including cognitive-behavioural therapy
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
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).
