Clinical/Forensic Psychologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

The job holder will provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex 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.

The job holder will formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems or behavioural difficulties 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.

The job holder is 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.

The job holder is expected 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.

The job holder is expected to exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.

The job holder will provide specialist psychological advice guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.

The job holder is expected 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.

The job holder will 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.

The job holder will act as a care coordinator, where appropriate, taking responsibility for initiating planning and review of care plans under CPA including clients, their carers, referring agents and others involved the network of care.

Person Specification

Qualifications/ Registrations

Essential

• oDoctoral level training in Clinical, Child and Educational or Counselling Psychology as accredited by the HCPC and BPS
• Doctoral or Masters level training in forensic psychology with full competencies completed. Registration with HCPC.

Desirable

• oPre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Skills/ Abilities

Essential

• oSkills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• oSkills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• oAble to contain explore and formulate an understanding of high levels of distress both directly with patients and indirectly via supervision or case reviews with other staff.
• oAbility to write reports using accessible language and demonstrating clinical reasoning.
• oEvidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.

Desirable

• oSpecialist training in supervision
• oConfident and experienced in delivering training or providing consultation to other professionals.
• oSkill in the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in working with mentally disordered offenders.

Experience/ Knowledge

Essential

• oExperience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings, which can include outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings.
• oEvidence of clinical experience of working with client population. A clear track record of managing complexity and risk whilst maintaining high standards of service delivery.
• oExperience 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 emotive and distressing problems and where there is a history of violence.
• oExperience of working within a forensic setting/service
• oExperience of teaching, training and/or supervision.

Desirable

• oExperience supervising junior psychologists, trainees, or assistant psychologists
• oAt least 18 months post qualified for the 8a role
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
• oKnowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• oFlexible, engaging and approachable who can work quickly and responsively with both clients and the multidisciplinary team.
• oCreative in approach as well as reflective about their own practice.
• oDemonstrates empathy with clients, carers, and families often where barriers to understanding exist ensuring that effective communication is achieved to persuade and motivate participation in therapeutic activities
• Able to work autonomously as well as under supervision and with colleagues

Other Requirements

Essential

• oAbility to work flexibly at different bases within the borough and occasionally outside of the borough
• oAble to make own effective travel arrangements and willingness to travel within and across boroughs
• oFlexible approach and openness to innovation
• 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 teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.

Desirable

• Car owner (Ability to travel across all sites)

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.

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust

Address

Vincent House

2e Nags Head Road Ponders End,

Enfield, Middlesex,

EN3 7FN

Employer's website

http://www.beh-mht.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)