South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Assistant Psychologist

This job is now closed

Job summary

The Role

To assist practitioner psychologist in the delivery of a specialist applied psychology treatment programme for clients in the detoxification unit.
To provide clinical work under the clinical and professional supervision of a practitioner psychologist.
To assist in research and clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, and development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.
To work at appropriate levels of independence, following clinical guidelines and the policies and procedures of the service, and seeking help from clinical/professional supervisor or manager as required.

Main duties of the job

To provide psychological and research assessments for clients on the unit.
To provide individual psychological interventions for clients based on a psychological formulation and using evidenced based addictions psychosocial interventions.
To arrange, schedule and provide group psychological interventions for clients.
To assist the team psychologist and ward team in the development of individual or group clinical materials or training materials, and in addition to develop such materials independently as falls within own degree of competence.

About us

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.

By coming to work at SLaM, you will gain experience of being part of an organisation with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care. You will have access to professional development and learning opportunities, and have the chance to work alongside people who are world leaders in their field. SLaM delivered more than 14,000 training experiences in 2014; providing an extensive range of learning opportunities for staff at all levels. In addition, our working relationship with King's Health Partners allows those working at the Trust to get involved in academic research.

Date posted

25 June 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£34,089 to £41,498 a year per annum Incl. of HCAs

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

6 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

334-CLI-6401072

Job locations

St Thomas’ Hospital Lambeth

Westminster Bridge Road

London

SE1 7EH

Job description

Job responsibilities

Contributing to team or service clinical functioning

To contribute to the effective working of the unit.
To act in a manner that supports a psychologically informed framework for the service.
To support the team or services delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.

Policy and service development

To follow policies and procedures in own area of work, and to comment on proposed development or changes.
To support the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.

Care or management of resources

To take care of, and use carefully, the Trusts equipment and physical resources.
To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.

Teaching and Training

To demonstrate work methods to newly recruited Assistant Psychologists and to support their development of necessary skills.
To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations or published articles.

Record-keeping and Information Governance

To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by research ethics, Trust policies and local procedures.
To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.
To create and maintain databases and enter data, and perform analyses and produce reports.

Research and development

To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research duties to inform the service Counselling Psychologist and others in the development of Trust psychology services, training provision and research activities.
To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes
To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist in the development in the Trust of evidence based practice.
To conduct surveys with service users and carers to gather views on service provision.

Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

To receive regular clinical and professional supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines
To gain wider experience of professional psychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principal service area where the post-holder is employed.
To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.
To undertake personal training relevant to the post in agreement with the supervising psychologist and the manager.

General

To travel to settings in Lambeth where clients may be accessing including community treatment services and hostels.
To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations such as challenging behaviour and boundary testing from clients and to support others involved in such situations

Job description

Job responsibilities

Contributing to team or service clinical functioning

To contribute to the effective working of the unit.
To act in a manner that supports a psychologically informed framework for the service.
To support the team or services delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.

Policy and service development

To follow policies and procedures in own area of work, and to comment on proposed development or changes.
To support the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.

Care or management of resources

To take care of, and use carefully, the Trusts equipment and physical resources.
To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.

Teaching and Training

To demonstrate work methods to newly recruited Assistant Psychologists and to support their development of necessary skills.
To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations or published articles.

Record-keeping and Information Governance

To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by research ethics, Trust policies and local procedures.
To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.
To create and maintain databases and enter data, and perform analyses and produce reports.

Research and development

To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research duties to inform the service Counselling Psychologist and others in the development of Trust psychology services, training provision and research activities.
To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes
To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist in the development in the Trust of evidence based practice.
To conduct surveys with service users and carers to gather views on service provision.

Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

To receive regular clinical and professional supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines
To gain wider experience of professional psychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principal service area where the post-holder is employed.
To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.
To undertake personal training relevant to the post in agreement with the supervising psychologist and the manager.

General

To travel to settings in Lambeth where clients may be accessing including community treatment services and hostels.
To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations such as challenging behaviour and boundary testing from clients and to support others involved in such situations

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

oA First-class or Upper-second-class Bachelor's degree with Honours in Psychology

Desirable

Post-graduate CBT training and delivery of formulation based treatments

Experience

Essential

Sufficient post-graduate experience to work clinically without supervision
Ability to identify and follow relevant clinical governance procedures
Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations
Ability to communicate complex, sensitive or contentious information
Ability to manage verbal and physical aggression and hostility directed at self

Desirable

Key-work or case management work
Work in an IAPT service
Ability to engage and work with clients with complex needs

Knowledge and skills

Essential

Graduate level knowledge of psychological research methodology and statistical analysis
Good theoretical knowledge of the problems experienced by and needs of people with addiction problems
Skills in relevant psychological assessment and interventions
Well-developed verbal and written communication skills
Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups

Desirable

Understanding of the needs of clients with substance use disorders
Understanding of the needs of people who are homeless

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

oA First-class or Upper-second-class Bachelor's degree with Honours in Psychology

Desirable

Post-graduate CBT training and delivery of formulation based treatments

Experience

Essential

Sufficient post-graduate experience to work clinically without supervision
Ability to identify and follow relevant clinical governance procedures
Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations
Ability to communicate complex, sensitive or contentious information
Ability to manage verbal and physical aggression and hostility directed at self

Desirable

Key-work or case management work
Work in an IAPT service
Ability to engage and work with clients with complex needs

Knowledge and skills

Essential

Graduate level knowledge of psychological research methodology and statistical analysis
Good theoretical knowledge of the problems experienced by and needs of people with addiction problems
Skills in relevant psychological assessment and interventions
Well-developed verbal and written communication skills
Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups

Desirable

Understanding of the needs of clients with substance use disorders
Understanding of the needs of people who are homeless

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).

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

Certificate of Sponsorship

Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

St Thomas’ Hospital Lambeth

Westminster Bridge Road

London

SE1 7EH

Employer's website

https://www.slam.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

St Thomas’ Hospital Lambeth

Westminster Bridge Road

London

SE1 7EH

Employer's website

https://www.slam.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)