Highly Specialist Psychotherapist, Practitioner Psychologist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

KR 1 Clinical and Client Care

To provide highly specialist NICE concordant psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions for clients with enduring/recovery from complex mental health presentations. This will include a range of complex presentations and diagnoses, including psychosis, complex mood, personality disorders, and other presentations.

To devise psychologically informed and recovery focussed care-plans, suitable to team delivered psychological interventions. To support care-teams in carrying out such plans.

To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions with carers or families of referred clients if required.

To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.

To ensure that the views of service users and carers are sought and incorporated into all care delivered.

KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning.

To contribute to the effective working of the team/service via a psychologically informed framework.

To advise other members of the service on specialist psychological care of clients.

To contribute to the team/services delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities, and particularly to those requiring 24-hour support.

To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.

To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients to develop and review care plans.

To utilise theory, evidence-based literature, and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

Contribute to/liaise with wider Lewisham AMH Psychology & Psychotherapy colleagues.

KR 3 Policy and service development

To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.

To contribute to Lewisham Enhanced Recovery Team and South London Partnership service development, through attendance of key committees, panels, and workgroups, and through active contribution to/leadership of appropriate projects.

To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities members and particularly those requiring 24-hour support accommodation.

KR 4 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.

KR 5 Management and supervision

To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of more junior psychologists with support from a more senior psychologist.

To supervise trainee applied psychologists within own area of specialism.

To contribute to the appraisal of more junior psychologists, as appropriate.

To contribute to the recruitment of more junior psychologists, as appropriate.

To provide supervision for the psychological work of other multi-disciplinary staff as appropriate.

KR 6 Teaching and Training

To undertake psychology informed training with other professions, MDT colleagues and care-teams in accommodation/support settings.

To undertake teaching and training of pre- and post- qualification psychologists.

To contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within Lewisham Enhanced Recovery Team, by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychology appropriate to a secondary care client group.

To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

KR 7 Record-keeping and Information Governance

To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by 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.

KR 8 Research and development

To initiate, undertake, support, and supervise complex service evaluation and audits, as necessary.

To initiate and carry out research as appropriate.

To provide expertise in a specialist area, which will contribute to the Lewisham Enhanced Recovery Team

To initiate and implement the development of outcome measurement and assessment and assist other staff in the implementation of same.

KR 9 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development.

To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychologist according to HCPC and Trust guidelines.

To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with a professional body and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the HCPC Standards for Continuing Professional Development.

To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.

To comply with the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and Standards of Proficiency, and ensure professional development in line with these.

To adhere to the BPSs Professional Practice Guidelines and Trust policies and procedures.

KR10 General

To travel to care settings, home visits, community placements, and psychology meetings as appropriate and across the borough or Trust, when required.

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 and to support others involved in such situations.

To work flexibly in terms of clinical provision, to support overall service needs.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent) (Masters plus PG Diploma in Counselling Psychology) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration.
• Additional training in specialised psychological assessment and interventions for complex mental health problems, through formal post-qualification training OR a combination of specialist short courses, OR through a portfolio of supervised practice.
• Completed training course in clinical supervision.
• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist, and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC.

Experience

Essential

• Evidence of having worked as a qualified clinical specialist under supervision with people with complex mental health problems/ people with complex trauma presentations.
• Experience of NICE concordant psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex and often enduring expression, such as clients with a diagnoses of psychosis, bi-polar affective disorder, personality disorders, and other complex mental health presentations .
• Experience of devising psychologically informed recovery focussed care-plans, and support of team delivered psychological interventions.
• Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.
• Experience of carrying out post-doctoral research, audit or service evaluation projects.

Desirable

• Experience having worked as a qualified clinical specialist, with a residential team that supports people with complex/enduring mental health problem.
• Experience of supervising assistant and trainee psychologists having completed the relevant training.

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of NICE concordant specialised psychological assessments and interventions for clients who present with complex presentations, such as psychosis, mood and bi-polar affective disorders, anxiety and personality disorders, and other complex presentations.
• Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment of psychosis, complex mood disorders, or personality disorders.
• Advanced knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics relevant to complex presentations in adult mental health.
• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care, and legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
• Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis.

Skills

Essential

• To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
• To support multi-disciplinary team and other practitioners in reflective practise, and in development of psychological knowledge/ formulations of team clients and clinical situations.
• To select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation, and comparison, drawn from several sources.
• To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences, and hostility to or rejection of information.
• To be skilled in the administration of psychometric and neuropsychological tests, including those that require complex manipulation of test materials.

Abilities

Essential

• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate.
• Ability to maintain concentration and to remain in restricted positions for long periods during observations, assessments, and psychological interventions, and to deal with unexpected interruptions or changes during these.
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour.
• Ability to manage verbal aggression and hostility directed at self.

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

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Lewisham Old Town Hall

Catford Road

Lewisham

SE6 4RU

Employer's website

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