Job responsibilities
To support and enhance the professional psychological care of clients within the Older Adult Psychology Service to include CMHT, Dementia and Memory service providing psychological assessment and psychological interventions, working independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified Psychologist and within the overall framework of the policies and procedures for the service. To assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, and development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.
Assisting a qualified Clinical Psychologist, the Assistant Psychologist will be responsible for the psychological aspects of the multi-disciplinary/multi-agency care provided for older adults.
The Assistant Psychologist: -
- Will liaise with and provide an advisory service for a wide range of voluntary and statutory organisations.
- Time will be divided between clinical/administrative tasks and research/audit tasks as required.
- Will carry an agreed caseload. This work will be managed and assessed at weekly intervals by the Clinical Psychologist.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Required to undertake clinical interviews with service users, carers and relatives on a very frequent basis often in a hostile and highly emotive atmosphere. During such interviews the post holder will be expected to display good attention, listening and communication skills via both verbal and nonverbal means. This will involve sitting for extended periods of time (up to 2 hours) on a frequent basis, will involve prolonged and intense concentration, a high degree of professionalism and regular use of de-escalation skills.
In the context of clinical work, be exposed to frequent experiences of highly distressing emotional material including histories of severe abuse, family breakdown and mental illness coupled with likely exposure to some verbal aggression and some risk of physical aggression.
Work across a range of physical environments which may present different kinds of demands, e.g. out-patient hospital clinics, inpatient wards, residential services, service users homes etc. This may require carrying test materials and other equipment when required.
Require proficiency in using a keyboard and in operating a personal computer which will be used on a daily basis.
Be expected to have a driving licence to travel within the community.
Conduct initial assessments of new referrals to the service. This may involve semi-structured interviews with service users and carers, direct observations of service users and reviews of medical and of psychological records.
Administer standardised neuropsychological tests and standardised assessments. To score the tests, carry out the initial analysis of results and prepare a report of the findings.
Assist in the implementation, planning and monitoring of systemic psychological interventions, once formulations have been completed.
Carry out prescribed based psychological interventions under supervision.
Communicate condition related information to clients, relatives and in an atmosphere, which may be highly emotive.
Liaise, where appropriate, with private and voluntary organisations.
Attend team meetings and other multi-disciplinary, clinical meetings about individual service users where appropriate.
Responsible for the planning and implementation of individual or group therapeutic sessions with service users (following discussion with supervising psychologist), and managing the clinical contact.
May be required to demonstrate own duties to new/less experienced Assistant Psychologists.
Assist in the preparation of appropriate training materials and with the presentation of such materials using a range of equipment including PowerPoint.
Complete written clinical reports based on analysis of the information gathered during the initial assessment process.
Maintain written records of work to the standard set by the Health Board.
Ensure confidentiality in all aspects of the service provision, including service users records.
Develop a knowledge of and to follow the relevant legislation, the relevant local and national policies and the relevant codes of professional conduct.
Have knowledge and skills in the use of a range of computer packages e.g.:
PowerPoint, Excel, SPSS, Word for Windows, Access, etc.
Be competent in the use of email for professional communication and in the use of a variety of on-line research databases and in the use of e-library.
Responsible for providing information about all clinical and non-clinical appointments at least one week in advance.
Responsible for maintaining accurate records of individual clinical work and will provide relevant data for the departmental and NHS Powys Teaching Health Board Information systems.
Responsible for cataloguing departmental resources and for ensuring that stocks are maintained.
Maintain a record of own CPD activities.
Assist in the design and implementation of audit and research projects.
Undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
Undertake literature searches (including reading specific articles) to assist all the qualified Clinical Psychologists with evidence-based practice for their clinical work.
In accordance with professional practice guidelines, receive clinical supervision with a qualified Clinical Psychologist, during which the post holders workload, clinical priorities and clinical activities will be assessed and managed.
Be expected to manage, plan and prioritise their daily work load.
Recognise the boundaries to current competence, acting within professional guidelines, codes of conduct and the operational policies of the adult psychology service.
All clinical and written work is managed by a qualified Clinical Psychologist.
The post holder may have to make minor changes to the planned course of treatment, or decide to stop treatment, in response to information received from the client. The post holder would then be responsible for reporting such changes to a qualified Clinical Psychologist.
Following discussion with the supervising Clinical Psychologist the post holder will be responsible for:
- Communicating with and establishing a therapeutic relationship with a small number of service users presenting with a range of mental health problems.
- Using communication skills to establish a working alliance with service users, some of whom will be deeply distrusting of professionals and possibly, potentially aggressive.
- Eliciting a comprehensive and accurate account of a service users presenting problems and personal history.
- Assisting with the development of a coherent psychological formulation of a service users difficulties and communicating conditionspecific information to a service user who may be distressed, hostile, suffering from psychological disorders and who may present with challenging behaviour.
Where appropriate and with consent from a service user, the post holder will communicate with carers or relatives who may be able to help in the assessment, formulation or treatment of that service users problems. In such circumstances the post holder will show awareness of the boundaries of confidentiality and be sensitive to the particular needs of carers/relatives of the service user.
Work alone with frequent exposure to highly unpleasant working conditions, either client related e.g. verbal aggression, or external influences e.g. weather and driving conditions and unhygienic environments.
Personal duty of care in relation to Health Safety and Security, Health Board/Directorate policies and procedure e.g. lone working and inclement weather.
Attending relevant statutory update workshops/seminars in Health & Safety, moving and handling, Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitations and Positive Behavioural Management.
