Job summary
To provide a key role in integrating clinical psychology into the mental health team.
To provide a comprehensive specialist clinical psychology service to service users.
To provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy as well as offering advice and consultation on service users' psychological care to other members of the clinical team.
To work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures.
To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the Offender Health Directorate.
To provide clinical supervision to other members of the team when appropriate.
To contribute to the reflective practice and critical thinking of the team on a case-by-case basis ( complex case reviews) and in meetings for service improvement.
Main duties of the job
Source and make available appropriate evidence based psychologically informed assessment tools. Including self-rating, rating scales, structured and semi structured interviews and provide appropriate training on their use within the multidisciplinary team to ensure these are embedded as part of a holistic assessment of mental health within the team.
To provide specialist psychological assessments to service users within the Prison 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 service users and others involved in the service users' care.
To develop individual formulations and to lead team formulation planning applying theoretical models of the psychology of mental health and personality disorder and offending, to observed behaviour, cognitive, emotional and interpersonal patterns, for service users who present with complex clinical needs.
To formulate and implement plans for the psychological treatment and/or management of a patient's mental health and personality problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the patient's problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy.
About us
We're passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient's own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do.Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people.
We're always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we're hoping to find our future leaders and we'll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career.
With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more - whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.
Job description
Job responsibilities
1. Providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive and contentious information in an atmosphere where service users can be hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive, where adherence to detail and accuracy must be meticulous since the strands of communication can be conflicting, and where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills.
2. Act in an appropriate dignified and responsible manner with service users, relatives, colleagues, using appropriate language and communication skills which acknowledge cultural differences.
3. To receive regular clinical supervision from a suitably qualified and experienced psychologist and, where appropriate, other professional colleagues.
4. To develop skills in the area of professional postgraduate teaching, training and supervision, particularly of clinical psychologists.
5. To provide professional and clinical supervision of trainee and assistant clinical psychologists.
6. To contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of clinical psychology as well as other disciplines, as appropriate.
7. To provide teaching, training and supervision to staff and colleagues in the multidisciplinary team, and other psychologists.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
8. A good honours degree in Psychology as accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).
9. Doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, equivalent to that accredited by the BPS
10. Evidence of post-qualification specialist training, experience and developing expertise in a specialist area of clinical practice.
11. HCPC Registered
Desirable
12. Pre- or Post-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
Experience
Essential
13. Demonstrate further specialist training / experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a specialist clinical psychologist over a substantial period, or an alternative agreed by the Chief Psychologist
14. Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings
15. 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.
16. Experience of working effectively in multidisciplinary settings and representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care.
17. Experience of working within a secure environment.
18. Advanced knowledge, experience and expertise in at least one specialist area of clinical practice gained through specialist training and supervised practice ( psychotherapy, neuropsychology, risk assessment, clinical supervision).
Desirable
19. Experience of teaching and training
20. Experience of working within a prison setting
Skills, Knowledge, Abilities
Essential
21. Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
22. 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.
23. Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
24. Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
25. Possesses range of clinical knowledge, skills & information technology expertise relevant to post.
26. Can demonstrate competence in supervision of junior qualified psychology and MDT staff and professional psychology trainees.
27. Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
28. 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.
29. Broad knowledge of models of assessment, management and treatment of mentally disordered and PD offenders.
30. Ability to work intensively with people who present challenges in the complexity of their problems and needs, including sexual and violent offending and self-harming and suicidal behaviours
31. High level of ability to plan and organise clinical service provision to meet service demands, and to maintain high quality professional practice.
Desirable
32. Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult-to-treat groups ( people with additional disabilities).
33. Can apply psychological knowledge creatively in developing new initiatives
34. Ability to write reports for varied audiences, including courts and purchasers of services.
Others
Essential
35. Ability to work in a secure environment, in line with HMPS policy and procedure - to obtain and maintain enhanced security clearance.