Job Purpose The principal purpose of this job is to improve the psychological health and wellbeing of women using the Maternal Mental Health Clinic, within the Perinatal Mental Health Service. This will be achieved in this post through undertaking the following areas of responsibility: Providing a Clinical Psychology service to people using the Maternal Mental Health Clinic within the Perinatal Mental Health service, as a key component of services provided by Devon Partnership Trust Carrying a specialist caseload of clients, and providing advice and consultancy to clients, family members, carers and professionals. Providing clinical supervision for trainees, Counsellors and volunteers employed by, or attached to, the Maternal Mental Health Clinic, as required under the general direction and supervision of the Principal Psychologist. Supported by senior colleagues within their specialist field, the post holder will be expected to make good use of the expertise of others within the service to further develop their clinical skills with this client group. Working autonomously within professional guidelines and exercising responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within professional and Trust guidelines. Receiving regular professional and clinical supervision in accordance with Trust policy and to Professional Practice Guidelines set out by the British Psychological Society or appropriate designated Professional Body. Observing, and abiding by all relevant Professional Codes of Conduct and Practice. The post holder will be fully registered with the appropriate recognized professional body. Duties and Responsibilities Communication and Working Relationships Clients, family and carers: To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with clients who may have specific difficulties in understanding and/or communicating and who may be hostile, antagonistic or highly emotionally disturbed. Multidisciplinary team colleagues: To work closely with colleagues in the multi-professional integrated Perinatal Mental Health service on a day to day basis. Health & social care staff: To communicate with a wide range of health and social care staff in hospital and in community settings in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under the services care. To provide support & guidance in the application of psychological principles and techniques, and to foster reflective practice. Senior managers & professional staff: To maintain and build good working relationships with senior professional staff and managers across the Trust. To foster a positive approach to the integrated mental health and wellbeing service and to enable effective negotiation. Planning and Organisation Maternal Mental Health Clinic: To plan and organise own work within the service setting and to contribute to the development and improvement of the provision of psychological services within the Maternal Mental Health Clinic to best meet the organisations strategy and priorities. The multidisciplinary service: To provide psychology/therapy knowledge to the multi-professional planning, development and marketing of the Maternal Mental Health Clinic Responsibility for Judgement and Analysis To provide specialist clinical/counselling psychology/psychological therapy expertise and advice. To provide assessments; to develop specialist psychological formulations and plans for psychological treatment; and to implement specialist psychological interventions for individuals, couples, families and groups. Experience of both individual and couple/family/group approaches is required. To support the Professional Lead, Perinatal Service Managers, Practice and Strategic Development Leads and Head of Profession by undertaking service development and redesign projects and coordinating the resulting work within the team. Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy Assessment & intervention: To provide expert psychological assessments; develop specialist psychological formulations and plans for psychological treatment and implement specialist psychological interventions for individuals, couples, families and groups. To make skilled evaluations about the management of risk. To demonstrate awareness of diversity issues. Consultation & guidance: To provide advice, guidance and consultation on psychological aspects of client care to colleagues, other service providers, patients, supporters and families. Policy, Service, Research, Innovation and Improvement The post holder is accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines. Policy & service: To support policy changes and service development within the Perinatal Mental Health Service and the Trust. R & D: To support the R&D activities of the Perinatal Mental Health Service. Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources To be responsible for the safe keeping of equipment under own use. Responsibility for Supervision, Leadership and Management Leadership & supervision: To supervise the work of assistants, trainees and/or volunteers as required. To support placements for trainee staff in line with professional guidelines Information Resources and Administrative Duties To maintain accurate records, compliant with Trust Practice Standards. To be responsible for using an email account to generate, monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trust conducts much of its internal communication. Responsibility for Research and Development To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work within the Maternal Mental Health Clinic. To support project work including specific areas of audit, research or service evaluation As a clinician to be responsible for collecting clinical practice and outcome data that contributes to building practice based evidence and service evaluation. To participate in service audits and relevant research projects. Freedom to Act The post holder is accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines To work autonomously within clinical professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the governance of psychological practice within the locality/specialty. Interpretation of professional and Trust guidelines, and implementing policies in conjunction with peers, Head of Profession and General Manager. To provide specialist clinical/counselling psychology/psychological therapy expertise and advice/guidance and consultation on psychological aspects of client care to clients, colleagues, other service providers, supporters and families. Any Other Specific Tasks Required To ensure all clinical care and treatment provided is carried out under appropriate supervision and leadership. To ensure continuous updating of skills and techniques relevant to the clinical work. Review of this Job Description This job description is intended as an outline indicator of general areas of activity and will be amended in the light of changing service needs. This job description is to be reviewed in conjunction with the post holder on an annual basis.