Aspire’s ethos is to provide responsive, sensitive, timely, family/person centred care and support to all our ‘customers’ and to be flexible, creative and adaptive to their needs at all times. We also promote a systemic model and approach to all our work and place emphasis on the importance of working with all those members of the system whilst keeping the family and child at the centre of everything we do.
We are looking for a confident Clinical Team Lead (psychologist) who can inspire, support and oversee the delivery of the very best care in our developing trauma service.
Working in partnership with the Director, the Aspire team and our stakeholders, you will achieve the following objectives:
1. Complete management and service development duties across all the Aspire team (supervision and support will be offered to develop these skills)
2. Provide high quality psychological services to individuals and adoptive families.
The ideal candidate will be an integral member of the organisation’s operational management team and will play a vital role in ensuring the smooth and efficient running of the organisation’s clinical operations.
As a member of the leadership team you will support the development of a culture which focuses on the provision of high quality, safe and effective clinical services, promoting continuous improvement, underpinned by open communication with clients and team members working across a range of disciplines.
Alongside this, you will maintain a small caseload of direct clinical support (therapy, training and consultation) across a range of services to develop and improve trauma informed psychological and mental health services for children. You will provide detailed assessments and formulations which inform therapeutic care plans with an aim to support and provide advice to those around the child to develop an understanding within the teams of the impact of developmental trauma, how this translates into behaviour and how to work therapeutically with the children and young people they care for.
Applicants should be a qualified clinician registered with an appropriate professional body, have a proven track record of supporting a clinical team and experience in performance management within a social care or mental health setting.
This is an excellent opportunity for an emerging leader to join a developing organisation and drive forward performance, support clinical delivery and the growth of our services in this much needed area.
Experience
* Proven experience of working with young people with complex trauma and mental health difficulties, learning Disabilities and/or Autism
* Demonstrable experience as a psychologist or therapist working with young people who present with complex trauma and significant risk;
* Experience of leadership and service management;
* Experience of staff team consultancy including systemic working with care, education and health services;
* Experience of auditing and developing systems;
* Experience of delivering high quality supervision;
* Experience of delivering high quality training.
Requirements
* Doctoral level training in Psychology (counselling or clinical)
* Experience working in a CAMHS or Social Care setting
* Full membership of relevant professional body, e.g. HCPC
* Able to demonstrate service management experience;
* A developed, sophisticated and robust theoretical understanding of complex trauma / attachment theory;
* The ability to deliver high quality training, staff team consultancy, therapeutic interventions and assessment.
Working Environment
The post holder's base will be at Aspire’s office in Darlington: Suite 2, Aspen House, Chesnut Street, Darlington, DL1 1QL or at Washington The Hub (depending on preference).
The post holder can work from home with agreement with the director.
The post holder may be required to travel to other locations as part of the clinical services offered and liaising and networking with stakeholders.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Clinical Lead Role (Operational)
1. Clinical oversight and leadership role in relation to the clinical team
2. Operational and caseload supervision
3. Recruitment and retention (alongside MD)
4. Reviewing and auditing the quality of record keeping and quality assurance of all assessment and other Aspire reports
5. Liaising with human resources (HR) and providing the interface between HR and the team
6. Supporting staff's wellbeing and development
7. Establishing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders e.g. commissioners, social care, residential home directors, fostering agency managers, education to ensure high quality service delivery
8. Chairing meetings e.g. team meetings
9. Be the referral point of contact and allocation of referrals to the relevant clinicians within the team
10. Preparation of reviews and quotes for funding
11. Monitoring and tracking of funding applications
12. To take an active part in organisational and strategic development
13. Audit and development of the Clinical Services Department
14. Consultancy to staff teams and the wider organisation
15. Maintaining and developing effective policies around service delivery, particularly those relating to clinical governance
16. To be fully aware of the relevant legal frameworks and any developments therein
17. Possibility of supervising a DClinPsy trainee (we have links with the Teesside Course)
Clinical Responsibilities
To provide a therapeutic service and dedicated psychological service across a range of settings and establishments including residential, fostering, adoption, children’s services and birth families. You will be providing a range of services for young people who may have learning disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions, mental health problems, attachment and trauma related difficulties, emotional difficulties and who may display behaviours which challenge services.
1. The clinical responsibilities include direct work with children and young people.
2. To be responsible for providing a specialist psychological perspective in the assessment of young people referred to the service.
3. To provide reports (assessment reports/risk management plans/treatment plans) to support the appropriate admission of young people suitable for the service, to provide further insight into complex young people and recommendations of how best to support and manage the young people.
4. To provide highly specialist psychological assessment of young people’s presenting difficulties. Information will be gained from a range of structured psychometric and semi-structured clinical methodologies. Specialist knowledge and skill will be required in the administration, adaptation and interpretation of assessment methods.
5. To select and undertake a range of highly specialist psychological interventions adapting and developing where necessary for young people with cognitive and social difficulties. Interventions will often include collaborative working with residential staff, foster carers, education staff and parents and may involve collaborative working with other health and social care professionals from statutory, third sector and/or independent organisations.
6. To monitor and evaluate progress during the course of a young person’s journey with Aspire and throughout any psychological or psycho-social interventions, re-assessing and re-formulating as necessary and sharing information as appropriate.
7. To consult and work with education establishments, social workers and parents providing special psychological guidance around all aspects of a young person’s care and support needs.
8. To be effective in communicating psychological principles to staff groups, adoptive parents, teaching staff and professionals and young people in a manner which facilitates growth and development.
9. To consult with and provide psychological advice to the young person’s family, school and other relevant professionals as and when necessary.
10. To communicate verbally, using augmented communication methods and, in writing, highly complex and sensitive information in a manner appropriate to a range of settings and audiences, including people with impaired communication capabilities.
11. To be able to contain and work with organisational stress and hold the stress of others (staff and service users).
12. To manage exposure to emotive disclosures and to stressful conflict situations presented by young people.
Training and Development Responsibilities/Teaching, Supervision
1. To provide training to residential homes, fostering agencies, adoption services, schools and other professionals on a range of psychological issues.
2. To work closely with residential home staff, fostering agencies, adoption services, schools and professionals to facilitate understanding of psychological issues.
3. Possibility of supervising a DClinPsy trainee (we have links with the Teesside Course)
Professional Standards and Personal Development
1. To work within the Code of Ethics and the relevant professional guidelines of the HCPC and other relevant governing bodies.
2. To work within the framework of Aspire’s policies and procedures.
3. To remain up to date with professional issues in your field (or other relevant professions), legislation, national and local policy and guidance, and ensure these are reflected in the clinical service provided by Aspire.
4. To participate in regular clinical supervision and negotiate with the Director around any further development and training needed to fulfil the CPD requirements of the HCPC.
5. All post holders are expected to adhere to the operational procedures of Aspire particularly around caseload management, time keeping and recording of clinical work. This is to ensure we provide a highly effective and responsive service and to support the emotional well-being of our employees.
This is not an exhaustive list, the post holder will need to adapt to new responsibilities in consultation with the Director.
Job Type: Full-time
Additional pay:
* Yearly bonus
Benefits:
* Casual dress
* Company events
* Company pension
* Free parking
* Life insurance
* On-site parking
* Sick pay
* Work from home
Schedule:
* Monday to Friday
Experience:
* CAMHS: 2 years (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
* Driving Licence (preferred)
Work Location: In person
Reference ID: Clinical Psychologist Team Leader
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