Main area Assistant Psychologist in a Community PIPE AP Grade Band 4 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 19 hours per week Job ref 350-SC6755745
Employer Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Stafford House PIPE AP Town Liverpool Salary £26,530 - £29,114 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 22/01/2025 23:59 Interview date 12/02/2025
Band 4
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnic minorities, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.
Job overview
To support and enhance the professional psychological care of service users within the service, across all relevant sectors; providing psychological assessment and psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreed with the supervising qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.
To assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will hold a key position as assistant psychologist at Stafford House, a Psychologically Informed Planned Environment (PIPE). They will have a role in maintaining a psychosocial environment; ensuring that the service adheres to the principles of the PIPE model. The post holder will contribute to staff development by offering consultancy and formulation. They will receive monthly line supervision from the Clinical Lead. They will be connected to a well-developed and supportive network of colleagues, and they will have access to training opportunities and conference events.
Working for our organisation
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical
Under the supervision of a qualified clinical psychologist:
1. To work with potentially distressing material in relation to service users’ personal histories and possible offending behaviour, risks to self and others, and additional security requirements as integral to a low secure environment.
2. To undertake psychological assessments of service users which may include, a range of psychometric tests, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with service users, carers and others involved in the client’s care.
3. To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems.
4. To assist in the coordination and running of psychologically informed groups.
5. To work with other disciplines to assess inpatients, outpatients, day patients or residents and review their care in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
6. To assist in the development of a psychological framework of understanding and care to all service users.
7. To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings as directed by the qualified psychologists.
8. To use a degree of initiative and work independently with service users on planned pieces of work and to exercise judgment based on good practice and operating procedures.
9. To undertake PIPE specific 1:1 support of residents focusing on the relationship as a mechanism for change.
10. To assist in the coordination, running and summary of focus groups.
Person specification
Qualifications
* An upper second-class honours degree in psychology (or psychology as a main subject) or lower second with the addition of a higher degree in psychology
* Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
* Further post-graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis
KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE:
* A minimum of 12 months previous experience of work with people with mental health needs and/or other disabilities
* Demonstrated high level ability to communicate sensitively and succinctly to service users, carers and colleagues in a way that facilitates engagement.
* To have a significant degree of flexibility and adaptability within the therapeutic context
* The ability to work with an appropriate level of autonomy within agreed boundaries directed by supervising psychologist.
* The ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
* An empathic approach to working with people with mental health needs.
* Experience using computers for databases or data analysis
* Experience of paid work in direct care provision
* Previous experience as an assistant in an NHS or forensic setting
* Experience of interacting effectively within an MDT context
* Experience of research evaluation and audit of the application of psychological principles
* Experience of teaching and training in the application of psychological principles to mental health needs
* An interest in working with people with mental health needs.
* A desire to explore a career in clinical psychology.
Skills
* An ability to interact and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
* High-level communication skills (written and verbal) including report-writing.
* An understanding of the needs of people with mental health difficulties including those associated with personality disorder and/or other psychological/physical disabilities.
* An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context.
* Skills in word processing and SPSS for Windows
* Undertaking further relevant post-graduate study leading to recognised qualification
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