Assistant Psychologist

NHS; Enfield; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking an Assistant Psychologist to enhance psychological care for children and young people. The role involves supporting assessments, co-facilitating interventions, and contributing to service development within a dynamic team. Candidates should have a strong background in psychology and relevant experience in the NHS.

Qualifications

• Degree in psychology with graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.
• Post-graduate experience as an Assistant Psychologist for at least 1 year.
• Experience in co-delivering therapeutic groups.

Responsibilities

• Support with psychological assessments and co-facilitating interventions.
• Assist in the coordination of therapeutic groups and workshops.
• Engage in multidisciplinary discussions for care planning.

Skills

Communication skills

Understanding of learning disabilities

Psychological knowledge application

Positive Behavioural Support strategies

Experience with diverse client groups

Knowledge of alternative communication systems

Education

Upper second-class honours degree in psychology

Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society

Further post graduate training in psychology

Job description

To support and enhance the professional psychological care of children, young people and their carers across all sectors of care; providing psychological interventions under the supervision and direction of a qualified HCPC registered psychologist, working according to the plan agreed with a qualified HCPC registered psychologist and within the overall framework of the Service'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.

The post holder will join the CAMHS ND or LD team which is responsible for the delivery of specialist CAMHS service to children who have a high degree of need in the Borough of Enfield.

Main duties of the job

To support with co-facilitating manualised group interventions

To support with co-facilitating psycho-education sessions

To support specialist psychological assessments of children and young people

To support the development of formulations, including scoring of self-report measures, rating scales, outcome measures

To support with direct and indirect structured observations and semi structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client's care, when and where appropriate.

To offer support and guidance to other professionals contributing directly to clients' formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan, as appropriate.

About us

North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.Our Five-Year Strategy:

We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.

With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all

We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.

We will be more effective as an organisation by pioneering research, quality improvement and technology.

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that fall under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Job responsibilities

To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups and workshops, where appropriate.

To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary or multi-agency meetings, for example linking with schools.

To engage in multidisciplinary discussions around formulation and care planning involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a clients problems, under the supervision of a qualified professionals, including psychologist, in the CAMHS clinics, and in community settings where agreed.

To support with waiting list oversight, team protocols, audit, service development, quality improvement projects and service user participation.

To assist clinicians with psychological assessments of children and young people with possible high degree of need, including self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.

To assist with specialist assessments (e.g. Neurodevelopmental Assessments)

Undertake 1:1 manualised interventions with close supervision from their clinical supervisor

To assist with psychometric assessments

Making and modifying clinical resources

Supporting with routine Welfare check calls, where the risk / complexity is deemed low and where there are no known historical or current safeguarding concerns. Their clinical supervisor must directly supervise these tasks and is clinically responsible for the outcome and for signing off the work.

Supporting with clinically relevant service-level projects.

Assisting with entering notes of the post-assessment MDT discussions directly into RiO to ensure robust and timely clinical governance around decisions made

Shadowing clinical staff during assessments and interventions.

Person Specification

Education

• An upper second-class honours degree or higher 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.

Skills/Abilities

• Developing understanding of and ability to assess the needs and difficulties of people with learning disabilities and autism, including those presenting with behaviour of concern or mental health difficulties.
• Developed communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate condition related information to clients and relatives
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context
• Knowledge and skills in delivering Positive Behavioural Support strategies to adults or children and young people with learning disability and co-occurring conditions and their families/carers.
• Experience of and ability to work with diverse client groups, through interpreters and using video call technology.
• Knowledge of alternative communication systems, e.g. Makaton sign language and PECS

Experience/ Knowledge

• Relevant post-graduate experience as an Assistant Psychologist working in the NHS with children or adults for at least 1 year.
• Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
• Experience in co-delivering therapeutic groups and ability to evidence outcomes using audit/research methodologies.
• Experience of working directly with children with LD/ASD either as an assistant psychologist/ support worker or other direct care role.
• Experience in providing psycho-education sessions for teaching staff and parents.
• Experience of implementation of relevant therapeutic approaches, e.g. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Systemic or Narrative Therapy

Personal Qualities

• Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
• A keen interest in working with people who have a learning disability and or neurodevelopmental differences and their families/carers

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£34,521 to £41,956 a yearPer Annum including HCAS