Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

Devon Partnership NHS Trust; Exeter; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to improve psychological health and well-being in a specialized field. The role involves providing assessments, clinical supervision, and therapy within both community and inpatient settings. Candidates must have relevant qualifications and experience working with adults facing severe mental health issues. This position engages in developing strategies ensuring service delivery aligns with national standards and policies.

Qualifications

• Qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist, eligible for Chartered status.
• Experience in working with severe and complex mental health difficulties.
• Experience of working in inpatient settings for adults.

Responsibilities

• Provide psychological therapies and assessments for patients.
• Guide and consult on mental health aspects to colleagues.
• Supervise less experienced psychology staff and trainees.

Skills

Experience in Adult Mental Health

Neuropsychological assessment

Individual and group therapy

Leadership roles

Diversity awareness

Education

D.Clin.Psychol. or equivalent

Registered with HCPC

Trained to masters level in specific psychological therapy

Job description

Duties and Responsibilities

The principalpurpose of the job is to improve the psychological health & wellbeing ofpeople within the post holders specialist field of practice. To support the overall ward teams and theirleadership to deliver high quality services in line with national professionalguidance, NICE recommendations and other national policy documents, as part ofan overall acute care pathway.

This will be achievedin this post through undertaking the following areas of responsibility:

1. Contributing a psychological perspective to the leadership, organisation and operationof Adult in-patient services
2. To ensure the systematic provisionof a high quality psychological service in specialist field of practice in in-patient wards, as a key component ofintegrated mental health and wellbeing services acrossDevon Partnership NHS Trust. This will includethe provision of supervision to the MDT ward teams,psychological formulation of patients, and direct and indirect psychology and psychologicaltherapy clinical input to the Adult In-patient Services.
3. Providing clinical leadership and supervision for less experiencedstaff, trainees and volunteers employed by or attached to the psychologyservice.
4. Carrying a specialist caseload of clients,and providing adviceand consultancy to patientsand professionals.
5. To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exerciseresponsibility for the systematic governanceof psychological practice within professional and Trust guidelines as lead specialist.
6. The post holder with receive regular professional and clinicalsupervision in accordance to Trust policyand to Professional Practice Guidelines set out by the BritishPsychological Society or appropriate designated Professional Body.
7. Observe, and abideby all relevant Professional Codes of Conductand Practice including the British PsychologicalSociety. The post holder will be fully registered with the Health ProfessionsCouncil as a condition of employment

Duties and Responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationship Skills7

• Clients, family and carers: Tocommunicate in a highly skilled andsensitive manner with clients who may havespecific difficulties in understand and/orcommunicating and whomay be hostile, antagonistic or highlyemotionally disturbed.
• Multidisciplinary teamcolleagues: To work closelywith colleagues in the multi-professional integrated mentalhealth and wellbeing services on a day to day basis
• Health & socialcare staff: To communicate with a widerange of health &social care staff inhospital and in community settings in a highly skilled and sensitive manner,complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plansof clients under theservices care. To provide support & guidance in the application ofpsychological 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 acrossthe Trust. To foster a positive approach to the integratedmental health and wellbeing service and to enable effective negotiation.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

• To provide specialist clinical/counselling psychology expertise and advice.
• Toprovide psychological therapies, developing specialist psychologicalformulations and assessments of clients, formulating plans for theirpsychological treatment and implementing specialist psychological interventions for individuals, carers,families and groups. Proficiency in in both individual and group therapyapproaches is desirable.
• To support the Professional Head,General Manager, Practice and Strategic Development Leads and Professional Leads by undertaking servicedevelopment and redesign projects and coordinating the resulting work withinthe team/s.
• To provide complex assessment, including neuropsychological assessments, of specialistconditions

Planning and Organisational Skills

• The psychology service: To planand organise own work withinthe service setting and to contribute to the development andimprovement of provision of psychological services within the commissionedintegrated mental health and wellbeing service to best meet theorganisations strategy and priorities.
• The multidisciplinary service: To providepsychology/therapy supervision to the multi-professional planning, development and marketing of mental health andwellbeing services

Responsibility forPatient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

• Assessment & intervention: Toprovide expert psychological therapies, developing specialist psychologicalformulations and assessments of clients, formulating plans for theirpsychological treatment and implementing specialist psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, and to demonstrate awareness of diversityissues.
• Consultation & guidance: To provide advice, guidance andconsultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, other serviceproviders, patients, supporters and families
• To ensure that psychological interventions delivered within theacute setting are connected and integrated with provision beyond the acuteservice

Responsibility for Policy andService Development Implementation

• The post holderis accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trustpolicies and procedures andProfessional Practice Guidelines.
• Policy &service: To implement policies and procedures for the provision of psychology and therapy services within own serviceand other services within the Trust.
• R & D: To supportthe R&D activities of the psychology and psychological therapy service.

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

• To be responsible for the safe keeping of equipment underown use.

Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management

• Leadership & supervision: To lead and professionally supervise less experienced psychology/therapy staff,trainees and volunteers.
• To provide placement responsibilities for trainee staff.
• To contribute to the provision of therapy supervision for non psychology/therapy staffproviding psychological therapies within other Trust teams.
• To supportplacements for traineestaff in linewith professional guidelines

Responsibility for Information Resources and Administrative Duties

• To maintain accurate records, compliant with TrustPractice Standards.
• To be responsible for using an email accountto generate, monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trustconducts much of its internal communication.

Responsibility forResearch and Development

• To utilise theory, evidence-based literature andresearch to support evidence based practice in individual work within the PPT and local mental healthservices.
• To conduct project work including specific areas of audit,research or serviceevaluation
• As a clinician to be responsible for collecting clinical practice and outcomedata that contributes to building practice basedevidence and service evaluation. To participatein service audits and relevantresearch projects.

Freedom to Act

• The postholder is accountable for their ownprofessional actions, actingwithin Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines
• To workautonomously 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 andGeneral Manager.
• Toprovide expert and specialist clinical psychology expertise and adviceguidance and consultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, other service providers, patients, supporters and families.

Any OtherSpecific Tasks Required

• To ensureall clinical careand treatment provided by psychologists/psychotherapists/therapistsis carried out under appropriate supervision and leadership.
• To ensurethat all relevant staff groups continuously update the skillsand techniques relevant to their clinical work

Review of this Job Description

This job description is intended as an outline indicator of generalareas 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 onan annual basis.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of working in Adult Mental Health services and work with people with severe and complex mental health difficulties.
• Experience of working in Community and In-patient settings for adults with complex mental health needs
• Experience of working on a PICU / acute Mental health unit
• Experience of neuropsychological assessment
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience in undertaking leadership roles within psychology services in the NHS and in contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of strategies and clinical policies in multi disciplinary, multi agency contexts.
• Experience of working with people who have experienced complex trauma
• Experience, and/or training in diversity awareness and social inequality.
• Proficiency in in both individual and group therapy approaches is desirable.

Qualifications

• Qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist (D.Clin.Psychol. or equivalent) and eligible for Chartered Clinical or Counselling Psychologist Status in the British Psychological Society and Registered with HCPC. Psychological Therapists need to be trained to masters level or equivalent in a specific psychological therapy and registered with an appropriate recognized professional body eg UKCP, ACAT, AFT, BABCP.
• Further training or experience in clinical specialism working with adults with complex mental health needs Further training or experience in working in in-patient Adult Mental Health settings
• Further training in related area e.g neuropsychological assessment Further training in supervision
• Further training in at least one (other) psychological therapy

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.

Professional lead for inpatient acute psychology