Highly Spec Clin/ Counselling Psychologist

NHS; London; Hybrid; GBP 59,000 - 67,000; Full time

Job description

Highly Spec Clin/ Counselling Psychologist

Are you a psychologist with an interest in inpatient mental health and a passion for bringing psychological ways of working to complex systems?

If so, read on!

We are looking for an enthusiastic qualified psychologist with experience in working with systems and families, to join the Newham Acute Psychology Service (NAPS). This team provides psychological services to the people who reside, work and visit Newham Centre for Mental Health (NCMH).

Why work with us?

Within the NAPS team you will be encouraged to bring your ideas and creativity to develop the psychology provision in your wards and across the service. Staff development and innovation is very important to us. See below for a list of some of our current projects:

• Relational Security (i.e. See, Think, Act) and trauma-informed care implementation.
• Quality improvement projects (e.g. Inpatient Sexual Safety).
• Sensory intervention in NCMH.
• New project in development for systemic working with families and systems to support transition to the community.

CPD opportunities:

• Collaboration with the local Systemic Therapies service.
• Research opportunities in collaboration with NELFT and the University of East London.
• CPD opportunities (e.g. systemic working, indirect approaches, leadership).
• Local Secondary Care Psychological Services network offers further opportunities for learning and connection.

Main duties of the job

You will be responsible for bringing psychological approaches to our adult mental health wards. The NAPS team aims to foster a compassionate, safe and therapeutic culture for all people within the service. You would be expected to play an active part in planning, prioritising and reflecting on how best to organise your work to move towards this aim.

Roles will include direct interventions with patients in group, individual and family sessions; staff support and development including team formulations, reflective spaces and training; leadership of co-production, evaluation and quality improvement (QI) initiatives throughout the service. There is a current focus on supporting the discharge process and interface with community services, in collaboration with our local systemic therapy team. Where required, this may involve seeing families in their homes.

We are looking for applicants who bring enthusiasm and creativity around inpatient working. Experience in acute mh services and providing culturally inclusive psychological approaches in NHS services is also highly desirable as well as an ability to speak an additional local language in order to engage wider communities.

The Trust has embraced flexible working. We are interested in hybrid ways of working that are within the scope of the role.

We look forward to welcoming the successful candidate; their ideas, passions and aspirations into our team.

About us

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job responsibilities

For full details of the job please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification attached to the vacancy profile.

Person Specification

Education/ Qualification

• Doctorate in Clinical/ Counselling Psychology or equivalence and able to demonstrate eligibility for BPS.
• HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Further training or qualifications in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice (e.g. Systemic approaches).
• Quality Improvement Training.
• Clinical supervision training for doctoral psychology trainees.

Experience

• Post-qualification experience as a practitioner psychologist or equivalent.
• Experience of providing teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
• Experience of systemic working with families and teams.
• Experience in working in multidisciplinary settings and representing a psychological perspective in teams and services.
• Experience of working as a psychologist in an inpatient setting.
• Experience of professional management of qualified and pre-qualified clinical psychologists.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience in contributing to service development, redesign and improvements in secondary mental health services.

Knowledge and skills

• Able to draw upon a broad theoretical knowledge base in the analysis of highly complex facts and situations, requiring sustained and intense concentration, to arrive at appropriate formulation and compare and select from a range of treatment options.
• An in depth knowledge and skills in applying clinical risk assessment and management in own and others' clinical caseload.
• Able to communicate at a high level verbally and in writing highly complex, technical and sensitive information to clients, families, carers, and a range of professionals and lay people within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Able to plan, organise and prioritise own workload in the face of periods of competing demands.
• Up to date knowledge of psychological research, national guidance and legislation relevant to the delivery of secondary mental health services.
• Aware of the potential impact of discrimination & disadvantage on mental health.
• Highly developed knowledge of the theory and delivery of specialised psychological practice relevant to a secondary mental health setting (e.g. systemic working, psychosis, personality disorder, complex trauma).
• Record of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books.

Personal

• Enthusiasm for a broad range of psychological phenomena, an interest in models of service delivery and an ability to articulate the value added by clinical psychology services within the context of multi-disciplinary mental health services.
• Able to manage effectively frequent exposure to highly distressing/highly emotional circumstances and exposure to traumatic circumstances.
• Respectful approach to service users, families, carers, colleagues and other professionals. Willing to negotiate and can handle confrontation effectively and professionally.

Other

• Able to travel independently between work sites and to community settings for the delivery of services.
• Ability to speak an additional local language.

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.

Lead for Newham Acute Psychology Service

£59,490 to £66,239 a year per annum Inc HCAs