Principal Applied Psychologist - Intensive Support Team - South Staffs

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; England; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in the UK seeks an experienced psychologist to join its Intensive Support Team. The role involves providing specialist clinical psychology input, supporting staff, and delivering evidence-based interventions for individuals with learning disabilities. The ideal candidate should have strong communication skills and experience in Positive Behavioural Support. This position aims to improve quality of life and psychological wellbeing while reducing placement breakdowns.

Qualifications

• Experience working therapeutically with individuals with learning disabilities.
• Familiarity with non-pharmacological interventions.
• Ability to work creatively and collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Provide highly specialist clinical psychology input to the IST.
• Offer specialist support and clinical supervision to staff.
• Lead initiatives for non-pharmacological interventions.
• Deliver evidence-based interventions aimed at improving quality of life.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Experience with Positive Behavioural Support

Creative problem-solving

Education

Graduate degree in psychology

Job description

Your colleagues within the IST will include nurses, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, and an assistant psychologist. Support from physiotherapists and psychiatry colleagues are available from the wider Community Learning Disability Team (CLDT).

As a psychologist in the IST, you will benefit from the support of a large number of highly talented, enthusiastic and friendly psychological practitioner colleagues from within the CLDT.

Main duties of the job

To provide highly specialist clinical psychology input to South Staffordshire's Intensive Support Team (IST). Working as a lead principal psychologist within the multi-disciplinary IST to offer effective, evidence-based interventions with the aim of improving quality of life, skill level (autonomy) and psychological wellbeing and to reduce the risk of placement breakdowns and the use of restrictive practices.

To offer specialist support, advice and clinical supervision to other staff providing psychologically based care and treatment to service users with a learning disability; including Band 7 and 8a Applied Psychologists, Clinical Psychologists in Training, Assistant Psychologists and other qualified colleagues as appropriate.

To provide leadership and advice on the appropriate provision of non-pharmacological interventions to support the adult learning disability service to deliver on its aspirations for the Stopping the Overmedication of People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People (STOMP) agenda; and to deliver services in line with NG 11 (NICE Guideline -Challenging behaviour and learning disabilities: prevention and interventions for people with learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges).

We are seeking an experienced psychological practitioner with excellent communication skills to join our well established and recently expanded Intensive Support Team (IST) in South Staffordshire.

Working as part of our IST, you will provide effective, evidence-based interventions with the aim of improving quality of life, autonomy, psychological wellbeing and reducing the risk of placement breakdowns, inappropriate admissions to specialist hospital and the use of restrictive practices.

You will have experience of Positive Behavioural Support and of working therapeutically with people with learning disabilities in a variety of settings; including working with people who have complex mental and/or physical health needs, autism, and complex behavioural needs. You will be an experienced psychological practitioner who relishes multi-disciplinary and multi-agency working, and someone who can work creatively to secure good outcomes. An active interest in research is also highly desirable.