Principle Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Therapist

Devon Partnership NHS Trust; Exeter; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS trust in Exeter is seeking an experienced Principle Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to join their Specialist Community Eating Disorders Services. The successful candidate will provide high-quality psychological care, collaborate within a multidisciplinary team, and lead service development initiatives. Applicants should have relevant qualifications, experience with severe mental health issues, and strong communication skills.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Support for continued professional development

Qualifications

• Experience of teaching, training, and/or supervision in a clinical setting.
• Experience with Eating Disorders in community or inpatient services.
• Experience in leadership roles within clinical psychology/psychotherapy services.

Responsibilities

• Provide complex assessments for clients with Eating Disorders and mental health comorbidity.
• Lead on service development, evaluations, and audits in CEDS.
• Support and supervise less experienced staff and trainees.

Skills

Experience in working with severe and complex mental health problems

Excellent verbal, nonverbal and written communication skills

Strong leadership qualities

Ability to work flexibly and as part of a team

Education

Doctoral level qualification in Clinical or Counselling Psychology

Master's level qualification as a Psychological Therapist or equivalent

Job description

Principle Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Therapist

We are looking for an experiencedCounselling/Clinical Psychologist/Psychological Therapist to join our Trust-wideSpecialist Community Eating Disorders Services (CEDS) for adults with moderate to severeEating Disorders. CEDS cover the Devonfootprint with the main base in Exeter. The successful candidate will work as a seniormember of the clinical team to support effective care for clients with complexeating disordered presentations. Thepost holder will also need to be prepared to travel to see clients and beflexible to meet the demands of the job.

CEDS is a fully integrated multi-disciplinaryteam which includes specialist senior mental health professionals, assistantpsychologists, psychological therapists, psychiatrists, medical staff, dietitians and peer support. It is a caring and supportive team and our vision is to provide the best treatment possible for those with eatingdisorders. As a senior member of the clinical team thepost holder will be involved in all aspects of assuring the delivery of thepsychological therapies provision including the supervision of staff: we would particularly welcome someone withprevious training and experience in CBT-E or MANTRA but there is funded therapytraining available for the right candidate. Prior experience in working with people with severe and complex eating disorders would be highly desirable and a strong commitment to increasing access to evidence based psychological interventions.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be expectedto provide complex assessments, for clients referred to the service particularly where there is comorbidity e.g. Autismor other significant mental health problems.

The post holder will be responsible for providing formulation driven evidence based interventions for clients with eating disorders referred to the service

The post holder will beresponsible for appropriate consultation with service users and theirfamilies/supporters and all stakeholders surrounding the development ofexisting services to meet the needs of those with eating disorders. This will include collaborativeworking with otherspecialist teams and the wider community mental health service.

The post holderwill be required to support and work with multi-disciplinary colleagues, offeringspecialist supervision, consultation and psychological formulation.

The post will involve leading on and contributing to service development, service evaluations and audits and quality improvement projects in the CEDS service.

About us

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

The principal purpose of the job is to improve thepsychological health & wellbeing of people with eating disorders, theirfamilies and carers.

This will be achieved in this post through undertaking thefollowing areas of responsibility:

• To ensure the systematic provision of ahigh-quality psychological service in Eating Disorders Services across Devon
• Providing clinical leadership andsupervision for less experienced staff, trainees and volunteers employed by orattached to the psychology service and the Eating Disorders Community Service
• Carrying a specialist caseload of clientsand providing advice and consultancy to patients and professionals.
• To work autonomously withinprofessional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematicgovernance of psychological practice within professional andTrust guidelines.
• The post holder with receive regularprofessional and clinical supervision in accordance with Trust policy and toProfessional Practice Guidelines set out by the British Psychological Societyor appropriate designated Professional Body.
• Observe,and abide by all relevant Professional Codes of Conduct and Practice includingthe British Psychological Society. The post holder will be fullyregistered with the Health Care Professions Council as a condition ofemployment

Duties andResponsibilities

Communicationand Working Relationships

• Clients, family and carers: To communicate in a highly skilledand sensitive manner with clients who may have specific difficulties inunderstand and/or communicating and who may be hostile, antagonistic orhighly emotionally disturbed.
• Multidisciplinary team colleagues: To work closely with colleagues inthe multi-professional integrated mental health and wellbeing service on aday to day basis.
• Health & social care staff: To communicate with a wide range ofhealth & social care staff in hospital and in community settings in ahighly skilled and sensitive manner, complex and sensitive informationconcerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients underthe services care. To provide support & guidance in the application ofpsychological principles and techniques, and to foster reflective practice.
• Senior managers & professionalstaff: Tomaintain and build good working relationships with senior professional staffand managers across the Trust. to foster a positive approach to theintegrated mental health and wellbeing service and to enable effectivenegotiation.

Planningand Organisation

• The psychology service: To plan and organise own work within the service settingand to contribute to the development and improvement of provision ofpsychological services within Community Eating Disorders Team to best meetthe organisations strategy and priorities.
• The multidisciplinary service: To provide psychology/therapy supervisionto the multi-professional planning, development and marketing of the eatingdisorders service
• Responsibilityfor Judgement and Analysis
• Toprovide specialist clinical psychology/therapy expertise and advice.
• Toprovide psychological therapies, developing specialist psychologicalformulations and assessments of clients, formulating plans for theirpsychological treatment and implementing specialist psychologicalinterventions for individuals, carers, families and groups. Proficiency in inboth family, individual and group therapy approaches is desirable.
• To support the Professional Lead, General Manager for CEDS, Practiceand Strategic Development Leads by undertaking service development andredesign projects and coordinating the resulting work within the team.
• To provide complex assessment of specialistconditions

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatmentand Therapy

• Assessment & intervention: To provide expert psychologicaltherapies in eating disorders, developingspecialist psychological formulations and assessments of clients, formulatingplans for their psychological treatment and implementing specialistpsychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, andto demonstrate awareness of diversity issues.
• Consultation & guidance: To provide advice, guidance andconsultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, otherservice providers, patients, supporters and families.

Policy,Service, Research, Innovation and Improvement

• The post holder is accountable for their own professionalactions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and ProfessionalPractice Guidelines.
• Policy & service: To implement policies and procedures for the provision ofpsychology and therapy services within own service and other services withinthe Trust.
• R & D: To support the R&D activities of the psychology and psychologicaltherapy service.

Responsibilityfor Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

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

Responsibility for Supervision, Leadership andManagement

• Leadership & supervision: To lead and professionally superviseless experienced psychology/therapy staff, trainees and volunteers.
• To provide placement responsibilities for trainee staff.
• To contribute to the provision of therapy supervision fornon psychology/therapy staff providing psychological therapies
• To support placements for trainee staff in line withprofessional guidelines

InformationResources and Administrative Duties

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

Responsibilityfor Research and Development

• To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and researchto support evidence based practice in individual work within the communityeating disorders services.
• To conduct project work including specific areas of audit,research or service evaluation
• As aclinician to be responsible for collecting clinical practice and outcome datathat contributes to building practice based evidence and service evaluation.To participate in service audits and relevant research projects.

Freedomto Act

• The post holder is accountable fortheir own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and proceduresand Professional Practice Guidelines
• To work autonomously within clinical professional guidelines andexercise responsibility for the governance of psychological practice withinthe locality/specialty. Interpretation of professional and Trustguidelines, and implementingpolicies in conjunction with peers, Head of Profession and General Manager.
• To provide expert and specialistclinical psychology/therapy expertise and adviceguidance and consultation on psychological aspects of patient care tocolleagues, other service providers, patients, supporters and families.

AnyOther Specific Tasks Required

• To ensure all clinical care and treatment provided bypsychologists/psychotherapists/therapists working in the Community EatingDisorder Team is carried out under appropriate supervision and leadership.
• To ensure that all relevant staff groups continuouslyupdate the skills and techniques relevant to their clinical work.

Review of this Job Description

This job description is intended as an outline indicatorof general areas of activity and will be amended in the light of changingservice needs. This job description is to be reviewed in conjunction with thepost holder on an annual basis.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience in working with people with severe and complex mental health problems
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience in undertaking leadership roles within clinical psychology/psychotherapy 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, and/or training in diversity awareness and social inequality.
• Experience of working with Eating Disorders in either Community or in-patient services.
• Experience of service development.

Knowledge and Skills

• Broad knowledge of specialist services and of the services in the NHS where psychology and psychotherapy/other therapy is commonly applied.
• Extensive knowledge of the skills, practice and knowledge base of Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy
• Knowledge of the policy context of specialist psychological services within the organisation and of clinical leadership arrangements in this setting
• Advanced psychological assessment and formulation skills including risk assessment
• Specialist knowledge of Psychological Therapy interventions with Eating Disorders
• Highly skilled in specialist interventions with the client group.

Communication and Working Relationship Skills

• Communication Skills
• Excellent verbal, nonverbal and written communication skills.
• Strong leadership qualities, resilience, and ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainly.
• Skills in managing conflict, negotiation and achieving consensus in complex situations in the pursuit of agreed strategic aims.
• Ability to work flexibly and as part of a team.

Physical Skills

• Calm, methodical approach, friendly but concise.
• Good communication skills when presenting/facilitating to varying groups of people.

Planning and Organisational Skills

• Proven organisational, planning and time management skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and cope with deadlines.

Qualifications

• Clinical or Counselling Psychologist with Doctoral level qualification registered with HCPC OR Psychological Therapist (masters level or above) or equivalent recognised by the appropriate clinical body e.g. BABCP
• Further training in related area
• Further training in at least one other psychological therapy.
• Successful completion of a post-graduate supervision training.

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 Community Eating Disorders