Senior Assistant Psychologist

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Eastbourne; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in East Sussex seeks an Assistant Psychologist to join their innovative SWIFT Specialist Family Services. The role involves contributing to psychological assessments and interventions for children and families facing complex needs. Candidates should hold a 2:1 degree in Psychology and be eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartership with the BPS. The position offers a chance to work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team and supports professional development opportunities.

Benefits

Opportunities for flexible working

Professional development sessions

Qualifications

• Eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartership with the BPS.
• Experience of working with people with disabilities.
• Relevant clinical and research skills.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to psychological assessments of children and families.
• Support specialist complex neurodevelopmental assessments.
• Participate in service development and research.

Skills

Experience of working with people with complex needs

Basic knowledge of databases

Ability to apply existing psychological knowledge

Education

Honours degree at 2:1 or above in Psychology

Job description

The SWIFT Specialist Family Service have an exciting opportunity for an Assistant Psychologist to join them.

This East Sussex wide service is an innovative collaboration between Health and Social Care and delivers safe, effective and caring services to those children and young people/families and carers with child protection and risk concerns within the county.

Main duties of the job

SWIFT Specialist Family Services is jointly commissioned by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and East Sussex County Council. This role is divided across two services, the SWIFT Child Assessment and Treatment Team (SWIFT CAT) and Youth Justice Service.

The SWIFT CAT Team is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of child psychiatrists, psychologists, a systemic family therapist, clinical nurse specialist, social workers and specialist intervention workers. The team provide specialist assessments and interventions to children, young people and their families, who are open to Children's Services. These families and children have frequently experienced a significant number of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and are at significant risk of emotional, physical, sexual harm, and neglect because of complex difficulties.

The SWIFT CAT team has bases in both Eastbourne and Hastings. However, travel across the whole of East Sussex will be required.

About us

At Sussex Partnership we are committed to providing opportunities for flexible working. If you would like to work differently or different hours to as advertised, please get in touch to discuss this in more detail.

Both teams are part of East Sussex Children's Services, one of only five Local Authorities in the country to have an outstanding Ofsted rating.

Also, if you haven't thought about living and working in East Sussex before then you should consider the following:

o Journey from the coast to the countryside in minutes

o Enjoy a lifestyle where there are renowned cycle routes and picturesque walks, including the famous South Downs Way in the South Downs National Park!

o Embrace taking time to discover all the miles of scenic coastline

o Easy access to airports - Gatwick and Heathrow are both within 90 minutes of the county, providing links to Europe and beyond

o London is also within easy reach via local and national bus routes and national mainline stations

Job responsibilities

You will contribute to and support the provision of psychological assessments of children, young people and their families, including clinical assessments, cognitive assessments and assessments of risk, under the supervision of the qualified clinical psychologists in the teams focusing on adopted children and young people.

You will also contribute to specialist complex neurodevelopmental assessments (I.e., Autism Spectrum Condition, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder & Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) for children and young people.

These assessments may include undertaking observations and interviews and administering and scoring psychometrics. Experience of using the WAIS, WISC and ABAS is desirable, but not essential as training and support will be provided.

You will contribute to and support the provision of interventions, both direct and indirect. There may be opportunity for you to undertake some brief, time-limited interventions with children, young people, and families, such as emotional regulation and distress tolerance skills, and parenting work, under supervision.

You will contribute to service development, service evaluation and research to support the work of the psychologists and the wider multidisciplinary team. This may include supporting the collection, collation and maintenance of data relating to existing interventions and service provision. Experience of the use of psychometrics as outcome measures would be desirable.

You will be expected to attend team and service wide meetings and professional development sessions. You will also be provided with your own independent study time. You will be supervised by qualified clinical psychologists within the teams who will support your professional development.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Honours degree at 2:1 or above in Psychology, or equivalent. Eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartership with the BPS

Knowledge/Experience

• Experience of working with people with complex needs
• Experience of working with people with disabilities, in a health or Mental Health setting and or work with people with complex needs
• Relevant clinical and research skills
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Basic knowledge of databases, research skills and methodology
• Experience of group work and individual therapeutic contact
• Ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a health context
• An understanding of psychology applied to health care

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.