Senior Psychologist

We have an exciting opportunity for a dynamic and enthusiastic Psychologist to be at the forefront of the development of the CAMHS Learning Disability / Autism service across Hampshire. We are looking for a psychologist to work alongside the clinical lead and other disciplines to develop the psychological offer for the young people we work with. The post holder will also support the development of our pathways and help shape the culture of the team. Providing effective supervision, training, and leadership will be integral to the role. You will join a small group of skilled and compassionate professionals to build a wider service from the ground up, ensuring the children and their families receive best practice care for their mental health and behavioural needs.

You will also be part of the county wide child psychology team, making innovative contributions to ongoing service improvement and compassionate care, and we work towards psychology being at the heart of everything that we do. There are many opportunities to access further training and we have an excellent record in developing our workforce. We have close links with Southampton University offering placements to trainee clinical psychologists.

We would consider offering this as a Band 7 to 8a development post. If taken as a preceptorship, you will have career development plan that sets out the required competencies for the transition to an 8a role. A senior psychologist will be closely supporting you with this journey.

Main duties of the job

To provide quality driven assessments, psychological formulations and interventions to children and young people that have moderate to severe Learning Disability experiencing a wide range of complex and severe mental health and / or behavioural problems. Delivering a variety of interventions (individual and group) to families and young people in line with their needs and goals.

To help develop the consultation offer to the Wider CAMHS service for young people with mild Learning Disability or those that have complex neurodevelopmental needs.

Working together with other agencies and services to develop and implement interventions and care plans and ensure successful transitions between services.

To be an integral part in developing and delivering clinical care pathways.

Form part of the MDT providing consultation and supervision and developing psychological knowledge within the MDT.

Being part of the leadership team at Hampshire CAMHS Learning Disability / Autism Team supporting the development of innovative and effective ways of working and participating in systematic clinical governance.

Supervising and supporting the development of other psychologists and psychological therapists in the team, including trainee clinical psychologists on placement from the University of Southampton.

To utilise research skills for audit, service development and research within the area served by the team / service., Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone – if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion / belief or disability please initially contact the Trust’s Recruitment team – detailed in the advert. The Trust will seek to resolve this issue wherever possible.

We are happy to talk Flexible Working – all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.

• Doctoral level training in applied psychology [or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or outside the UK], including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, approved by the HPCP, Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and / or other fields of applied psychology., Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings.

• Experience of working with people with Learning Disabilities and other complex needs within a multi-disciplinary setting.

• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.

• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.

• Experience of teaching, training and / or supervision.

• Experience or demonstrable knowledge of working with the particular client group served by the team / service

• Knowledge of guidance and legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.

• High level of knowledge and skills in neuropsychology and evidence of further practice and / or training since qualification.

• Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.

• Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HPC

Desirable

• Demonstrate specialist experience gained post-qualification of working as an applied psychologist with evidence of having received a substantial amount of clinical supervision (normally in the region of approximately 50 hours).

• Experience of the application of applied psychology in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework.

• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups ( personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).

• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.

Additional Criteria

Essential

• Communication / Relationship skills :

• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.

• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment formulation and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.

• Ability to work within a large geographical area effectively, managing travel arrangements and using creative working solutions.

• Ability to plan and manage a complex work load with competing demands.

• Ability to plan and implement projects

• Skills in clinical supervision of others

• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.

• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.

• Ability to use electronic clinical record systems.

• Experience of software SPSS, EXCEL and ACCESS

• Ability to use a keyboard / computer

• Able to carry out PMVA interventions

• Ability to maintain sustained concentration over considerable time and to be able to manage a high number of competing work demands.

• Ability to meet competing deadlines

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