Highly Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

Job overview

Providing assessments and supporting diagnosis for young people with emotional wellbeing and mental health problems
Prioritising and managing own workload with minimal supervision
As one of the senior practitioners, providing services to a multicultural and diverse population, to be responsible for delivering a very high standard of care to children and young people
The post holder will work autonomously and in collaboration with other health care professionals, statutory and voluntary agencies to deliver excellent standards of care
Offering comprehensive assessments in the clinic and service user’s own home
Working effectively within the CAMHS locality team
Knowledge of the Mental Health Act and procedures
Working effectively with our partners
Ensuring that all policies and procedures are adhered to
Ensuring that all referrals are seen in a timely manner
Mentoring
Advocating for the service user
Attending CPAs both in clinic and off site.

Main duties of the job

• To be responsible for organising and prioritising own and others workload.
• To have organisational knowledge relating to Trust protocols and procedures and adhere to them.
• To be responsible for providing accurate records of information required by the Trust for audit purposes.
• To ensure effective risk management at team level by accident/incident reporting, assessing and controlling risk and ensuring residual risks are added to the Trust register.
• To work effectively with GPs to ensure early referral and diagnosis
• To work jointly and collaboratively with NELFT colleagues in order to enhance and develop services to service users and their families.
• To ensure communication channels are consistent and understandable and that information provided is relevant and informed.

To provide highly specialist psychological assessment of children and young people with complex emotional, mental health and social needs, including children with diagnoses of learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and other neurodevelopmental difficulties. The post holder will utilise highly specialist clinical knowledge of particular relevance to this client group.

Assessments to be based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests (WISC & WAIS), behavioural assessments, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews. This may include assessment as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Case formulation will lead to intervention plans involving evidence-based interventions (FBA, PBS, CBT etc.), taking account of the need to engage clients who may have additional communication and learning needs.

To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, considering current theoretical and therapeutic models and also highly complex factors concerning developmental difficulties, chronic illness, and historical processes that have affected the young person, family or care system.

To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients.

To provide specialist psychological advice and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to client’s formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan. This would include the dissemination of psychology research and theory.

To act, where appropriate, as multi-agency coordinator for the planning and review of care plans for children involved with complex, multi-agency systems.

To undertake risk and management assessment of clients and to provide general advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk.

To offer clinical supervision as required within the multi-disciplinary team.

To provide consultation and liaison with schools in order to meet the needs of children and young people to whom you are offering care and contribute to Educational Health Care plans as and when required.

To have an understanding of the 2014 Children and Families Act in regards to children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

To be flexible and responsive to the changing needs and priorities of the multi- disciplinary CAMHS team through the transformation process.

To work in line within the context of CYP IAPT and iThrive principles, using evidence based psychological models of treatment and routine outcome measures.

Responsible for holding own caseload and for providing assessment and therapeutic interventions to address the mental health needs of children, young people and their families.

Responsible for maintaining service standards within own practice, including clinical governance and clinical risk assessment, and within the neurodevelopmental Pathway.

Responsible for creating and maintaining client records and notes.
Provision of specialist advice, within boundaries of own role, skills and knowledge.

Contribute professional opinion to relevant legal decision-making processes (e.g. child protection arrangements, domestic violence and abuse cases)

The post holder will receive supervision according to individual need.

Leadership

To support the continued development of the neurodevelopmental pathway, through sharing clinical vision, collaborating with colleagues to drive innovative practice.

To offer specialist Clinical Psychology placements and supervise the work of Trainee Clinical Psychologists. The post holder may also supervise the work of assistant psychologists/ND practitioners.

To provide training and supervision to individual colleagues and professional groups within the multidisciplinary team at CAMHS as well as to those in the wider targeted and universal children’s services.

To offer line management to members of the Neurodevelopmental psychology team (band 7 and below).

To liaise with professionals in CAMHS as well as with colleagues within Health, Education, Social Services and the Voluntary Sector to ensure that children and families are being offered an integrated and effective service.

To provide specialist consultation to all colleagues at our CAMHS service.
To be responsible for making decisions about whether it is appropriate for services to be directly delivered by the Clinical Psychologist or whether skills, training and assistance to members of the multidisciplinary team or members of the primary care services may be more appropriate.

To contribute to policy and service development

To act as a liaison between CAMHS and to support the transition process for young people needing access to adult services.

To participate in audits and adhere to clinical governance procedures.

To contribute to broader policy development as required, including development of service guidelines, protocols or treatment plans. This may extend beyond the team, to other services and outside organisations.

Knowledge, Training and Experience

To have planning skills for the prioritisation and organisation of team workload.

To maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and broader mental health issues.

To have experience of representing psychology within the context of multi- disciplinary care.

To have the knowledge of the theory and practices of specialised psychological therapies and assessment methodologies relating to mental health difficulties in children and young people, and in supporting families and care systems.

Specific tasks directly related to the post

To support the CAMHS team in delivering the very highest standard of care to our clients and their families

To carry out neurodevelopmental assessments and feedback to families

To monitor mental health and associated risks

Administration