Clinical Psychologist

About Strength & Learning Through Horses

Strength & Learning Through Horses (SLTH) is an award-winning London based youth charity delivering equine-assisted therapy, alternative education and mental health support to over 600 young people each year. Working from our centre in Barnet, we combine evidence-based therapeutic practice with the unique relational power of horses to help young people build emotional regulation, confidence, communication skills and a sense of belonging. Where young people are unable to learn in a classroom setting, we can support them to access an education via our alternative education provision.

Following 15 years of sustained growth, we have become one of the UK’s largest providers of equine-assisted services. We are now entering an exciting new phase as we complete the development of a purpose-built centre, expand the number of young people we support and refine our strategy for the charity’s future growth including looking at expanding our reach to other locations via a training offer.

The organisation’s ability to deliver excellence in its service quality is dependent upon a skilled and competent workforce where learning and continuous improvement is a fundamental aim. Central to this role is the ability to work according to the organisation’s core values of:

• Ambition: for young people, SLTH and ourselves as individuals
• Curiosity without judgement: about human and equine behaviours
• Embrace difference: a variety of perspectives & life experiences are essential
• Embrace difficulty: it’s where the learning happens
• Commitment to always improving: & owning areas that improvement is required
• Respect

Job Specification CLINICAL Role at SLTH:

• Act as a Clinical Psychologist for the organisation and contribute to Individual, Family and Group Therapy Interventions and offer clinical guidance and support to all therapy and education programs as deemed necessary and appropriate.
• Offer Safeguarding support to the Lead and Deputy Lead Safeguarding Officers.

MAIN DUTIES OF THE POST:

• To act as Clinical Psychologist for SLTH
• To provide specialist psychological/therapeutic advice, guidance and consultation to staff professionals within SLTH, using current psychological and therapeutic theory and practice.
• To undertake and assist in the assessment and interventions of SLTH clients across all programs as deemed necessary.
• To contribute to the intake process of the service as required.
• To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit, where appropriate.
• To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
• To deliver supervision as required, once trained/proficient e.g. for Assistant Psychologists, Trainee Psychologists, and colleagues of other disciplines who require specific supervision in psychological treatment.
• To attend clinical and managerial supervision as required.
• To keep clinical records and to communicate appropriately with clients, referrers and other agencies, complying with SLTH requirements regarding outcome monitoring etc., and with the guidelines on confidentiality and data protection.
• To provide Designated Deputy Safeguarding Lead on a cover basis for the organisation in the absence of the Lead and Deputy Safeguarding Lead.
• Responsible for supporting SLTH staff to safeguard Young People and staff and follow the SLTH safeguarding procedure in response to safeguarding concerns.

Service Development:

• To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research, as appropriate.
• To undertake project management, including audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop and evaluate service provision, as appropriate.

Clinical and Research Governance:

• The post-holder must adhere to SLTH’s clinical and research governance guidelines, which includes being responsible for keeping up-to-date and accurate clinical records.

Continuing Professional Development:

• The post-holder will be invited to an annual appraisal with the relevant head of discipline, which will include the formulation of a professional development plan and specific details of continuing professional development in relation to the tasks of the post and its development over time.
• It is expected that some study leave will be taken for attending conferences, reading relevant literature, writing papers for presentation at conferences.
• The post-holder will also be required to attend mandatory training events as set out in the Staff Training Policy which includes attendance at induction and ongoing training in fire safety, health and safety, infection control, risk management, safeguarding children and participate in clinical effectiveness activity and appraisal.

General:

• The postholder will need to be able to work independently, flexibly and with professional networks.
• The postholder will be able to work collaboratively with other members of the team, and with staff from other teams.
• The post holder will work with other members of the teams to develop the team’s functioning and the role of the psychological thinking within it.
• There will be opportunities to provide specialist treatment within the professional modality of the appointed clinician.

We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every criteria in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles at SLTH and we’d welcome an explanation as to how you believe you would develop the skills required with training.

Please note that this list of duties is not exhaustive, and the postholder may be required to undertake other reasonable tasks in line with operational needs.

Additional Information:

• This role is subject to an enhanced DBS check and reference checks.
• UK professional registration may be required depending on professional background.
• Job Types: Part-time, Fixed term contract
• Contract length: 6 months with potential of renewal
• Schedule: Monday to Sunday Weekend availability 22.5 Hours
• Pay: Up to £30,000.00 per year
• Free parking On-site parking
• Ability to commute/relocate: High Barnet EN5 2AQ: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
• HCPC registered Clinical Psychologist (or registration to be completed within next 6 months)

The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable people and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.