Band 8a Practitioner Psychologist in Birmingham

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Practitioner Psychologist to join our Neurodevelopmental Pathway (Autism Assessment Service) specialist psychology service. The role will involve assessing children presenting with neurodevelopmental needs across all sectors of care within the Birmingham catchment area. The post holder will be part of the multidisciplinary team in the Neurodevelopmental Hubs and liaise closely with colleagues in education. They will also supervise and support the psychological assessments and therapy provided by other psychologists and others who provide psychologically based care and treatment. They will support a culture of research and utilise research skills for audit, policy and service developments and propose and implement policy changes within the Service and the broader multidisciplinary team. They will also be highly visible and accessible and a figure to whom staff, patients and their families can turn to for assistance, advice and support.

Main duties of the job:

• To provide specialist psychological assessment of children based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological assessment, self-reported measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with children, family members and others involved in the child’s care.
• To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a child’s psychological problems. This is to be based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods of proven efficiency, across the full range of care settings.
• To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for children, carers, families and groups within and across teams. This would involve adjusting and refining psychological formulations and drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
• To use highly developed specialist knowledge of a range of work procedures and practices including that of SEND processes and education agenda.

Person specification:

• Post graduate Doctoral level training in Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• HCPC Registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Post-doctoral qualification, training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
• Training in the supervision of doctoral level trainee psychologists.
• Training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Skills:

• Highly specialist skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, including psychometrics such as ADOS-2 and, or, ADI-R, intervention and management including specialist clinical interviewing, behavioural observation, complex psychometric testing and specialist neuropsychological testing.
• Knowledge of the presentation, assessment of and intervention with people with complex neurodevelopmental and mental health difficulties.
• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to children, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills and experience in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups, across agencies.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Knowledge of typical and atypical child development including neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD/ASD.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. dual diagnoses, children with additional learning disabilities or difficulties etc).
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to children.

Experience:

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and individual and group-based treatment of children, including children with neurodevelopmental differences.
• Experience of 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 liaison work with other professionals and agencies.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity.
• Experience of teaching, training and supervision.
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Relevant R&D or clinical audit work post-qualification.

Personal Qualities:

• Self-motivated.
• Positive, energetic, enthusiastic in outlook and able to set a good example.
• Ability to manage under pressure; work to tight deadlines, evidencing excellent time management.
• Able to work independently or as part of a team.
• Evidence of strong leadership skills, the ability to negotiate, persuade and influence at a senior level with a supportive style whilst also able to take difficult decisions and act assertively.
• Keen to develop services in line with service, educational and research priorities with the service.

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC) supports a variety of flexible working practices and, where possible, will actively consider requests made and support these where practically possible. This may include hybrid patterns of working to enable colleagues to request the flexibility of a mixture of home/base working. In accordance with the NHS People Promise, the Trust is committed to facilitating a healthy work/life balance that is essential to health and wellbeing and to making BCHC a ‘Great Place to Work’.