Job summary
- Main area
- Assistant Psychologist Halton CAMHS
- Grade
- Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 350-CC6413499
- Employer
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Halton CAMHS, Thorn Road Clinic
- Town
- Runcorn
- Salary
- £25,147 - £27,596 pro rata per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 16/07/2024 23:59
Employer heading
Assistant Psychologist
Band 4
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Job overview
We currently have an exciting opportunity for an Assistant Psychologist to join our friendly, dynamic, and supportive Community CYPMHS Team in Halton, Cheshire. We are a multi-disciplinary team that work with children, young people, their families, and the wider support networks to assess, formulate, and provide intervention with the aim of better supporting mental health and overall emotional wellbeing.
Working under the supervision of a Clinical Psychologist, the role will focus on providing assessment as well as individual and group-based interventions to support a range of presenting needs. The role will also include contribution to a range of audit and service development work within the service.
The job will allow opportunities to develop assessment skills, skills in offering direct and indirect clinical intervention, develop knowledge around mental health and neurodevelopmental needs in children and young people, as well as an opportunity to enhance knowledge of psychological approaches such as DBT, CBT, and trauma-informed working, and systemic approaches.
Main duties of the job
To support psychological care to children, young people, and their families through providing assessment and intervention under the supervision of a Clinical Psychologist. This will require to work on an individual and group base.
To assist in clinically related administration, conduct audits, data collection, contribute to service development, and assist in teaching and project work.
To be responsible for the planning and prioritising own workload and activities following the direction and guidelines given by the supervising Clinical Psychologist.
Keeping accurate clinical records.
Working within the framework of team and organisational policies and procedures.
Regularly attend and engage in clinical supervision.
The post holder will demonstrate an attitude which respects and values service users and their careers, in line with the Culture of Compassionate Care.
The post holder will embrace the core values of the organisation. These principles will recognise the need to:
Promote safe practices
Value the aims of service users
Work in partnership and offer meaningful choice
Be optimistic about the possibilities of meaningful change
Value social inclusion
Working for our organisation
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To support Qualified Psychologists by undertaking psychological assessments of clients applying psychologically based psychometric tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.
To undertake psychological assessments of service users under the supervision of a qualified psychologist which may include, as appropriate, a range of psychometric tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with service users, carers and others involved in the client’s care.
To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, in a range of settings as appropriate.
To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
To work with other disciplines to assess inpatients, outpatients, day patients or residents and review their care in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
To assist in the development of a psychological framework of understanding and care to all service users of the service, across all care settings.
To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings as directed by the qualified psychologists.
To use a degree of initiative and work independently with service users on planned work, and to exercise judgement based on good practice (NICE) and local operating procedures.
To work with potentially distressing material in relation to service users’ personal histories and presentation, including risk to self and others.
In common with all clinical psychologists, to receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines and trust policy.
To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties
Where appropriate, and under the supervision of qualified staff, contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care.
To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required.
To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed as required.
To be competent in the use of basic IT packages, such as Microsoft word.
Develop a skill base in the administration and analysis of a range of psychometric packages as directed.
To assist in the design and implementation of audit, effectiveness, and research projects.
To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of full reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
To review evidence-based literature and research to assist qualified psychologists and work with other team members in their clinical responsibilities as necessary.
To prepare test materials and visual aids as required.
Please refer to attached Job Description for full list of duties and responsibilities.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- A honours degree that satisfies the British psychological society criteria for graduate basis for chartered membership
Desirable criteria
- Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis
- A desire to explore a career in Professional Psychology
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Lived experience or professional experience of working with health inequalities / BAME communities
- Previous experience of work with people with mental health problems and/or other disabilities
- Experience of teaching and training in the application of psychological principles to mental health problems
- Experience of research evaluation and audit of the application of psychological principles to mental health problems
- High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive
- Experience using computers for databases or data -analysis
- Experience of report writing
- Demonstrated high level ability to communicate sensitive information to service users, carers and colleagues in a way that facilitates engagement
- An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities
- A demonstrated ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context
- An understanding of psychological principles applied to health care
Desirable criteria
- Experience of Clinical Health Psychology settings
- Experience/knowledge of Solution-Focused approaches
- Experience of working with 'expert patients'
Values
Essential criteria
- Continuous Improvement
- Accountability
- Respectfulness
- Enthusiasm
- Support
- High professional standards
- Responsive to service users
- Engaging leadership style
- Strong customer service belief
- Transparency and honesty
- Discreet
- Change oriented
Skills
Essential criteria
- Expertise in managing people, managing conflict, and balancing demand for resources with availability and prioritisation of same
- Ability to analyse and implement financial reports and data
- Experience of presenting complex reports/presentation
- Experience of taking decisions relating to the risk or safety of individuals and carrying professional responsibility for those decisions within a safeguarding and risk framework
- Clear experience of interacting effectively with staff from all disciplines
- An interest in working with people with mental health problems or other disabilities
- Clear experience of interacting with people with mental health problems
- Ability to work with a high level of autonomy within the boundaries of the assistant role
- Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively
Desirable criteria
- Evidence of presentation skills
- Ability to communicate sensitive information families to children, young people and
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Helen Whittick
- Job title
- Clinical Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01928 568162
- Additional information
Dr Rachael Clarke
Clinical Psychologist
01928 568162
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