Psychologist

Job overview

The core competencies will be evaluated at the start of the employment; the line manager/supervisor will identify and support learning opportunities of the post holder. Each competency will be viewed as a development goal. Assessment will be done through observation of clinical practice, feedback from members of the MDT, patients and families, discussion, and constructive feedback. The postholder have to be able to provide evidence of how they achieved each domain. Once all core competencies are achieved to their development goal the postholder may be moved from band 7 to band 8a. Further details of this process will be shared with the postholder at the start of their employment and via the Core Competencies document.

Main duties of the job

• Provision of specialist assessments with clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including, 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, when and where appropriate.
• Formulation and implementation of plans with shared decision making for intervention and/or management of young person’s mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
• Implementation of a range of interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, including adjusting and refining the formulations, drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
• Evaluation and decisions making about intervention options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This role is for a newly qualified or an experienced psychologist with interest or specialist knowledge around children and young people with moderate to severe learning disabilities and neuro-developmental conditions and needs which require specialist community CAMHS services.

Whilst providing specialist external consultation; assessment and intervention, the post holder as part of the Multidisciplinary team provides clinical knowledge and a valuable resource.

Once the postholder reaches their senior position as band 8a they will work with other leadership in the team, supporting the development of the service, with the service user at the centre of the care we provide.