Senior Clinical Psychologist

Job overview

The Darwin Centre Adolescent Tier 4 Inpatient Service:

8A Senior Clinical Psychologist

This position is  offering the opportunity for Agile Working and working from home options for the right candidate.

Would you like to work creatively to meet the diverse needs of Children and Young People as part of a dynamic multidisciplinary team? Are you motivated by innovation and supportive of services that place Children and Young People at the centre of care? An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Clinical Psychologist to work within the Darwin Centre.

The post-holder will be a Highly Motivated member of the Darwin Centre senior leadership team.  The role will involve direct clinical work with patients, within the Darwin Centre and the Intensive Support Hub.

Main duties of the job

To be compassionate in meeting the needs of clients, their carers and families.

To provide clinical supervision and training to less experienced colleagues within the designated psychology service and to other members of the multidisciplinary team.

To undertake formal research as an integral part of the job and act as field supervisor to doctorate trainees.

To be proactive in continual service improvement within own area.

To promote at all times a positive image of people with mental ill health or learning disabilities.

To promote at all times a positive image of the service and the wider Trust.

Accountable for own professional practice in the delivery of specialist psychological assessment and care to clients who present in crisis with complex mental health conditions or learning disabilities which may include challenging behaviours.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Responsible for recognising the potential for or signs of client harm, abuse or neglect, including poor clinical practice, reporting all such concerns and taking all reasonable steps to protect the client. Responsible for identifying and reporting concerns regarding the safeguarding of children who may be at risk.

Undertakes risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and provides specialist advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.

Formulates plans for highly specialist psychological work and/or management of clients’ mental health conditions based upon an appropriate conceptual framework and evidence-based practice. Negotiates the implementation of such plans with clients and/or their carers.

Implements the use of highly skilled psychological formulations for individual clients, carers, staff, families and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations as required.

Undertakes highly skilled evaluations and makes decisions about treatment options.

Provides highly specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other staff contributing directly to client’s diagnosis, formulation and intervention plan.

Facilitates decision-making by planning and mapping processes/interventions with members of the team to determine the most appropriate treatment modality or service for clients.

Provides highly specialist psychological assessment of clients with highly complex conditions based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of data from a variety of sources.