Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

We are looking for a Band 7 Clinical Psychologist to join the North and Mid Devon Intensive Assessment and Treatment Team (IATT), to help support the psychological and emotional wellbeing of a most vulnerable client group.
You will provide a Clinical Psychology service via assessment, intervention and consultation. You will join the North and Mid DevonIATT, a rich multi-disciplinary team including Nursing, Psychiatry, Occupational therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech and Language therapy. You will maintain and develop relationships with partner agencies and local providers.
We will offer you the training and development support you need to develop your skills and create a fulfilling career. In return, we are looking for someone who is motivated, flexible and eager to learn. In addition, we work jointly with a range of specialties and services meeting complex care needs. You will be able to develop your therapeutic interests in a variety of areas beyond Learning Disability.
We are looking for candidates who are enthusiastic about working with individuals with Learning Disability. You will be undertaking assessments, developing individual formulations and contributing to MDT formulation and best practice reviews designing complex and multicomponent interventions and delivering these directly and indirectly via individual or group therapies, care planning and/or training. We will help you to acquire and develop a range of consultation skills. As a newly qualified Clinical Psychologist, you will receive regular supervision and a variety of support for your career development, including a robust appraisal system, a range of CPD activities and a generous bursary scheme.
Working alongside your IATT Clinical Team Manager and other Psychologists, you will promote clinical effectiveness, contributing to audits and reviews of service provision in order to improve our service user journey and maximise the wellbeing of individuals with Learning Disability in Devon.
We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.
These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader Employer.
To improve the psychological health & wellbeing of people with Learning disabilities and provide psychological services to people who use services and staff in the North and Mid DevonIntensive Assessment and Treatment Team (IATT).


Ensuring the systematic provision of a high quality psychological service to people with Learning Disabilities in Devon as a key component of Health and Social Care Partnership services.


Providing clinical leadership, co-ordination and supervision for staff, trainees and volunteers employed by or attached to the psychology service.


Receiving regular professional and clinical supervision in accordance to Trust policy and to Professional Practice Guidelines set out by the Health Professions Council/British Psychological Society.


Contributing to the management of psychology services in the locality.


To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of people with learning disabilities under the services care.
To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner to people with learning disabilities who may present with behaviour that challenges service delivery or who may have complex neurological deficits which affect their understanding, communication and behaviour

To undertake highly skilled assessments and make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about assessment, treatment and discharge, and about the psychological management of patients (including management of risk).


Planning and Organisational Skills


~ To plan, organise and prioritise own workload, balancing the demands of patient care, support and guidance of carers and professionals, service research and developmental activities.


Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy


To provide Psychological Therapies to the community team for people with learning disabilities, developing specialist psychological formulations and assessments of people with learning disabilities, formulating plans for their psychological treatments and implementing specialist psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups.
Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation


~ To follow policy guidance in own role and to identify and comment on proposed policy changes and service developments.


Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management


There is a requirement to support learners on a regular basis which includes the achievement and updating of profession specific training to the required standard to fulfil this role.
In common with all Clinical Psychologists, the post holder will receive regular professional and clinical supervision in accordance to Trust policy and Professional Practice Guidance set out by the British Psychology Society and the Health Professions Council. The post holder will be supported by the senior psychologists within the speciality and will be expected to use the expertise of others within the service to further develop their clinical skills with this group of people who use services.
To supervise the work of Assistant Psychologists and/or Trainee Clinical Psychologists as required. To provide supervision and Consultancy to Health and Social Care colleagues within the area IATT

To be responsible for using an email account to generate, monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trust conducts much of its internal communication.

To undertake service relevant research and development activity agreed with the Learning Disability Health and Social Care Partnership, and to organise the R& D activities of assistants and/or trainees as required


The post holder is accountable for their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures and Professional Practice Guidelines.
To work autonomously within clinical professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the governance of psychological practice within the Health and Social Care Partnership for People with Learning Disabilities.
To provide expert and specialist clinical psychology intervention, expertise and advice guidance and consultation on psychological aspects of patient care to colleagues, other service providers, patients, supporters and families.

Qualifications & Training
Doctorate/Masters level or equivalent qualification in clinical/counselling
Eligible for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
Further training in assessment and interventions with people with learning disabilities
Experience of psychological assessment and treatment of people who use services across the full range of care settings.
Experience of teaching, training and supervision.

Experience gained during supervised training or working with people with learning disabilities.
Experience of working in services for people with learning disabilities.

Planning and Organisational
Ability to be flexible and cope with multiple demands and manage own workload.
Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. (e.g. people who may present with challenging behaviour personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities).
Masters level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multi-variate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.

Knowledge of the Mental Health and Mental Capacity Act and their implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to people with learning disabilities and mental Health.
Knowledge of relevant legislation in relation to people with learning disabilities and mental health.
Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological approaches in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. people who may present with challenging behaviour personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities).
High level knowledge of theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
Knowledge and skills in risk assessment and risk management.

Skills in the ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to people who use services, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
Skills in providing consultation to other professional and care system groups.
Ability to work independently and use initiative with a service consisting of a network of teams.
Mobility to travel across sites.
Mobility to travel across sites.
Bideford Hospital