Assistant Psychologist

**JOB DESCRIPTION**

**Section 1**

**JOB TITLE**:Assistant Psychologist**

**PAY BAND**:£22 000**

**Section 2**

**AREA OF WORK**: EHM HO VRP Community Partnership

**ACCOUNTABLE TO**: Clinical Psychologist and Programme Lead

**REPORTS TO**: Clinical Psychologist and Programme Lead

**RESPONSIBLE FOR**: N/A

**JOB SUMMARY**: High Intensity Community Support Team is a new service designed to help meet the mental health needs of children and young people at risk of involvement in anti-social behaviour and criminality. The team offer support and interventions to children and young people with mild to moderate mental health problems as well as their families, whilst collaborating with other organisations. Part of the role of assistant psychologist within the team will be:

- To triage and assess referrals from multi-agencies, including Social

Care and community organisations
- To create formulations, clinical notes and care and safety plans
- To support the evaluation of a new and developing service with the aim of enhancing the professional psychological care of children and young people with mental health difficulties within the service.
- To assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits and outcome measures, collection of statistics, and development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.
- The post holder will also hold a small case load providing psychological assessment and psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, working independently according to a plan

agreed with a qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.
- To communicate and collaborate effectively within own team, as well as internal teams within the organisation and external agencies.

**LIAISES WITH**: Other psychology members of the team and other disciplines and agencies responsible for the families and child/young persons’ care.

**Section 3**

**KEY RESPONSIBILITIES**:
**Clinical**

2. To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a child’s/young person’s problems or adults, under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, in both community and clinical settings.

3. To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups and courses.
4. To work within partnerships with professionals across education and social care to deliver evidence based interventions.
5. To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all children/young people and adults of the service, across all settings where care takes place.

6. To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings.
7. To develop and maintain an intervention database.

**Teaching, training and supervision**

8. In common with all clinical psychologists, to receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines.

9. To engage in self-reflection around clinical practice, understanding and communication, to incorporate training and theory into practice, under supervision of clinical psychologist.

10. To gain wider experience of professional psychology, over and above that provided within the principal service area where the post holder is employed.

11. To develop skills and competencies that assist n the delivery of current duties
12. To contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care

**Management, recruitment and service development**

13. To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required.

14. To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.

**IT responsibilities**

15. To utilise information resources routinely and computer based test materials and scoring protocols to develop and produce clinical reports.

**Research and service evaluation**

16. To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research projects.
17. To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
18. To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist qualified clinical psychologists in evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

**General**

19. To ensure the development, maintenance and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes.

20. To ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within the service area and contribute across the service by exercising the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of clinical psychology and related discipli