Assistant Psychologist

Job summary To join a skilled and enthusiastic Older Adult Psychology team in continuing to support and enhance the professional psychological care of older adults within the Older Adult Mental Health Inpatient Psychology Service.
The post holder will gain the opportunity to enhance and further develop their skills and knowledge in providing psychological assessment and psychological interventions, working independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified Psychologist and within the overall framework of the policies and procedures for the service.Post holder will work within a proactive and enthusiastic team consisting of a qualified Principal Psychologist, Trainee Counselling and Clinical Psychologists, Assistant Psychologists and Masters Students.
The post holder will be responsible for the psychological aspects of the multi-disciplinary/multi-agency care provided for older adults working across two of our older adult inpatient dementia wards.
The Assistant Psychologists time will be divided between clinical and administrative tasks and research/audit tasks as required.
the post holder will carry an agreed caseload and this work will be managed and assessed regularly by the Principal Psychologist.
Main duties of the job The successful candidate will be required to;- Undertake protocol based psychological assessments of clients applying psychological 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.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.Assist in the coordination and running of psychosocial therapeutic groups and interventions for those with a diagnosis of dementia.Work with other staff to assess clients and review their care in preparation for Care and Treatment Planning reviews and to assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit all clients of the service.
Attend and contribute to multi-disciplinary meetings as appropriate.Have access to regular 1:1 and group clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines.
About us Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board is part of the NHS Wales family.
Our Health Board provides primary, secondary and community health and wellbeing services to around 450,000 people living in three County Boroughs: Bridgend Merthyr Tydfil, and Rhondda Cynon Taf.We live by our core values: We listen, learn and improveWe treat everyone with respectWe all work together as one team We are a proud local employer; around 80% of our 15000 workforce live within our region, making our staff not only our lifeblood of our organisation but of the diverse communities that we serve.
Job description Job responsibilities You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click Apply now to view in Trac.
Person Specification Education/Qualifications/Training Essential An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology.
Eligibility for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.
Desirable Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.
Experience Desirable Experience of working with older people or with another user group with mental health problems or other disabilities.
Skills Essential Competence in research design and methodologies.
Possession of high level communication skills both in spoken and written communication, including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
An ability to communicate complex, sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
An understanding of the needs and difficulties of older people with mental health problems.
An ability to plan and prioritise own workload An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context and an understanding of psychology as applied to health care.
Knowledge Essential Ability to use word processing and computer packages for both report writing, layout.
Desirable Ability to carry out behavioural observations and assessments using a standard format.