Senior Psychological Therapist

Job summary

This post offers a very exciting opportunity to contribute to a high-quality Wellbeing service within HMYOI Feltham. We deliver high quality mental health and therapy services to individuals from a range of cultural and social backgrounds who are serving custodial sentences. We work alongside prison staff and third sector agencies to provide holistic and trauma sensitive care.

We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic, dedicated and motivated therapist to join us and work within our developing services. There will be a strong focus on trauma-informed psychological approaches (under the REFRESHED framework) and there will be opportunity for direct clinical work as well as working with system. Delivering training and supervision will be part of this role.

Main duties of the job

This post offers a very exciting opportunity to contribute to the development ofREFRESHED, a trauma-informed framework, on Feltham B.

Support psychological practice within the team through consultation, supervision,formulation & training.

Participate in systemic clinical governance.

Offer clinicalsupervision toassistant, trainee & more junior psychologists &

otherstaff.

Utilise research skills for audit service development & research within the area servedby the team/service.

Provide a qualified, high-quality specialist psychology service to individuals, carers,families & groups, within & across teams, in line with best, evidence-based practice& trust carepathways.

Clinically & professionally supervise assistant psychologists, trainee psychologists &junior psychologists, psychological therapists or counsellors & other staff asappropriate.

Provide consultation, mentorship, supervision & advice about psychological issues toother members of the team/service & other professionals working with service users,across a rangeof agencies/settings as appropriate.

Contribute to the development, evaluation & monitoring of the team's operationalpolicies & services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, serviceevaluation & audit, & to advise both service & professional management on thoseaspects of the service where psychological &/or organisational mattersneedaddressing.

About us

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust is a Top Employer Award Winner. Our Health & Justice motto is "Caring NOT Judging" so by working in partnership with the criminal justice system and other agencies, we provide responsive, dependable and high-quality primary care mental health, intellectual disability, offender personality disorder and substance misuse services to those who may have offended and those at risk of offending in the diverse communities we serve.

Our psychological professions have a strong sense of leadership and a distinct professional identity. There is an emphasis on Continuing Professional Development and developing your skills in line with your career progression goals. As a Trust, we are committed to staff development. We especially welcome applications from candidates with the valuable experience of the diverse social and cultural communities the Trust serves as we are seeking to ensure our psychology staffing has greater diversity and better represents local communities. The successful candidate will be supported to develop their career and flourish as a valued member of the psychology staff group. There are also a number of support systems within the Trust including staff peer networks.

As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The Senior Psychological Therapist role provides a comprehensive, highly specialist, trauma-informed therapeutic service to young adults and prison staff at HMYOI Feltham, including psychological assessment and therapy as well as advice and consultation on young adults' psychological care to other members of the core team on given landings or units.

The post involves contributing to the REFRESHED framework through implementation until it becomes normal practice in the prison, coordinating and support the team in the process of trauma-informed multi-disciplinary collaborative formulation, and providing clinical supervision, reflective practice, training and support to custodial colleagues and to members of the Healthcare team in their day-to-day management of young adults in the prison.

The Senior Psychological Therapist role provides a comprehensive, highly specialist, trauma-informed therapeutic service to young adults and prison staff at HMYOI Feltham, including psychological assessment and therapy as well as advice and consultation on young adults' psychological care to other members of the core team on given landings or units. The post involves contributing to the REFRESHED framework through implementation until it becomes normal practice in the prison, coordinating and support the team in the process of trauma-informed multi-disciplinary collaborative formulation, and providing clinical supervision, reflective practice, training and support to custodial colleagues and to members of the Healthcare team in their day-to-day management of young adults in the prison.

For more information, please see Job Description

Person Specification

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

oDoctoral level training in clinical, counselling or forensic psychology or its equivalent, accredited by the BPS. Training in models of developmental lifespan psychology, psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology and two or more distinct psychological therapies. oHCPC Registered as a Practitioner Psychologist. OR oA recognised post graduate qualification in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy (or equivalent). oAccreditation with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) (via having a recognised qualification in one of the core mental health professions nursing, psychology, medicine, social work, occupational therapy or evidence of having achieved the Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSA) route) OR oA recorded/registered qualification in counselling or psychotherapy and further post accreditation qualification in a nice recommended or evidence-based therapy ( CBT; EMDR) oAccreditation with a Professional Standards Authority recognised Accreditation Body. oEvidence of post-qualification specialist training, experience and developing expertise in a specialist area of clinical practice relevant to this role.

Desirable

oOther relevant CPD qualifications, pre- or post-training. Especially training in working with people with trauma and/or neurodiverse presentations, research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

Essential

oExperience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings oDemonstrate specialist experience gained post-qualification of working as an applied psychologist with evidence of having received a substantial amount of clinical supervision (normally in the region of approximately 50 hours). oExperience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse. oExperience of representing psychology within context of multidisciplinary care oExperience of the application of applied psychology in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework. oExperience of teaching, training and/or supervision. oExperience or demonstrable knowledge of working with the particular client group served by the team/service oKnowledge of guidance and legislation in relation to the client group and mental health oKnowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups ( personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities etc) oExperience of delivering brief, primary care, CBT interventions or equivalent oHigh level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies oFormal Training in Supervision of other psychologists oEvidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC

Desirable

oExperience of working in secure environments and/or forensic mental health oExperience of using a trauma informed approach oLived experience of mental health Issues oHigh level knowledge and skills in neuropsychology and evidence of further practice and/or training since qualification

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, ABILITIES:

Essential

oSkills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration oWell-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS oSkills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups oPossesses range of clinical knowledge, skills & information technology expertise relevant to post oCan demonstrate competence in supervision of junior qualified psychology and MDT staff and professional psychology trainees oAbility to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings oAbility to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour oBroad knowledge of models of assessment, management and treatment of offenders with mental health difficulties and personality disorders. oAbility to work intensively with people who present challenges in the complexity of their problems and needs, including sexual and violent offending and self-harming and suicidal behaviours oHigh level of ability to plan and organise clinical service provision to meet service demands, and to maintain high quality professional practice. oEvidence of continual development of specialist knowledge and skills through engaging in relevant study and Continuing Professional Development relevant to the forensic population oAn Understanding of the social determinates of health inequalities and relevant psychological theory and practice oGood understanding of the current context of service provision within the NHS oExperience of software SPSS, EXCEL

Desirable

oAbility to write reports for varied audiences, including courts and purchasers of services oDoctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology and psychological therapies

OTHER:

Essential

oWillingness to work flexibly to meet demands of contracts, commissioners and other stake-holders to provide high-quality and effective care oCommitment to multidisciplinary team working. oAppreciation of the interface between our personal and professional lives, high level of self awareness and knowledge of principles of self care oAbility to work in a secure environment. Must be able to obtain and maintain prison security clearance and work in accordance with HMPS and Sodexo policies and procedures. oAbility to travel across sites

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