Principal Clinical Psychologist

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity to join an evolving and innovative team in a leading child and adolescent eating disorder service. The service is in the process of establishing psychology and psychotherapy roles that will facilitate both the direct work with young people and their families on the ward, and support the integrated CAMHS eating disorder care pathway.

The principal clinical psychologist will act as the lead for psychology and psychotherapies on Wisteria Ward and will work closely with the CAMHS eating disorder professional lead to develop the delivery of evidence based psychological therapies in an in-patient setting. Wisteria Ward has recently benefited from CYP-IAPT Tier 4 whole team training and successful candidate will be a learning champion for ongoing CYP-IAPT training and responsible for disseminating and embedding the principles of CYP-IAPT in the ward.

This is an exciting time to join the team as Wisteria Ward prepares to move into a refurbished building and increase current bed capacity.

Career Progression pathways and development opportunities:

We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. For this role, we offer ongoing training and development in the principles of CYP-IAPT and opportunities to develop specialist knowledge and skills in working within the field of children and young people's eating disorders.

Main duties of the job

Lead for psychology and psychotherapies (P&P) responsible for professional governance of P&P staff on Wisteria Ward. Development of the delivery of evidence based psychological therapies adapted to an in-patient setting. Act as learning champion for CYP-IAPT training. Participates in assessment and care planning for young people admitted to the ward. Further development of a psychology group programme. Lead on planning and implementation of behavioural management plans. Lead on ROMs and audit. Offer individual therapy to a small caseload of young people, using a range of cognitive and psychodynamic therapies. Supervision of other qualified clinical psychologists and trainees. Attend all multi disciplinary meetings and care planning reviews and contributes to thinking about young people and their families from a psychological perspective.

Agile and flexible working:

As one of the few Trusts in London we are proud to offer flexible working as part of our new ways of working, and we are happy to talk flexible working at the interview stage.

About us

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' - we aspire to be 'outstanding'.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety ofbenefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

About our locations:

Springfield University Hospital, Tooting

Our largest, 19-ward site is in Springfield Village, created following our £150m investment into two new world class mental health facilities. A 32-acre public park, shops and cafes are coming soon. Close to shops, cafes and Tooting Bec on the Northern Line plus Earlsfield and Tooting rail stations and bus routes.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical

To provide highly specialist psychological assessments of young people and their families referred to the Service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with young people, family members and others involved in the clients care. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a child or young persons mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods of proven efficacy, across the full range of care settings. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individual children and young people, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of children and young people whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans. To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to child or young persons formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan. To ensure that all members of the treating team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of client children and young people of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual children and young people and to provide general advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management. To coordinate care, ensuring the provision of a care package appropriate for the child or young persons needs, coordinating the work of others involved with care, tasking responsibility for arranging reviews as required and communicating effectively with the child or young person, his/her family and all others involved in the network of care, and to monitor progress during the course of multi-disciplinary interventions. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of children and young people under their care and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care. To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team. Teaching, Training and Supervision To provide clinical placements for trainee clinical psychologists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies. To receive regular clinical professional supervision from an appropriate senior clinical professional and appropriate management supervision from other senior colleagues. To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision to other qualified clinical and/or counselling psychologists attached to the team. To provide post-qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision to other qualified psychologists/psychotherapists/ systemic family therapists attached to the team. To provide advice, consultation and training and clinical supervision to other members of the team for their provision of psychologically based interventions to children and young people referred to the service. To provide pre- and post-qualification teaching of psychologists/psychotherapists / systemic family therapists as appropriate. To continue to gain wider in-depth knowledge of mental health and eating disorders. To maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre- and post-graduate training and clinical supervision. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate. To undertake personal development to complete mandatory training. Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development To participate as a senior clinician in the development of a high quality, responsive and accessible service including advising both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing. To exercise delegated responsibility for managing the psychological resources available to teams, whether in the form of additional qualified and unqualified psychology / psychotherapy staff, or in the form of psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of children, young people and their families. In conjunction with the CAMHS Eating Disorders Psychology and Psychotherapies Lead, to exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within a service area. In conjunction with the CAMHS Eating Disorders Psychology and Psychotherapies Lead, to oversee and manage the workloads of Psychology & Psychotherapies staff within the service area and within the framework of the service policy and procedures. To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team's operational policies and services, through the development of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit. To participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short-listing process and as a member of interview panels for assistant, trainees and qualified psychologists / psychotherapists. Research and Service Evaluation To take the psychology lead, as a senior clinician, in the evaluation, monitoring and development of the teams operational policies, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit and ensuring incorporation of psychological frameworks for understanding and provision of high quality care. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members. To undertake supervision of appropriate research by trainees and provide advice to other staff undertaking research with specific reference to eating disorders. To initiate project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service to help develop and improve service provision. Person Specification

TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

oPost-graduate doctoral level training in clinical psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology. oRegistered with the Health Professionals Council as a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist oEvidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the HPC oFormal training in supervision of trainee applied psychologists and related personnel

Desirable

oPost-doctoral/graduate training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice with children and young people. oClinical training as part of a CYP IAPT collaborative in a recognised evidenced based approach CBT, Parenting Skills or other. oTraining in FT-AN, FT-BN, MFT for AN.

EXPERIENCE

Essential

oDemonstrable experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist including experience of working at a highly specialist level with children and young people with a wide range of mental and behavioural disorders. oExperience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings 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 exercising full clinical responsibility for the' psychological care and treatment of children and young people with serious mental illness, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan. oExperience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision. oExperience of service development.

Desirable

oExperience of working with children and young people with eating disorders. oExperience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care. oExperience of assessing and treating children and young people with mental health needs across the full range of care settings, including in-patient services. oExperience of the application of psychology to children and young people with mental health needs in different cultural contexts.

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