Applied/Clinical Psychologist/Psychological Therapist

at  Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Duties and Responsibilities *To communicate constructively with a range of healthcare professionals in a variety of services including nurses, social workers, allied health professionals (AHPs) and medical colleagues as part of a multi-professional team *Link directly with the psychology team, alongside assistant psychologists and trainee clinical psychologists, while reporting to a Clinical Psychologist regarding psychological assessment, formulation and intervention *Work as part of a multi-professional community team or in specialised clinical settings and liaise with relevant external agencies to facilitate and enable psychological interventions *Communicate to others the core concepts of psychological theory, research and practice in order to enhance their delivery of psychological interventions. *To effectively communicate decision making processes which have informed the psychological management of risk; implement and respond appropriately to risk, using appropriate guidance and support, maintaining compliance with service policy and values *Understand impact of multiple perspectives within the context of multidisciplinary teams *Explain the rationales to individuals, groups and other healthcare colleagues, for evidence-based psychological treatment models and protocols *To play an active role in the wider psychology team, attending meetings and CPD as required. *To be able to communicate with patients and their carers/families who may be distressed Management and Personal Development *To be accountable delivering psychological assessments, formulations, interventions and research within their scope of practice *To manage a caseload while undertaking their own clinical programmes of work, within their scope of practice *To be responsible for own learning and development using reflection and feedback to analyse their own capabilities *Undertake regular clinical psychology supervision in accordance with British Psychological Society (BPS) standards for accredited practice; understanding clinical supervision provides opportunities for others to review and modify their practice, maintain high professional standards of competence and to enhance the delivery of individualised care *Use the principles of leadership theory to influence best psychological practice when working in teams *Recognise the importance and impact of organisational culture in service delivery and development *Understand the appropriate boundaries of professional competency in offering support and supervision and work within the scope of practice of the role and within the bounds of professional competence, in line with employer’s requirements around values, conduct and ethics *In all clinical and professional activities, act in accordance with the BPS Professional Code of Conduct, identifying and challenging discriminatory behaviour PLEASE NOTE THIS JOB ROLE REQUIRES THE POSTHOLDER TO BE REGISTERED WITH THE BRITISH PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY *Will work from a range of settings including community, patient’s homes, inpatient, online and telephone settings or in any settings where their needs are supported and care is provided *Will work with individuals and groups with complex and long-term needs *Act as a psychological resource providing support, guidance and supervision using psychological models to the wider health or social care teams *Use psychological measurement tools to evaluate psychological treatments and improve the quality of clinical practice to complement the work of Clinical Psychologists *Deliver treatment interventions developed with a Clinical Psychologist who will review their practice through supervision *Provide a range of psychological treatments working within their scope of practice, whilst the supervising Clinical Psychologist retains overall clinical responsibility for their work, reporting to a Clinical Psychologist in terms of psychological assessment, formulation and intervention *Planning, delivering and evaluating psychological interventions which may include more long-term and complex presentations whilst working with individuals or groups with long-term and complex needs *Acting as a psychological resource to the wider health or social care teams including residential settings whilst seeing patients in their own homes or in the community *Performing assessments as well as planning and evaluating their own psychological interventions *To conduct risk management assessments and evaluations *Understand fundamentals of psychometric principles to guide the use of standardised assessment tools with specific populations *Understand how to analyse and appraise a range of psychological assessment methods used within applied clinical practice to underpin assessment, drawing on formulations in psychological theory, providing a clinical framework describing an individual’s problem and/or needs, whilst providing a rationale for how problems have developed and are maintained *Analyse and appraise a range of psychological assessment methods used within applied clinical practice to underpin diagnosis and/or formulation, considering the preferences of the person with complex and chronic conditions, and that of their caregivers / family when planning a psychological intervention *Maintaining awareness of prevalence, incidence and impact of common mental health myths, misconceptions and stereotypes on patients and the importance of therapeutic alliance in embedding positive behaviour change and maintain awareness that mental health stigma and discrimination are major barriers to effective psychological interventions in the management of psychological problems *Use a range of evidence-based psychological models and protocols when addressing individualised patient need and critically appraise these models and interventions (including CBT, CCC, CAT) to inform treatment planning and appropriate choice of treatment protocols and understand how to interpret treatment choices with individuals, groups and other healthcare colleagues, when managing complex and chronic needs *Understand how psychological interventions may impact upon self-management strategies and action plans already in place and that they should minimise harm, maximise benefits and result in improvement of overall quality of life indices *Setting appropriate intervention goals and agreeing these with patients, their families and their caregivers *Conduct an individualised psychological evaluation utilising behavioural observation and measurement using valid and reliable measurement tools for the purposes of self and other observation of outcome and evaluation of treatment, incorporating evaluation from formal and informal carers *Carry out risk assessments in relation to psychological distress and to ensure that risk formulations are integrated with interventions understanding contingency management and the use of risk indicators in mitigating against crises *Implement appropriate crisis interventions that are safe, effective and compassionate and follow a rights-based approach consistent with service standards, reporting and reflection upon critical incidents and serious adverse events influencing and changing clinical practice *Create, implement and appraise formulations based upon multiple sources of clinical and other data to inform the management of psychological interventions and where no protocols or treatment guidance exists. *Develop collaborative formulations with patients so as to sense-check understandings and influence delivery of evidenced-based individualised psychological interventions.

• Actively engage patients in treatment regimes to address and resolve emotive contexts and circumstances. *Apply psychological interventions that are consistent with self-management strategies and action plans for people with complex and chronic needs. *Accurately measure and evaluate outcomes in a range of care settings, by selecting the appropriate measurement tools from a range of possible options in the context of individual and service level change. *Apply psychological theory and research to address emotive and challenging situations, taking account of conflicting and contradictory information from carers and other healthcare professionals *To know when to seek help if decisions and situations fall outside of the scope of practice.
• Participate in the delivery of audit and service improvement projects leading to the continuous enhancement and quality improvement of clinical practice *Use applied service research and evaluation to inform interventions *Work to BPS Professional Code of Conduct, local and national policies and procedures that define scope of practice *Implement, plan and manage psychological interventions when working with complex and long term needs *Use a range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies relevant to situation and service context *Use a range of research approaches drawing on specialist psychological tools to collect data to evaluate own practice as well as to enhance service delivery *To develop psychological resources and information regarding common mental health difficulties for the needs of individuals, teams and the service as a whole *Implement, produce and maintain clear, legible and contemporaneous patient records regarding direct and indirect patient contacts and wider working within teams adhering to professional and ethical standards *Act on the duty to comply with service and national standards of clinical record-keeping *Use Trust electronic systems as required for the role *Undertake any required e-learning as directed by the Trust *Be proficient in using a variety of software packages Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.

• Actively engage patients in treatment regimes to address and resolve emotive contexts and circumstances. *Apply psychological interventions that are consistent with self-management strategies and action plans for people with complex and chronic needs. *Accurately measure and evaluate outcomes in a range of care settings, by selecting the appropriate measurement tools from a range of possible options in the context of individual and service level change. *Apply psychological theory and research to address emotive and challenging situations, taking account of conflicting and contradictory information from carers and other healthcare professionals *To know when to seek help if decisions and situations fall outside of the scope of practice.
• Participate in the delivery of audit and service improvement projects leading to the continuous enhancement and quality improvement of clinical practice *Use applied service research and evaluation to inform interventions *Work to BPS Professional Code of Conduct, local and national policies and procedures that define scope of practice *Implement, plan and manage psychological interventions when working with complex and long term needs *Use a range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies relevant to situation and service context *Use a range of research approaches drawing on specialist psychological tools to collect data to evaluate own practice as well as to enhance service delivery *To develop psychological resources and information regarding common mental health difficulties for the needs of individuals, teams and the service as a whole *Implement, produce and maintain clear, legible and contemporaneous patient records regarding direct and indirect patient contacts and wider working within teams adhering to professional and ethical standards *Act on the duty to comply with service and national standards of clinical record-keeping *Use Trust electronic systems as required for the role *Undertake any required e-learning as directed by the Trust *Be proficient in using a variety of software packages Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process