Job summary
We are seeking an enthusiastic psychologist passionate about improving the quality of care and support delivered to autistic people.
This is an exciting opportunity for a suitably qualified, experienced professional looking to lead in the development of new service.
The Adult Autism Intensive Support Team is a 12 month pilot providing specialist assessment, formulation, therapeutic interventions (directly to individuals or through consultation) to a small number of autistic people with complex needs. The multi-disciplinary service will support autistic adults, without a co-occurring intellectual disability, under the care of an existing SWLSTG services. The outcomes of the pilot will influence future service provision in South West London.
You will be highly motivated and dynamic individual with an ability to integrate psychological skills and leadership capabilities to lead the development and delivery of this new service.
You will be thoughtful in the way you work with the multi-disciplinary team and have experience in developing the skills of colleagues. You will be interested in working with external partners to develop supportive networks and have energy, drive and enthusiasm for working with complexity.
You will be expected to provide psychological assessments and interventions to autistic people, across a variety of community settings, with individuals, groups, families and staff teams.
Main duties of the job
You will have excellent written and spoken communication skills, an ability to work sensitively and thoughtfully with service users and their carers often around challenging and complex presentations. You will be flexible in your approaches to problem solving, be creative and be ready to embrace challenges and enjoy working as part of a team.
- The post-holder will actively lead, manage and support the Psychology aspects of the Intensive Support Team (IST) and have a key role / function in the provision of the IST.
- The post holder will lead in the development and implementation of the service in its pilot phase. Collaboratively developing care pathways and establish ways of working for the entire service.
- The post holder will be expected to work effectively with others in the MDT, supporting the provision and development of a range of interventions, both directly with individuals and their families, and via consultation with their networks.
- The post holder will deliver highly specialist psychology assessments (e.g. cognitive / neuropsychological, personality, eating attitudes) and psychological formulation(s).
- To supervise and support the psychological assessment and therapy provided by other psychologists and other clinical members of the team who provide psychologically based care and treatment by agreement with the Psychology and Psychotherapies (P&P) lead for the service area.
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.
Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
2. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients 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.
3. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, 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.
4. 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.
5. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment, and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
6. To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis, and treatment plan.
7. To ensure that all members of the treating team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
8. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide general advice to other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
9. To act as care coordinator, ensuring the provision of a care package appropriate for the clients needs, coordinating the work of others involved with care, tasking responsibility for arranging CPA reviews as required and communicating effectively with the client, his/her family and all others involved in the network of care, and to monitor progress during multi-disciplinary interventions.
10. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation, and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor and evaluate progress during both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
11. To provide expertise, advice, and support to all members of the treatment team to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care and to support other team Applied Psychologists in the service area, in their contribution (direct and indirect) to providing a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to all clients of the service in which they work.
Person Specification
TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
Essential
- Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS
- To be registered with the Health Care Professions Council under the appropriate domain specific title
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC
- Formal training in supervision of trainee applied psychologists
Desirable
- Post-doctoral training in CBT or other NICE recommended psychological therapies relevant to the service user group within the service area
- Training in the DISCO or ADOS for Autism
EXPERIENCE
Essential
- Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical/counselling psychologist for a significant period with experience of working at a highly specialist level with clients within the service area (neurodevelopmental services)
- Experience 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.
- Experience of delivering evidence-based psychological therapies to service users in secondary care settings
- Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
- Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision
Desirable
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care
- Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts
KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
Essential
- Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical/counselling psychologist for a significant period with experience of working at a highly specialist level with clients within the service area (neurodevelopmental services)
- Experience 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.
- Experience of delivering evidence-based psychological therapies to service users in secondary care settings
- Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
- Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision
Desirable
- Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care
- Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website .
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants .
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website .
Employer details
Employer name
South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust
Address
Vestry Hall
336 London Rd
Mitcham
CR4 3UD