Job overview
Due to a structure review we are extremely pleased to be able to recruit to the following 1.0 wte progression post which starts at band 7 and moves to band 8a on completion of the CAMHS Band 7 – Band 8a Training and Progression Pathway. The successful candidate will join our friendly Learning Disabilities Team within Hounslow Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service.
We are looking for enthusiastic, skilled and innovative clinicians with a broad range of specialist and generic experience, who will be able to maintain clinical curiosity and engage in reflective practice as well as be able to be an advocate for children, young people and families’ needs.
You will based in the Learning Disabilities Team (LDT) in Hounslow CAMHS. Hounslow LDT sits alongside Tier 3 neurodevelopmental, specialist adolescent and child\family teams, and works in close collaboration with the Community CAMHS services. The LDT is multi-disciplinary and includes enthusiastic professionals from psychiatry and nursing in addition to psychology. You will become part of a team of clinicians with a special interest and expertise in working with young people with a learning disability.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will use specialist and highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and intervention skills with young people and their families/carers presenting with mental health difficulties. You will also be responsible for line management and supervision of any trainee or assistant psychologists within the team and support further service development when appropriate.
This role would suit a clinical psychologist with some experience of working with children with learning disabilities. You may also be a newly qualified psychologist looking to start you work within this area. You will also be passionate about delivering a high quality psychology service to young people with learning disabilities. You will receive regular clinical supervision.
Working for our organisation
Psychology is a very well established profession in CAMHS services and has a large group of staff who deliver innovative and highly regarded clinical services in many different contexts. Each borough holds regular psychology meetings and there are excellent CPD opportunities with regular whole-service trainings in therapeutic approaches. There are also many opportunities to develop further in role; for example through being part of quality improvement projects, or taking a lead in a particular area of interest.
Hounslow LDT sits alongside neurodevelopmental, specialist adolescent and child\family teams, and works in close collaboration with the Community CAMHS services. The LDT are multi-disciplinary, including psychiatry, nursing, and psychology. The post holder will be part of a growing team of clinicians with a special interest and expertise in working with young people with a learning disability.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see our Candidate information pack for a comprehensive job description and person specification for this role.
We welcome enquiries about the post to:
Dr Kerry Howcroft, Principal Clinical Psychologist
Chrysa Mafreda, Senior Nurse Specialist
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. 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.
2. Professional registration with the HCPC
Desirable criteria
3. Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
4. Post-doctoral/graduate training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice with children and young people.
5. Clinical training as part of a CYP IAPT collaborative in a recognised evidenced based approach i.e. CBT, Parenting Skills or other.
Experience
Essential criteria
6. Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of children, adolescents and their families across a range of care settings, (e.g. outpatient, community, primary care, in patient settings).
7. Experience 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.
8. Experience of working with children and adolescents and their carer networks
Desirable criteria
9. Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
10. Experience of working with other agencies.
11. Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
12. Experience of assessment and intervention with children learning disabilities.
Knowledge & Skills
Essential criteria
13. Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
14. 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.
15. Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
16. Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practised within the clinical fields of psychology
Desirable criteria
17. Knowledge and skills in specialist neuropsychological assessment and treatment with children and young people with learning difficulties
18. High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
19. Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. children with challenging behaviour, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
20. Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
21. Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
22. Ability 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.
23. Commitment to provide support to children, their families/carers and linked professionals and maintain high levels of aspiration for the population referred to the service.
24. To approach clients with empathy and adaptability and to be open to development of new approaches to work with clients.
25. Willingness to work flexibly when necessary.
26. Commitment to working flexibly and collaboratively with team colleagues and to support innovative ways of working.
Desirable criteria
27. Experience of working within a multicultural framework.