Senior Clinical / Counselling Psychologist or Preceptorship

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To work with ward teams to develop and share team psychological formulations to inform the delivery of care.

To undertake highly specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex 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 client’s care.

To formulate and implement plans in conjunction with services within Acute Care for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

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 oversight of psychological assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans. 

To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan. This will include the training and clinical supervision of Acute Care practitioners specialising in psychosocial interventions / basic psychological interventions. This will include advice and intervention with respect to clients with behaviours which challenge.

To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.  All clinical input will be in accordance with the philosophy, policies and standing operating procedure of the Acute Care service.

To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients in accordance with Trust policy and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management. To operate appropriately within other legal frameworks such as the Mental Health and Mental Capacity Acts, including undertaking/advising about capacity assessments where appropriate.

To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.

To contribute towards effective discharge planning, liaising with a range of Trust services as well as statutory and non-statutory providers as required.   

To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior clinical psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.

Carry a small caseload and deliver short, evidence based psychological interventions.

To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other MDT member’s psychological work as appropriate (part of Band 7 preceptorship programme)

To provide training and clinical supervision of Acute Care practitioners specialising in psychosocial interventions / basic psychological interventions (part of Band 7 preceptorship programme) 

To contribute to the service delivery and target objectives/priorities of the Acute Care team plans, in agreement with the relevant team leaders / managers, to ensure the most efficient and effective utilization and contribution of psychological knowledge and practice. 

To provide professional and clinical supervision of assistant clinical psychologists and trainee clinical psychologists as required (part of Band 7 preceptorship programme) 

To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate. 

To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the service’s operational procedures, policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.

To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the Acute Care service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.

To manage the workloads of assistant and trainee clinical psychologists, within the framework of the team/service’s policies and procedures (part of Band 7 preceptorship programme) 

If working at 8a to line manage assistant psychologist as required (part of Band 7 preceptorship programme).

To be involved, as appropriate, in the shortlisting and interviewing of assistant / graduate psychologists.

To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.

To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.

To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the postholder’s professional and service manager(s).

To undertake any other reasonable duty, when requested to do so by an appropriate Trust manager.