Clinical Forensic Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Therapist
This is a developmental post with an introductory Band 7 Psychologist role to progress into a Band 8a Clinical Forensic Counselling Psychologist on completion of competencies. The current post is based within the Integrated Mental Health Teams in Kent Prisons.
Core responsibilities will include supervising qualified psychologists, trainees and assistant psychologists, applying the NICE stepped care model and leading on consultation activity with both operational and clinical staff. There would also be an expectation the post holder would carry a case load and carry out psychological assessment and therapy with complex individuals and groups of prisoners.
The role will be based at HMP Elmley.
Main duties of the job
Oxleas Forensic Psychological Therapies department is an unusually large, long established and nationally well regarded specialty. Psychological therapists are highly valued within the wider directorate and trust and occupy a variety of service-wide leadership roles, including as Responsible Clinicians. Staff in the Forensic Directorate report the highest levels of job satisfaction in a Trust recognised for positive employee feedback. The Psychological Therapies team is warm and friendly, whilst also being dynamic and innovative.
Within the psychological therapies department, there is a focus on attachment, trauma and systemic approaches with expert supervision available for several evidence-based therapy modalities such as Mentalisation Based Therapy (MBT) and Eye Movement Desensitisation Therapy (EMDR).
This post is primarily based within Maidstone, Rochester and Standford Hill.
The post holder will supervise pre-qualified psychological therapists.
About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes. We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We're Kind
- We Listen
- We Care
Job responsibilities
- Clinical and Client Care
- Responsibilities for team and service clinical functioning
- Policy and service development
- Management and supervision
- Teaching and Training
- Record-keeping and Information Governance
- Research and development
- Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development
- To travel to clinical venues, training activities and meetings as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
- To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow Trust policies relating to its management.
- To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations of people in distress or in crisis and who may be abusive and to support others involved in such situations.
- To work flexibly which may include offering some regular commitment to late clinics or weekend working, within the overall Job Plan.
- To be proficient in the use of IT for purposes such as email, electronic calendar, intranet, video calls and electronic clinical records.
- To be familiar with word processing, database and statistical packages, and to use such packages appropriately as necessary.
- To maintain high standards of clinical record keeping, including electronic clinical records and report writing, in accordance with professional codes of practice and Trust policies and procedures.
- To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues pertaining to the client group.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ:
All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.
Person Specification
Qualifications
- Entry-level qualification in applied psychological therapy/mental health/social welfare profession or equivalent and demonstrable practice in this field (ie professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level/supervised practice/additional training) that has been accepted for the purposes of professional registration.
- Additional training beyond entry-level qualification in a specialised area of psychological practice (through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses and an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical psychological therapy practice, assessed by a registered body and/or an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma or higher.
- Registered with professional body or regulatory body as appropriate to psychological therapy discipline ie HCPC/UKCP/BACP/BABCP.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the professional body.
Experience
- Completion of a minimum of two years full-time (or equivalent part-time) post-doctoral / post qualification supervised experience.
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with the full range of clinical severity under supervision.
- Post-qualification experience of working with and addressing issues of diversity, including experience of working within a multicultural framework.
- Experience of maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
Skills/Abilities/Knowledge
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Ability to administer, score and interpret psychometric and neuropsychological tests with appropriate training and supervision.
- Well-developed 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.
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.
Recruitment and Retention Resourcing Officer
£48,148 to £62,504 a year pro rata, includes RRP
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