An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to work within the Milton Keynes Early Intervention in Psychosis Team (EIPT).

This post offers the post holder an excellent opportunity to develop specialist knowledge, skills and experience for Psychosis across the continuum. Your role in the EIPT is to provide evidence-based psychological interventions for individuals experiencing First Episode Psychosis (FEP).

You will have access to relevant training in specialist psychological assessment and treatment.There will be opportunities to develop the psychological knowledge of the MDT and facilitate reflective practice groups.

You will deliver psychological interventions informed by case formulation to individuals with first episode psychosis and comorbid problems. You will provide services that meet the agreed service priorities and national standards. This may include group work, service evaluation, consultation, and supervision of team members in psycho-social interventions.

Main duties of the job

• This post holder will be a BABCP accreditable CBT therapist, an accreditable EMDR therapist, or an AFT Foundation Level trained systemic therapist who will provide direct clinical work to service users with first episode psychosis.
• To deliver individual or family interventions and support team members in delivering psychosocial interventions.
• To work with colleagues within the pathways to ensure high-quality provision of assessment, and individual or family interventions.
• To offer advice and consultation on service users' psychological care to colleagues.
• To work as part of the team developing a psychological ethos within the team.
• To work autonomously within professional and service guidelines and the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures.
• To exercise responsibility for the governance of psychological practice within the service/team.
• To keep patient records appropriately and submit activity and audit data as required.

About us

As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings

The service is committed to ensure the professional development of its staff, which is evident from the ongoing specialist and general CPD sessions run by the team. There will also be opportunities to conduct research and access external trainings, conferences and workshops.

There is an established network of psychologists and psychological therapists within the Trust, which provides fantastic opportunities for networking and wider professional support. This includes attending a bi-monthly CPD Forum with psychological therapists and psychologists from a range of specialities.

We are committed to the delivery of outstanding care for our patients. The successful candidate will share this commitment and demonstrate both our Trust values and our culture of compassionate care.

For further details / informal visits contact:

Caroline Davies, Service Manager (01908 725885) or Dr Ravi Sankar, Senior Clinical Psychologist (07511047985).

Job description Job responsibilities

Clinical Work

• To provide psychological/psychotherapy assessments of service users upon appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources.
• To formulate, implement and evaluate therapy programmes across a range of complex problems with which service users present. Specific to NICE Guidance for individuals and groups, adjusting and refining the formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypothesis.
• To support a trauma informed care approach to service users with first episode psychosis.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for service-users in attendance within the service, including the protective and risk factors present in the network of significant relationships.
• To use highly developed communication skills in working with people to understand their personal and often very sensitive difficulties and develop carefully tailored interventions.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment and treatment of service users in line with the service.
• To adhere to an agreed activity contract relating to the number of contacts offered, and clinical sessions carried out per week in order to minimise waiting times and ensure treatment delivery remains accessible and convenient.
• To attend team meetings, review meetings, case conferences, CPAs and network meetings as appropriate and to oversee similar activity within the team.
• To complete all requirements relating to data collection within the service.
• To keep coherent contemporaneous records of all clinical activity in line with service protocols including current electronic systems and to ensure appropriate written communication is maintained with GPs, and other referrers.
• Work closely with other members of the team ensuring appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place to maintain a stepped care approach across a range of services and as clinically indicated. This may involve supervising staff in psychosocial interventions.
• Assess and integrate issues surrounding work and employment into the overall therapy process.
• Liaise with other health and social care staff from a range of agencies in the care provided clients.
• Provide specialist advice and consultation to other professionals / individuals / groups / committees across the service and other voluntary agencies regarding service matters related to the practice and delivery of specific agreed therapeutic modalities and service provision

Teaching, Training and Supervision

• To receive regular supervision from a senior clinical psychologist and where appropriate other senior professional colleagues.
• To actively participate in personal development and performance reviews.
• To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision.
• To collaborate with the senior clinical psychologist in delivering training to colleagues within mental health services and the wider Milton Keynes community as required

Continuing Professional Development

• To maintain professional registration.
• To participate in clinical supervision in accordance with Trust policies and the requirements of HCPC.
• To be accountable for own professional action and to seek advice and supervision from line manager/supervisor where needed.
• To maintain an up to date knowledge of legislation, policies and issues relating to mental health services in general.
• In consultation with the operational and clinical supervisor, to identify own training needs and seek to find ways to meet these.
• To actively participate in CPD activities including attending appropriate seminars, conferences, workshops, courses as well as reading.
• To maintain records of all CPD and mandatory training undertaken.
• To share learning outcomes with colleagues in order to enhance CPD generally within the team.

Research

• To support staff who may undertake relevant EIPT research projects as required.

Communication & Working relationships

• To liaise and carry out joint working with colleagues, carers, and partnership agencies as appropriate.
• To establish effective communication networks with relevant community-based agencies.
• To communicate verbally and in writing, highly complex and sensitive information in a manner appropriate to a range of settings and audiences, including complex, highly emotive situations and those with impaired communication capabilities.

• To maintain and promote a high standard of recording of assessment and treatment interventions.
• To maintain effective communication links with Care Quality Forums as appropriate.
• To be able to contain and work with organisation stress and hold the stress of others.
• To be effective in communicating psychological principles to managers, staff groups and service users in a manner that facilitates growth development and consensus in situations where views can be divergent.

Management, Policy & Service Development

In conjunction with the service manager

• To participate in and contribute to the work of the team including attendance at team meetings, regular CPD forums and team development sessions.
• To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• Post-graduate training that allows one to be registered as a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Desirable

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology

Experience Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment.
• Experience of working with services users with severe mental health problems.

Desirable

• Experience of working with a person with first episode psychosis
• Experience of systemic approaches and Behavioural Family Therapy Interventions/

Knowledge Essential

• Knowledge of current developments and policies relevant to EIP services

Desirable

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessment and intervention for people with psychosis

Other requirements Essential

• Car driver with ability and willingness to travel to locations throughout Milton Keynes and CNWL NHS Foundation Trust organisation.

Key Skills/Abilities Essential

• Computer literate
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• A well-developed understanding of issues surrounding clinical risk
• Able to develop good therapeutic relationships with clients

Desirable

• Completed clinical audits within a service
• Ability to train others in psychosocial interventions
• Ability to supervise others in CBTp, EMDR, or Family Intervention

Training Essential

• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development and willingness to continue this

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

333-D-MK-MH-0824-A