An exciting opportunity has arisen to join psychological practitioners in Lewisham CMHTs to support us in delivering excellent care to our local population. A key aspect of this role will be delivering a range of low-intensity psychological interventions for people experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties, including both individual and group interventions. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team in order to provide accessible and acceptable interventions is essential.We are particularly focused on increasing access to psychological interventions for ethnically marginalised groups and this role will contribute to this aim. Creativity, great clinical skills and a passion for working as part of a team are valuable assets for this role.Lewisham is a diverse borough, and the post-holder will work to engage with the local community and take their needs into consideration to provide an accessible service.You will also actively involved in other crucial aspects of psychology provision, such as supporting team formulation meetings, management of referral databases and the screening and assessment of clients referred for psychological interventions.

Main duties of the job

Main duties of the post include:

• Supporting the implementation of a stepped care approach to psychological interventions across the Lewisham Community Mental Health Teams.
• Working closely with multidisciplinary colleagues to promote psychological interventions to service users.
• Taking part in the screening and assessment of clients referred for psychological interventions.
• Delivering a range of low-intensity psychological interventions to service users in a variety of formats, including individual and group interventions.
• Co-developing group interventions and being actively involved in their delivery and evaluation.
• Supporting qualified psychological practitioners with the operational aspects of the psychology service.
• Supporting with the management of psychology referral databases.
• Supporting qualified psychological practitioners with team formulation meetings (e.g. conducting notes reviews and gathering significant information prior to team discussions).
• Contributing to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
• Ensuring that interventions on offer are culturally accessible and acceptable to the population we serve.

About us

The post will be based at Speedwell Mental Health Centre (SE8 4AT). The team is multidisciplinary and made up of a range of different professions, including social workers, community psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, psychiatrists and psychological therapists. The CMHTs support individuals living in Lewisham with mental health difficulties who require a holistic care package to support their recovery. The post holder will be supervised by a senior psychological therapist, as well as being able to access support from both the wider psychology team and the Trust to facilitate the transition to becoming a therapist. We are passionate about developing a workforce which is committed to strengthening clinical skills alongside cultural, contextual and community knowledge in order to best meet the needs of our local population. We particularly invite applications from individuals from marginalised communities.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The successful candidate will be able to use a range of skills to integrate psychological and psychosocial interventions into a holistic care package for clients. We welcome practitioners who can reflect on their own experiences as well as the experiences of people using our services to promote, plan and deliver useful and accessible interventions. There will be the opportunity to develop novel and innovative ways of working to ensure we are offering an accessible and acceptable service. Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details of the role,We look forward to receiving your application. Note: This advert may close early if a high number of applications are received.

Person Specification

Skills

Essential

• Skills in relevant psychological assessment and interventions that enable working independently as a pre-qualified practitioner with clinical supervision. (A/I)
• Well-developed verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex, sensitive or contentious information to clients, families and colleagues. (A)
• Consultation skills to work with the multi-professional team or other professional groups within own service. (A)
• Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data, and database maintenance. (A)

Desirable

• Excellent skills in compiling and presenting data to others (A/I)
• Strong skills in using Excel and PowerPoint. (A/1)

Knowledge

Essential

• Graduate level knowledge of psychological research methodology and statistical analysis. (A)
• Good theoretical knowledge of the problems experienced by and needs of people presenting with moderate to severe mental health difficulties, and of methods of assessment and treatment. (A/I)
• Awareness of racial and diversity issues in relation to service users and staff within the Community Mental Health teams. (A/I)
• Knowledge of a variety of complex mental health presentations seen in Community Mental Health teams. (A/I)
• Ability to communicate sensitively to service users and their families. (A/I)

Experience

Essential

• Sufficient post-graduate experience of psychological assessment and interventions with clients presenting with a range of psychological needs. (A/I)
• Experience of working independently in a mental health clinical setting. (A/I)
• Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience. (A/I)

Desirable

• Experience of working as part of a multidisciplinary team. (A/I)
• Familiarity with a range of outcome measures. (A/I)
• Experience of working with people presenting with moderate to severe mental health difficulties. (A/I)

Qualifications

Essential

• A First-class or Upper Second-Class Bachelors degree with Honours in Psychology that is accredited by the British Psychological Society and confers the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society. (A)

Desirable

• Relevant postgraduate degree (e.g. MSc). (A)

Abilities

Essential

• Ability to identify and follow relevant clinical governance procedures. (A)
• Ability to maintain concentration and to remain in restricted positions for long periods during observations, assessments and psychological interventions. (A)
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour. (A/I)
• Ability to communicate complex, sensitive or contentious information to people who may be aroused, or hostile to the information, or have severe impediments to understanding. (A/I)
• Ability to manage physical aggression directed at self, including use of physical interventions as prescribed by Trust policies. (A)

Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Lewisham Community Mental Health Team

Speedwell CMHT

London

SE8 4AT

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

334-CLI-6668983