Are you an innovative and creative practitioner psychologist who thrives in a fast-paced environment focussed on development and change? We want you to work with us!

You will provide specialist psychological assessments and formulations, brief interventions, and contribute to the implementation of the Comprehend, Cope and Connect (CCC) approach as we embed this within the service. CCC is a psychology-led intervention which enables multi-professional colleagues to offer support to patients in crisis, with a focus on collaborative care planning. Multi-disciplinary team formulations are a key part of the post, and we take a primary role in developing the psychologically-informed culture of the wards.

We work transdiagnostically with a range of presentations, including psychosis, trauma, and relational difficulties. The post-holder will be part of a cohesive team with a strong focus on quality improvement and service development, and we hope to find someone who shares this drive and enthusiasm. The role can be challenging, but rewarding, and our team holds values around transparency, empathy and humour to create a supportive dynamic within the service.

We are part of the wider Southampton Psychological Service, comprising practitioner psychologists and psychological therapists with expertise in a range of approaches and an emphasis on evidence-based practice.

To arrange an informal discussion please email Dr Rose Hooper (Principal Psychologist) -- rose.hooper@southernhealth.nhs.uk

Main duties of the job

*To provide high quality specialist psychological assessment, formulation, brief individual and group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Comprehend Cope and Connect, CCC) as part of an integrated model on the acute inpatient wards, working within professional guidelines and the organisational structure of the Service's policies and procedures.

*The characteristics of the core population include people diagnosed with enduring mental health needs and complex emotional needs who may find it difficult to:

make or maintain relationships

connect with other people, including friends, family or work colleagues

manage and control their emotions

cope with life and difficult feelings

control their behaviours and impulses

*The post holder will place an emphasis on co-production and demonstrate an attitude which respects and values individuals' and their carers and the core values of the Trust: patients and people first; partnership; and respect.

*Work will also involve working with other people involved in the individuals' care (e.g. family or named carers). A recovery focused approach is essential

About us

Are you committed to providing remarkable care and service?

Are you passionate about helping people and want to make a difference every day?

We want to meet you!

Southern Health is one of the largest Foundation Trusts in the UK, specialising in mental health, adult and child community health and learning disabilities. We are committed to promoting the welfare and safeguarding of children, young people and adults at risk of abuse and neglect through our 6,500 strong workforce.

Southern Health has over 300 sites across the county and we serve 1.5 million people throughout all stages of their lives. Our aim is to work alongside the people we support (and our health and care partners) to deliver the best possible care and constantly improve.

Here at SHFT we have so much to be proud of:

• Working as a team and supporting each other, we put patients and our staff at the heart of everything we do.
• We have a skilled and diverse workforce and are committed to our staff development, offering bespoke training packages, leadership pathways and career opportunities.
• We offer a variety of benefits such as an amazing pension scheme, generous annual leave, Childcare Choices scheme, many discounts (Blue Light card, The Company Shop, NHS Staff Discounts, cycle to work scheme) and much more.

Come to work with us, together we will provide outstanding treatment and care to improve lives.

Job description Job responsibilities

To offer provide a psychological perspective to other members of the multi-professional team. Emphasis here is on having an understanding/appreciation of the complex nature of the mental health care system and to develop insight and understanding to all others involved in people's care.

To contribute to developing and delivering the Comprehend, Cope & Connect (CCC) Programme, (a psychology led intervention supporting a whole team approach, enabling multi-professional colleagues to provide psychologically informed interventions to people who are in crisis or in the acute phase of their mental illness and support recovery). These interventions form part of our coproduction and collaborative care planning approach.

To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development, and research in line with service need; to contribute to a research culture in the clinical team

The post holder will work with people with different cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary and should be committed to equal opportunities.

You will be required to liaise with the multi-professional team

To provide 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 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 be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

When appropriate identify repeating patterns of crisis and advise ways of breaking the cycle, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the individual's presenting and underlying 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 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.

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.

To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.

To act as lead clinician, where appropriate, taking responsibility for initiating planning and review of care plans including clients, their carers, referring agents and others involved the network of care.

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-professional care.

To deal appropriately with the intense emotional atmosphere surrounding therapy contacts on a daily basis and to work with frequent intense concentration for the clinical sessions of assessment and therapy.

To work as an autonomous, independent practitioner responsible for own work and interventions, their prioritising and planning and for the interpretation of agreed guidelines and policies

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical, forensic or DCouns Psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.
• HCPC Registration

Desirable

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
• Training and qualifications in DBT/CBT / CAT and/or other fields of applied psychology.

Experience Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings.
• 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.

Desirable

• Experience of working with clients with severe and enduring mental ill- health.
• Experience of the application of specialist psychological therapies for complex presentations.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

348-SOU-I-1079A