Assistant Psychologist - Early Intervention Services

Job summary
Our Early Intervention Service provides a three year service which offers assessment, treatment and support to people (and their families) who are experiencing a first episode of psychosis. We also provide a year long service for people who are at high risk of developing a first episode of psychosis. We are seeking one full-time Assistant Psychologist to support the work of our Psychologists, psychological therapists, other Assistant Psychologists and our multidisciplinary team in the service they provide.

Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will work closely with the Psychologists in the team to provide structured assessments, file reviews and manualised treatments under supervision to individuals and carers who use our service. They will also support the Psychologists to manage the psychology pathway within the service with the collation and analysis and presentation of data.

The successful applicant will ideally have experience of supporting and facilitating CBT-informed brief interventions under supervision. They will also have a strong academic record with excellent written and verbal communication skills, excellent IT literacy skills and excellent skills in data collection and evaluation. They will also be able to engage positively and sensitively with people with mental health difficulties, their carers and their support networks, and be able to demonstrate an awareness of experiences and challenges that may face someone living with psychosis. The ability to work collaboratively with other professions is a central part of the post in order to provide holistic care within a biopsychosocial model.

The position requires the post holder to hold a driving licence and have use of a car due to need to be able travel across sites throughout Bedfordshire and Luton.

About us
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations

Job responsibilities
Please for further information kindly see the attached Job Description and Person Specification attached to the advert.

ClinicalAll clinical duties will be carried out under the supervision and direction of a qualified ClinicalPsychologist. The Assistant Psychologist has a responsibility to perform all tasks within thespirit and the policies of the East London NHS Foundation Trust. Under such direction andwith these conditions the duties will be:

• To establish and maintain rapport with clients to enable the arrangement of meetings andengagement in the activities of the service.
• To carry out or assist in carrying out specified assessments, including standardisedpsychometric tests and the scoring, analysis and initial preparation of formal reports.
• To deliver standardised individual and group psychological interventions under thesupervision of a qualified member of staff.
• To be responsible for providing verbal and written feedback regarding assessments andpsychological interventions to clients, multidisciplinary team members, families and carers ofpatients, some of which may be sensitive in nature.
• To undertake file/case reviews to support clinical decision making of the psychology andmultidisciplinary staff.
• To attend psychology and multidisciplinary meetings about clients to share and obtaininformation, disseminate report findings and convey opinion and analyses.
• To contribute to risk assessment and management of service users, and to immediatelyreport any instances of harm or suspected harm/risk to a service user or others to qualifiedmembers of the team in line with safeguarding and risk management policies and protocols.

Person Specification
Education/qualification
Essential

• A first or upper second class honours degree in psychology.

Desirable

• Further post-graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.

Experience
Essential

• Experience in delivering individual and group psychological interventions
• Previous work with people with mental health or social care needs.

Desirable

• Experience working in a clinical team

Knowledge and Skills
Essential

• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities
• An understanding of psychology applied to health care
• High level communication skills (written and verbal)
• Skills in engaging positively with a wide range of people with respect for diversity and encouraging inclusion
• IT literate including expertise in using Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) to a professional standard and using statistical packages for evaluation and research

Other
Essential

• Statement confirming that they hold a driving licence and have use of a car due to need to be able travel across sites throughout Bedfordshire and Luton.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).