Assistant Psychologist Cambridge, East of England, England
Job description
We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic, motivated and compassionate Assistant Psychologist to join our team within the Cambridge Adult Locality Team. The post-holder will be responsible for supporting the delivery and evaluation of Brief Psychological Interventions (BPIs) which are offered to service users with complex and severe mental health problems.
There are currently four BPIs: Anxiety Management and Behavioural Activation, which are based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Distress Tolerance which is based on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, and Ground and Stabilisation for those who have PTSD. As our service supports individuals in a community setting, the role will involve some lone working.
We are a large and supportive psychology team, consisting of qualified psychologists, trainee clinical psychologists, trainee clinical associate psychologists, and other assistant psychologists, who regularly meet to discuss referrals, assessments, formulation and case discussions.
Interviews are planned to be held on Tuesday 4th July.
The role includes undertaking direct clinical work with service users with affective disorders, under the supervision of a Clinical Psychologist through delivering BPIs, and there may be further opportunities to deliver components of CBT and to co-deliver group interventions. There are regular formulation meetings to encourage psychological thinking within the multidisciplinary team, which provide a great opportunity to develop case formulation skills.
The role also has a research component which involves working on the large scale service evaluation of BPIs. Where opportunities arise, a duty may be to assist in the design and implementation of audit and service evaluation projects. The successful candidate should be prepared to undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes, and to undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist qualified clinical psychologists.
Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence* and have use of a vehicle.You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.
- DVLA have a number of reciprocal arrangements with overseas countries, for further information please visit the DVLA website
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services not only via inpatient and primary care setting but also with the community. These services include Children, Adult & Older Peoples mental & physical health, Forensic & Specialist mental health, Learning Disabilities, Primary Care & Liaison psychiatry, Substance misuse, Social care, Research & Development.
To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high calibre candidates that share our vision & values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people & members of our ethnic minorities & LGBTQ+ communities.
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.
1. To support the psychology assessment process by conducting file reviews, and there may be opportunities to shadow assessments and to offer support in writing up assessments and completing relevant clinical documents.
2. To support care provision to clients, through the provision of Brief Psychological Interventions (BPIs) and parts of CBT under the supervision of qualified Clinical Psychology colleagues.
3. To monitor and evaluate outcomes of interventions, refining these as necessary under supervision.
4. Under supervision, to assess and manage risk within an appropriate psychological framework.
5. Where opportunities are available, to assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups.
6. To work with other staff to assess and review service user’s care in preparation for multi-disciplinary treatment reviews.
7. To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary and psychology meetings.
8. To ensure that patients are appropriately consulted about relevant aspects of their care and are empowered to express their views in a responsive environment.
9. To communicate skilfully, tactfully and sensitively highly complex and highly sensitive information with patients, families and colleagues.
10. To ensure the confidentiality of the information and comply with the Data Protection Act.
11. To work with the appropriate degree of autonomy and report appropriately to the designated line manager according to Trust occupational guidelines.
12. To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required.
13. To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.
14. To work with clients at the team base, and within their own homes. At times there will be lone working in these environments, where there is an expectation to follow the relevant safety protocols.
15. To work with clients and carers who at times are experiencing high levels of distress and some of whom may become challenging.
Please note that as this is a Band 5 post, previous experience of working for a minimum of one year as an assistant psychologist or equivalent within a multidisciplinary team is an essential requirement for this post. We have previously had a high number of applications from people without this minimum experience. If you apply without this experience, your application will not be considered, and it will deny others with the required experience the opportunity to be considered for interview.
****We are likely to have to close the advert early due to a large number of applications, so it's recommended that you apply as soon as possible. Thank you.****
