Clinical Psychologist

Job Description

PRINCIPAL CLINICAL/COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGISTSalary: £51,510 to £55,000 per annumLocation: ChelmsfordPermanent/Full-timeRole: SOCIAL CARE - FOSTERINGThis role is for a social care service (rated as outstanding) that improves services to children, to develop and embed a culture of trauma-informed, therapeutic practice.You will work creatively with social work colleagues and partner agencies to promote an understanding of attachment and trauma and deliver a range of support and interventions for birth families, foster families, adoptive families, and Special Guardianship families.Specific individual and shared targets and objectives will be defined within the performance management framework, but in essence the post holder will:Provide highly specialist psychological assessmentsProvide therapeutic input through group work, specialist advice and training to professionals and carersWork alongside a team of social workers, child and family support workers and mental health coordinatorsProvide regular clinical supervision to mental health coordinatorsActively contribute to the strategic development of the trauma-informed, therapeutic approach to careDeliver training and consultation to carers and professionalsThe post holder will work with considerable autonomy, within professional guidelines and the overall framework of Children and Families Services’ policies and procedures.Requirements:Educated to doctoral level training in Clinical/Counselling psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996), including specific models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, as accredited by the HCPC and ideally BPS.Registration with the Health and Care Professionals Council as a Practitioner Psychologist.Post–doctoral training and recorded CPD experience and /or further qualifications in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.Substantial assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical or counselling psychologist at a highly specialist level.Two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, including knowledge and experience in working with attachment and trauma.Interest in adoption/fostering/trauma/attachment/social care cases and evidence of psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, with particular emphasis on fostering, adoption or Special Guardianship Orders would be desirable.Experience of delivering teaching, training and/or supervision.Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside of the Local Authority and NHS.Knowledge of the theory and practice of main mental health disorders and presentations and, ideally, of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups. e.g. disorders of attachment and developmental trauma, personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities, ADHD, Autism Spectrum, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, etc)The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area, and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.