Clinical Psychologist

Job Description

Chesterfield, DerbyshireCirca £47,126 per annum, depending on experienceFull Time / 12m FTCGiving children and youngpeople the foundations they need to thrive.About the RoleAre you a Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience gained in a children and young persons setting Maybe you have worked with children and young people in care, care leavers or who have been abused Perhaps youve worked with adopted children orthose subject to Special Guardianship Orders or children with harmful sexualised behaviourReporting to the Lead Psychologist, youll be involved with the development and implementation of a new and innovative therapeutic service for Children in Care, provided by one of the UKs top childrens charities. Action for Children have been commissionedby Derbyshire and Derby City Councils and Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group to deliver a specialist trauma and attachment service for Children in Care and Care Leavers.The service aims to improve placement stability for children in care andto reduce the number of children whose emotional needs are met outside of the area, by delivering therapeutic interventions locally, close to where they live.Support will focus on children with the most complex needs and with significant adverse childhood experiences, including those with sexually harmful behaviours. The service will use trauma informed practice and attachment theory and provide a range of therapiesinformed by evidence-based models including Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP), Theraplay, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and systemic therapy.Provision will include a new intensive wraparound programme for foster carers andyoung people. This will train and support carers to develop the skills and knowledge to provide therapeutic care for children with complex needs some of whom will be returning from specialist placements or stepping down from residential care.The service will also provide individual, group, and family based therapeutic interventions and host regular consultation and reflective practice sessions for residential, fostering and social care teams.Training will also be provided for foster carers,social workers, and other professionals.The service will operate from 9am to 7pm as children and carers require and directly support children placed within 25 miles of the Derby/Derbyshire border.As this is a new service, training will be provided in key therapeutic interventions including, DDP, Theraplay and trauma informed practice and attachment theory.You will make a difference by:

• Providing highly specialist psychological assessments
• Delivering trauma and attachment interventions to children, young people, carers and those in the professional network
• Developing, piloting and co-facilitating training and group work and delivering reflective practice sessions to professional teams
• Providing supervision to clinical staff and trainee psychologists within the team
• Contributing to audit and evaluation

You will need:

• Doctorate or equivalent in Clinical Psychology
• Registered as a qualified practitioner Clinical Psychologist by the HCPC
• Experience of delivering highly specialist risk and psychological assessments
• Experience of working therapeutically with children, young people and families including delivering interventions targeted at addressing complex trauma and attachment insecurity
• Experience of supervising clinical staff, trainee and assistant psychologists
• Excellent communication skills, both written and spoken
• Experience of delivering workshops/training/group-work/reflective practice
• Flexibility around contributing to a foster carer helpline
• Car user preferable as the role will involve travelling

The way we workWe work to make sure every child and young person has the support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team.RewardsWe want our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, well recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, a comprehensive employer-matched pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts on our dedicatedFor safe and happy childhoodsAt Action for Children, we protect and support children and young people, providing practical and emotional care and support, ensuring their voices are heard, and campaigning to bring lasting improvements to their lives. Last year, we helped more than 387,000children and families across the UK.We are committed to safer recruitment practices to protect our service users; therefore, all applicants are expected to have an understanding of and commitment to safeguarding best-practice.Action for Children is passionate about promoting equality, valuing diversity and working inclusively. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons particularlypeoplewithDisabilities and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic applicants, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.