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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To carry out specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the service, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological 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, in order to reach a psychological formulation of the client’s difficulties.
• 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.
• To provide specialist assessments of clients presenting with cognitive impairment due to a variety of causes or organic conditions, including pre-assessment counselling and neuropsychological and functional assessments, and to be able to adjust psychological interventions to work effectively with people presenting with complex needs due to cognitive impairment and organic disorders.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
• To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulations, diagnoses and treatment plans.
• 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, formulation and management for individual clients with complex presentations and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment, formulation and management.
• 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-disciplinary care.
• To promote and participate in multi-disciplinary team working, development and liaison.
• To promote actively, user and carer involvement in care planning and service development.
• To be up to date with both de-escalation, physical breakaway and PMVA techniques appropriate to the service environment. 

Teaching, Training, and Supervision: 

• To receive and provide regular clinical professional supervision.
• To gain additional highly specialist experience and skills relevant to applied psychology, in line with a professional development plan and in keeping with service needs (as agreed with the professional lead).
• To develop skills in the area of professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision and to provide supervision to other team members’ psychological work as appropriate.
• To provide clinical placements for trainee clinical psychologists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to client care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies.
• To provide professional and clinical supervision of trainee and assistant applied psychologists, as well as more junior qualified psychologists, psychological therapists and counsellors.
• To contribute to the pre- and post-qualification teaching of applied psychology and psychological therapy, as appropriate.
• To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate. 

Management, Leadership, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development: 

• To participate as a clinician in identifying and implementing the development of a high quality, responsible and accessible service, in consultation with the team manager and supervisor.
• To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
• To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
• To contribute psychological knowledge and expertise to policy and service development through participation, where practical, in regional multidisciplinary meetings and special interest groups, working parties etc that may impact on the functioning of the service.
• To participate in the management of psychological resources available to the team, in the form of psychological materials employed in the assessment and treatment of service users.
• To manage the workloads of assistant and trainee applied psychologists, within the framework of the team/service’s policies and procedures.
• To be involved, as appropriate, in the short listing and interviewing of assistant / graduate psychologists and other staff as appropriate.
• To provide effective leadership and management to staff which promotes high performance standards both individually and as a team, in the achievement of the Trust’s objectives and priorities. The Trust’s success will be dependent on all managers playing an active role to make sure the existing areas of good employment practice are universally embedded within the organisation.
• Promote equality, diversity and rights, and treat others with dignity and respect ensuring services are developed, managed and delivered to meet specific needs linked to protected characteristics.
• Promote equality, diversity and Human Rights in working practices by developing and maintaining positive working relationships, ensuring that colleagues are treated fairly and contributing to developing equality of opportunity and outcomes in working practices.
• Contribute to developing and maintaining equality of opportunity in working practices by complying with legislation and organisational policies. Advise colleagues about equality, diversity and human rights policies and procedures and ensure they are followed.
• Ensure that colleagues are treated fairly. Behave in a non-discriminatory way and challenge the discriminatory behaviour of others. Be supportive of colleagues or service users who wish to raise issues about discriminatory practice or experience