13 Oct
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
London
Job description
Job overview
We are looking to recruit an Assistant Psychologist (0.6 FTE) to join our team working within the Richmond and Wandsworth Community Drug and Alcohol Service (RWCDAS).
RWCDAS is a specialist NHS addictions service run by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), as lead provider in partnership with non-statutory organisations : We are With You, St Mungo’s and Community Drug & Alcohol Recovery Services (CDARS).
RWCDAS provides trauma informed community substance use disorders treatment for the residents of Richmond and Wandsworth.
Main duties of the job
Job Purpose :
- To assist practitioner psychologists in the delivery of psychological interventions in a community drug and alcohol service.
- To provide clinical work (individual and group) under the clinical and professional supervision of a practitioner psychologist.
- To assist in research and clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, and development of audit and / or research projects, teaching and project work.
- To work at appropriate levels of independence, following clinical guidelines and the policies and procedures of the service, and seeking help from clinical / professional supervisor or manager as required
Working for our organisation
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services.
We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre.
There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness.
Our scope is unique because it is built on three foundations : care and treatment, science and research, and training.
We have more than 230 services including inpatient wards, outpatient and community services. Currently we provide inpatient care for approximately 5,300 people each year and treat more than 45,000 patients in the community in Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark;
as well as substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich.
By joining SLaM, you will gain experience of being part of an organisation with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Key Responsibilities :
KR 1 Clinical and Client Care
To carry out psychological assessments for clients under the supervision of practitioner psychologists who are engaging with a community drug and alcohol service.
To provide individual psychological interventions for clients based on a psychological formulation and using evidenced based addictions psychosocial interventions.
To organise and facilitate group psychological interventions for clients, including the management of waiting lists and development of group materials where appropriate.
To assist the team in the development of individual or group clinical materials or training materials, and in addition to develop such materials independently as falls within own degree of competence.
KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning
To contribute to the effective working of RWCDAS and to a psychologically informed framework for the service.
To support the team or service’s delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
KR 3 Policy and service development
To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to comment on proposed improvements or beneficial changes.
To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
KR 4 Care or management of resources
To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust’s equipment and physical resources.
To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.
KR 5 Teaching and Training
To demonstrate work methods to newly recruited Assistant Psychologists and to support their development of necessary skills.
To contribute to team training, supporting the wider team’s development.
To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations or published articles.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
A First-class or Upper-second-class Bachelor’s degree with Honours in Psychology that is accredited by the British Psychological Society and confers the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society.
Desirable criteria
Post-graduate CBT training and delivery of formulation-based treatments.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working with people with drug and alcohol problems and co-occurring psychological difficulties
- Sufficient post-graduate experience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs in addictions to be able to work clinically without direct supervision
- Experience of conducting research projects or audits
- Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience
- Ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team,
contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles
Desirable criteria
- Key-work or case management work in a hostel, community addiction team or criminal justice setting
- Work with people who are homeless
- Experience of delivering low-intensity protocol-based interventions
- Ability to engage and work with clients with complex needs, including severe and enduring
- Experience of facilitating and organising groups / group activities
Knowledge and skills
Essential criteria
- Graduate level knowledge of psychological research methodology and statistical analysis
- Good theoretical knowledge of the problems experienced by and needs of people with addiction problems and of methods of assessment and treatment
- Awareness of racial and diversity issues through attendance of relevant training
- Well-developed verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex, sensitive or contentious information to clients, families and colleagues
- Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data
Desirable criteria
- Understanding of the needs of clients with substance use disorders
- Understanding of the needs of people who are homeless
- Knowledge of neuropsychology and understanding of cognitive difficulties associated with alcohol and substance use