Assistant Psychologist

We are seeking a motivated Assistant Psychologist who is enthusiastic about working with adults with intellectual disability. This post is based within a Halton Community LD Team and Intensive Support Function of the team under the supervision of Clinical Psychologists. You will primarily be involved in supporting and enhancing the psychological care of clients within the service, providing psychological assessment and psychological interventions as required. Additional aspects of the role include: clinical administration; supporting group interventions; audit; data collection and statistics; and, database management. We are a supportive team, and will provide high levels of supervision, training and opportunities to enable your ongoing professional development. Applicants should hold a good honours degree which confers Graduate Basis of Registration of the British Psychological Society

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 4 Assistant Psychologist to join the LD community team and Intensive support function of the team.

The successful applicant will support the team clinical psychologists with assessments, formulations and interventions as well as teaching and training sessions.

There is also opportunity for audit/service data collection and analysis. You will also gain experience of working within a vibrant multi-disciplinary team and working alongside other team members including Occupational Therapists, Nurses, Psychiatrists, Physiotherapists, Speech & Language Therapists both from within the team as well as external partner agencies, all under supervision.

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 11 million people.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
1. To support and enhance the professional psychological care of service users within the service, across all relevant sectors; providing psychological assessment and psychological interventions under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist, working independently according to a plan agreed with the supervising qualified psychologist and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures

1. To assist in clinically-related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work

1. Under the supervision of a qualified clinical psychologist:

1. To work with potentially distressing material in relation to service users’ personal histories and possible offending behaviour, risks to self and others, and additional security requirements as integral to a safe model of care

1. To undertake psychological assessments of service users which may include a range of psychometric assessments, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with service users, carers and others involved in the client’s care

1. To assist in the formulation and delivery of care plans involving the psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s problems

1. To assist in the coordination and running of therapeutic groups

1. To work with other disciplines to assess clients and review their care in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews

1. To assist in the development of a psychological framework of understanding and care to all service users of the service, across all care settings

1. To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings as directed by the qualified psychologists

1. To use a degree of initiative and work independently with service users on planned pieces of work and to exercise judgment based on good practice and operating procedures

1. To receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines and directorate policy

1. To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties

1. Where appropriate, and under the supervision of qualified staff, contribute to the training and support of other staff

1. Under the supervision of a qualified clinical psychologist:

1. To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required

1. To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed as required

1. Under the supervision of a qualified clinical psychologist:

1. To assist qualified clinical psychologists in the design and implementation of audit, effectiveness and research projects

1. To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of full reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes

1. To review evidence-based literature and research to assist qualified psychologists and work with other team members in their clinical responsibilities as necessary

1. To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice through active participation in appropriate CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the post holder’s professional and team/operational manager(s).

1. To maintain the highest standards of clinical record-keeping and report-writing in accordance with professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society, the Health Professions Council, Clinical Business Unit and Trust policies and procedures

1. To undertake specific administrative duties as required

1. To perform other duties of a similar kind appropriate to the grade which may be required by their clinical supervisor

1. Develop a skill base in the administration and analysis of a range of psychometric packages as directed.