Clinical Psychologist
Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool, L12 2AP
Salary
£49,387 to £56,515
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Not specified
Closing date
17 September 2026
14 days left
Job description
This is an exciting opportunity for a clinical psychologist to join the Neurodevelopmental Assessment Team, within Community and Mental Health Divisio...
The post holder will be required to undertake specialist assessment and diagnostic activities for children and young people referred to the Neurodevelopmental Service with suspected ASD or ADHD.
The post holder will
- Work as a member of the Neurodevelopmental (ND) Team, providing a high-quality specialist clinical psychology service to patients presenting for diagnostic assessment for Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley.
- Work autonomously within professional guidelines and support the systemic governance of psychological practice within the ND service for patients and their families.
- Provide supervision to Trainee Clinical Psychologists, clinicians and assistant psychologists within the ND service as required.
- To utilise skills for research, audit, policy and service development as required.
Clinical
To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the ND Team for the diagnostic assessment of ASD/ADHD, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and specialist 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 clients care.
Where appropriate develop detailed formulations to inform and provide a psychological assessment report of a clients mental health problems based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
Where appropriate be responsible for implementing a range of psychological assessments 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.
Where appropriate make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about diagnostic presentation considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
Where appropriate exercise full responsibility and autonomy for the assessment of and discharge of clients whose problems are managed as a psychologically based standard care plan, ensuring appropriate assessment, formulation, and evaluation, communicating with the referral agent and others involved with the care on a regular basis.
Where appropriate provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professional contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for the understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological knowledge, research and theory.
To undertake risk assessment and risk management for relevant individual clients and to provide both general and specialist advice for psychologists and other professionals on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.
Where appropriate act as assessment co-ordinator, where appropriate, ensuring the provision of an assessment, appropriate for the clients needs, arranging clients care reviews as required and communication effectively with the client, his/her family and all others involved in care.
Where appropriate communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation, and evaluation plans of clients under their care and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni and multi-disciplinary care.
To provide advice to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the team.
To provide consultation about the psychological care of the client group to staff and agencies outside the Directorate and Trust.
Teaching, training and supervision
In common with all clinical psychologists to receive regular clinical supervision and professional management, according to good practice guidelines, from a senior clinical psychologist and where appropriate clinical supervision from other senior professional colleagues.
Where appropriate provide specialist clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or counselling psychologists, ensuring that they acquire the necessary clinical and research skills to doctoral level where appropriate, and competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good psychological practice, and contributing to the assessment and evaluation of those competencies.
Sponsorship - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship.You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.
Qualifications
Essential
- Post-graduate doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of Psychopathology, Clinical Psychometrics and Neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
- Training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
- Current registration with the health and Care Professions Council as a Clinical Psychologist.
Desirable
- Training and experience in supervision of qualified staff
Experience
Essential
- Assessed experience of working as a psychologist within CAMHS or Paediatrics.
- Training/experience of providing evidence based interventions.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, inpatient and residential care settings including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and stressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Experience of conducting risk assessments within complex clinical settings.
- Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care co-ordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
- Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
Desirable
- Experience of working with young people with ASD.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Doctoral level knowledge of clinical psychology including highly developed knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, and two or more distinct psychological therapies.
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- A high level ability to communicate effectively at both a written and oral level complex, highly technical and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and a wide range of lay and professional persons within and outside the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
- Knowledge of legislation and its complications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the client group and mental health.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC.
Desirable
- Formal training in supervision of others.
- Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities and severely challenging behaviours etc.)
- Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of highly specialised psychological therapies.
Personal Attributes
Essential
- Enthusiasm for a broad range of psychological phenomena, an interest in models of service delivery, and an ability to articulate the value added by clinical psychology services within the context of multi-disciplinary mental health services.
- Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to 'hold' the stress of others.
Desirable
- A commitment to the evaluation of services, enthusiasm for both multi-professional and uni-professional audit, and a wish to continue to develop expertise in the service area.
- Ability to demonstrate leadership and management skills.
Interpersonal Skills
Essential
- Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.
- Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
- Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
- Ability to articulate and interpret clearly the role of the profession of clinical psychology based upon a good understanding of the framework of government and national professional policy.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
- Record of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books.
How to apply
Applications are handled entirely by the employer on the original advert. We do not collect CVs, supporting statements or application data.
Provenance
Source
NHS Jobs
First seen
3 September 2026
Last checked
3 September 2026
Salary, closing date and description are taken from the employer's advert. The original advert always takes precedence.
About the employer
NHS organisation
This listing was structured from NHS Jobs. Vacancy details and the application process remain the responsibility of the original source.
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