Specialist Clinical Psychologist

Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the British Psychological Society, or equivalent if trained overseas.
• Eligible to work as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical / Counselling) as approved by the Health Care Professions Council.

Desirable

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
• Post-doctoral/graduate training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice with children and young people.
• Clinical training as part of a CYP IAPT collaborative in a recognised evidenced based approach i.e. DBT, CBT, Parenting Skills or other.

Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of children, adolescents and their families across a range of care settings, (e.g. outpatient, community, primary care, in patient settings).
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of working with children, adolescents and their families
• Experience of the application of clinical / counselling psychology in different cultural contexts.

Desirable

• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience of working with other agencies including education and social care.
• Experience of assessment and intervention with clients presenting with Neurodiversity
• Experience of working with children/young people and their families with special educational needs, neurodevelopmental difficulties, learning disabilities and challenging behaviour, and co-morbid mental health difficulties.
• Experience of leadership, team and service development.

Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.

Desirable

• Knowledge and skills in specialist psychological assessment and treatment of specific groups including children with learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders and co-morbid mental health difficulties, adolescent mental health, trauma, anxiety and mood disorders
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. children with challenging behaviour, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc.)
• High-level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.