Assistant Psychologist

Job Title: Assistant Psychologist

Responsible to: Clinical Lead

Department: The Edinburgh Practice

Hours: Full time 5 days per week (40 hours), Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.

Salary: £25,000

Holidays: 28 days per year

JOB PURPOSE

We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic Assistant Clinical Psychologist to join The Edinburgh Practice. The post will involve working closely with the Clinical Director and Clinical Lead.

To work with the Clinical Lead and Clinical Director to support and enhance the development of The Edinburgh Practice services.

A key part of this role involves developing social media content for social media platforms.

To support the Clinical Lead with the delivery of training.

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

The post holder will work independently and exercise initiative and may be involved in direct patient care under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist and in collaboration with other members of the multidisciplinary team.

The candidate will support the multidisciplinary team with neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people under the supervision of a qualified clinical psychologist. This will involve information gathering and clinical observations in different environments (e.g. school observations).

2. ROLE OF THE EDINBURGH PRACTICE

The Edinburgh Practice is a well-established multi-disciplinary practice that provides a range of high-quality, evidence-based health services to children, adults and families, including:

· Psychological assessment, formulation and intervention

· Psychiatric assessment and intervention & Memory Clinic

· Neurodevelopmental assessments (Autism, ADHD) and post-diagnostic intervention and support

· Educational psychology assessments

· Speech and language therapy assessment and intervention

· Psychosexual therapy

· Family and couples therapy

· Occupational therapy

3. MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

· To assist and support the Clinical Director and Clinical Lead with service development activity. The successful candidate would be expected to contribute to service development activities across multi-disciplinary services (e.g. psychiatry, psychology and speech and language therapy).

• To support the Clinical Lead with quality improvement projects.
• To support the Clinical Lead with a programme of clinical audits.
• To assist the Clinical Lead in providing training to practice staff.
• To keep up to date on relevant policy, legislation and research. To consolidate relevant documents into concise reports to keep the Clinical Management team abreast of key developments in the field.
• To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.
• To undertake database searches for literature and research papers to inform evidence-based practice and service development work.
• To support the team with the production of resources and materials.
• To work with qualified staff to involve children, young people and families in service feedback and development.
• To design and implement audit and research projects.
• To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical packages.

CLINICAL

• To support the autism/ADHD assessment teams in gathering collateral information including developmental history and observations from parents/carers/family members/schools to contribute towards assessments.
• To write succinct clinical reports reporting findings from school observations and gathering assessment information from collateral sources (e.g. teachers, parents).
• To support the Clinical Lead with management of referrals including management of waiting lists.
• Administration and scoring of psychometric questionnaires.

IT RESPONSIBILITIES

• Undertake to collect, process, interpret and report information using appropriate software.
• Use IT systems to record clinical activity, caseloads and waiting lists.
• Use IT systems relevant to clinical interventions i.e. for scoring psychometric tests.

GENERAL

• To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the postholder’s manager, demonstrating a commitment to continuous personal and professional development.
• To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing in accordance with the professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society and practice policies and procedures.
• To actively engage in supervision with Clinical Lead and seek support when required.
• To maintain principles of continuous improvement, client care and work in accordance with The Edinburgh Practice’s policies and principles.
• To work collaboratively with colleagues, maintaining good working relationships.
• Maintain confidentiality and data protection regarding all personal information at all times, in accordance with relevant legislation and professional codes of conduct.

4. SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT

• The postholder would be required to use computer software for databases, statistical analysis for research, and for the preparation of materials for clinical use. In addition, a requirement of the job would be to maintain a clinical database and extract appropriate information for the purposes of research and audit to inform service developments.

· Competence in the use of internet systems is essential for accessing computer-based literature searches and internal systems.

• The post holder is required to keep accurate electronic records of all patient contact and patient-related activity for the purposes of contributing to the audit of the service. It is a routine part of the post to ensure that accurate case records of clinical work are made available within the multidisciplinary case notes for others in the team to access.

5. DECISIONS AND JUDGEMENTS

· The postholder would expect to be supervised on a weekly basis, by a qualified Clinical Psychologist/Clinical Lead. The post holder will carry out elements of work independently and will have autonomy and accountability for adhering to protocols. Much of their work will be overseen rather than directly observed.

For example:

· The post holder is required to implement programmes of care under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist and is responsible for prioritising and planning their workload effectively.

· The post holder provides advice and guidance within their own professional competence and is required to demonstrate their own abilities to other professionals.

6. COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONSHIPS

Within clinical work:

· To communicate clearly and empathically to clients, families and carers.

· To establish a rapport with individuals who have mental health difficulties, neurodevelopmental disorders or other difficulties.

· To communicate with clients, families and carers in situations where the atmosphere may be highly emotive, and with information which may be complex/ sensitive.

· To discuss and negotiate clinical work with colleagues within a multidisciplinary team.

For research, audit and training:

· To write reports on research and audit activities that are clear, concise and provide some interpretation/analysis of work.

· Where appropriate, present to internal and wider audience research and audit findings.

· To undertake the delivery of training.

7. PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEMANDS OF THE JOB

· Maintain concentration throughout lengthy interviews with clients and be active throughout in maintaining a therapeutic relationship, in pursuing the therapeutic process and in recording information during the interview.

· Working with clients where the atmosphere may be highly emotive.

· Sit in a constrained/adverse environment for long periods of time i.e. when administering tests or specific interventions which may require the need to sit in a constrained way during a period of time.

· Keyboard skills are required daily to complete many aspects of the post.

· To balance the varying demands of the post and work in an efficient and well-organised fashion within a busy, fast-paced environment.

· To work independently and exercise initiative within the boundaries of supervised practice and defined clinical/ research parameters.

8. KNOWLEDGE, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED TO DO THE JOB

ESSENTIAL

An honours degree of classification 2:1 or above in psychology.

Entitlement to Graduate Basis for Registration with the British Psychological Society.

Experience working in a care or health setting drawing on psychological theory/models.

High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.

High quality, succinct report writing.

An ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.

An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental health problems or other disabilities.

An understanding of differences associated with neurodiversity.

Good IT skills with an ability to use word processing, database and statistical software packages.

Creative problem-solving skills.

Experience of developing social media posts, including experience using Canva and Instagram.

An ability to interact with people with mental health problems or disabilities.

An ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.

Ability to work effectively as a team member.

Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.

High-level organisational and time management skills.

Ability to reflect on own performance and respond to and integrate feedback regarding work and performance.

Desire to learn new skills and develop within a new and exciting role.

Dynamic, creative and flexible mindset.

Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.

Ability to identify limits of knowledge and competence and seek support when required.

Full clean drivers licence and access to a car.

A desire to explore a career in Professional Psychology

DESIRABLE

Further postgraduate training (e.g. Masters) in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.

Experience of paid work in direct care provision.

Experience of working with people with mental health problems and/ or other disabilities.

Experience of working with neurodivergent children and young people.

Previous experience as an assistant psychologist, research psychologist or significant period of working in a health role.

Experience of service development, research and audit.

Experience of completing school observations for children and young people.

An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context.

Confidence to share new ideas in a sensitive manner.

Knowledge of mental health systems.

Knowledge of childhood developmental milestones.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: £25,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Edinburgh: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Licence/Certification:

• Driving Licence and access to a car (required)

Work Location: In person