Consultant Clinical Psychologist

We are inviting applications from psychological therapists from a core professional background (e.g. CAP's, Psychiatric nurses, Social workers, OT's) to join our Personality Disorder Pathway in the North of Hertfordshire. The post holder will be based in Stevenage and Hitchin. Working closely with the local DBT leads, this post offers an exciting opportunity to join an established group of therapists who provide a local DBT service, as well as joining the wider network of therapists, locally and across the trust.

The post holder will provide specialist psychological assessment and treatment to clients with a diagnosis of personality disorder within the service and provide specialist support, guidance and consultation to colleagues, carers and other agencies regarding the psychological care of clients. There will be many opportunities for close working with local and quadrant-wide psychological therapy teams and other psychological therapy colleagues.

The post holder will act as a resource on positive risk-taking and the management of people with personality disorder, for staff within the community hubs, and work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team's policies and procedure.

• To have good working relationships with multi-disciplinary colleagues in the community mental health team setting
• To maintain close working relationships with psychological therapy colleagues both locally and quadrant-wide
• To promote and maintain good working relationships with colleagues in the local Hub and beyond and with GPs and other stakeholders in the service.
• To work closely with both psychological therapies staff and other non-psychological therapy colleague
• To work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team's policies and procedure
• To utilise research skills for audit, teaching, policy and service development and research within the area served by the team/service
• To provide specialist psychological assessment and treatment including a range of evidence-based group and individual psychological interventions
• To provide specialist support, guidance, and consultation relevant to personality disorders on clients' psychological care to other multi-disciplinary professional,
• To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological 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.
• To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client's mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client's problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care setting
• To be responsible for implementing psychological interventions from within your area of specialty for individuals, carers, families, and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining the psychological formulation according to the evolving clinical scenario.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plan

• Qualification and continuing registration in one of the core mental health professions (e.g. psychiatric nursing, social work, occupational therapy).
• Continuing registration with body overseeing practice of core mental health profession (e.g. NMC, HCPC).
• Completion of DBT Training or willingness and aptitude to train - if the opportunity arises, to undertake the PGDiploma in DBT, Experience of assessment and treatment of clients across a full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, adult mental health and in patient settings
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, including adults with personality disorders. Experience across the whole life span 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
• Knowledge of whole life span development and the impact on emotional, psychological and mental well-being
• Experience of multi-disciplinary team working and inter-agency collaboration
• Ability to take the appropriate action to address any issues or risks
• Awareness of Child and Adult Safeguarding Procedures
• Awareness of current NHS initiatives and…