Clinical Psychologist

We are looking for a band 7 Clinical Psychologist to provide maternity leave cover for 11 months to the DevonLD Service. You will help us support the wellbeing of one of the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of our population.

You will be a valuable part of the LD Psychology family across Devon, supporting the SE and SW Devon MDTs. You will provide a Clinical Psychology service via assessment, intervention and consultation. You will start to develop skills in delivering clinical supervision while receiving regular clinical supervision yourself. You will be part of a rich multi-disciplinary team including Nursing, Psychiatry, Occupational therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech and Language therapy.

You will maintain and develop relationships with partner agencies and local providers. You will find that our team is experienced, cohesive and mutually supportive.

The Clinical Psychology team is a valuable and valued part of the LD service. We work closely with our colleagues in a caring and mutually supportive culture. We are committed to compassionate, respectful and equitable care for people with Intellectual Disabilities using an biopsychosocial model that is trauma-informed and sensitive to the individual contexts in which distress arises in a population with limited or no power.

We have close links with both the Plymouth and Exeter Doctoral Programmes and there is a strong research department within DPT.

We are looking for candidates who are enthusiastic about working with individuals with a Learning Disability. You will be undertaking assessments and supporting clinicians carrying out assessments; developing individual formulations and contributing to MDT formulation and best practice reviews; designing complex and multi-component interventions and delivering these directly and indirectly via individual or group therapies, care planning and/or training. We will help you to acquire and develop a range of consultation skills.

We would expect you to have experience of psychometric assessment and at least two forms of therapeutic intervention (such as Positive Behaviour Support, CBT or DBT), as well as an understanding of the latest evidence around interventions. As an LD Clinical Psychologist, you will receive regular supervision and a variety of support for your career development, including a robust appraisal system, a range of CPD activities and a generous bursary scheme.

Working alongside your Clinical Team Manager and other Psychologists, you will promote clinical effectiveness, contributing to audits and reviews of service provision in order to improve our service user journey and maximise the wellbeing of individuals with a Learning Disability in Devon.

• Doctorate/Masters level or equivalent qualification in clinical/counselling
• Eligible for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Further training in assessment and interventions with people with learning disabilities

• Skills in the ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to people who use services, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and care system groups
• Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with individuals and departments within and outside Devon Partnership Trust
• Ability to work independently and use initiative with a service consisting of a network of teams
• Ability to tolerate ambiguity and maintain own morale and motivation in challenging service delivery contexts

• Experience of psychological assessment and treatment of people who use services across the full range of care settings
• Experience of teaching, training and supervision
• Experience of working with a wide range of people who use services across the life course and who present with issues that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing issues, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
• Experience…