Assistant Psychologist

The Sefton Homeless Psychology Service is looking to recruit a dedicated, experienced, compassionate and talented Assistant Psychologist.

This is an opportunity to be involved in the development and delivery of a new and innovative service. This post represents an important step in the growth of the service, and we are looking for an applicant that can demonstrate the necessary clinical skill, knowledge and experience, alongside personal values that are matched to the demands of the role and the ethos of the service.

You will be encouraged and supported by a small team of committed and friendly people who share your interest and enthusiasm for this work, and recognise the challenges as well as the rewards it presents.

If you are considering an application, or you're interested in finding out more about the role, please get in touch. We'd welcome the opportunity to have a conversation to help you decide if this is the right job for you.

Main duties of the job

The Sefton Homeless Psychology service offers appointments to people living in Sefton who are experiencing homelessness. These appointments allow for a consideration of how any mental health issues may be impacting on their ability to live more independently, and in line with their personal values and aspirations.Information from these meetings is used to inform and support referrals to local services and also to inform the care and support provided to people who live in supported hostel accommodation. Clinical and Assistant Psychologists from the team may also provide direct, time limited, psychological interventions.The Sefton Homeless Psychology service also works in partnership with the Sefton Supported Housing Group (SSHG), which is a consortium of third sector organisations that provide a range of supported accommodation to people experiencing homelessness.All of the providers have made a commitment to develop their services in a way that is trauma informed and which follows the principles of Psychologically Informed Environments. Your role in the Sefton Homeless Service will be important in helping the SSHG continue to develop their services in this way.

About us

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 11 million people.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Job responsibilities

A detailed job description and a summary of the main responsibilities of the role are included in the attached documents: Job description and Person Specification.

Person Specification

KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE

• Working in a healthcare setting
• Experience of working with people with mental health problems and/or other disabilities as an assistant psychologist or PWP worker.
• Experience of using psychological assessments, formulations, interventions, risk assessments and care planning
• Experience of working with people who have to potential to become aggressive and being able to respond appropriately
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to this context
• An understanding of trauma
• Experience of presenting to local forums
• Experience of delivering audit and evaluations

QUALIFICATIONS

• A Degree in psychology.
• Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
• Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis

Values

• Accountability
• Support
• High Professional Standards
• Responsive to Service Users
• Engaging Leadership Style
• Strong Customer Service Belief
• Transparency and Honesty
• Discreet
• Change Orientated

Skills

• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive
• Experience of working with people with complex presentations
• An understanding of psychology applied to healthcare
• Experience of audit, evaluation and research
• Advanced keyboard skills
• An ability to interact with a diverse range of people with complex presentations
• Ability to work with individuals with a history of violence and/or sexual offending
• Ability to work within a multidisciplinary team as well as independently reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.
• An ability to work as part of a team and maintain good relationships with colleagues
• Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively
• Ability to cope with and maintain professional boundaries
• Align to Trust policies and Procedures
• Ability to meet the travel requirements for the post
• Being mindful of potential risk and managing the situation appropriately
• Ability to work within a sometimes- demanding environment with patients with complex needs and being non-judgemental while being able to manage your personal wellbeing through supervision etc.
• Able to adapt to a situation as it arises and respond in an appropriate manner
• Experience using computers for databases or data analysis, especially SPSS for Windows
• An interest in working with the client group
• A desire to explore a career in Professional Psychology

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£29,970 to £36,483 a yearper annum pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

17 months

Working pattern

Full-time,Flexible working,Compressed hours