Clinical or Counselling Psychologist

Clinical Responsibilities: To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of clients' mental health problems and psychological aspects of physical morbidity, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients' problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families, and groups; adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account queer and trans affirmative models and considering the impact of wider systems on that person's experience of gender dysphoria. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment, and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans. To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.

Risk Assessment and Management: To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management, and to support other members of the MDT in risk management. To contribute to multi-disciplinary team meetings; to communicate and reflect using a psychologically based framework. To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation, and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care. To act as a named designated professional for clients within the service.

Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development: To contribute to the development, evaluation, and monitoring of gender services within the trust, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation, and audit. To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing. To supervise other professionals, within the framework of the team/services policies and procedures. To provide dedicated support to the Gender Affirmation Surgery service to meet the psychological needs of service users, and to provide a psychological perspective to the GAS MDT.

Research and Service Evaluation: To initiate high quality research projects including carrying out literature searches, preparing scientific reviews of key areas, designing research studies, preparing and submitting grant applications to potential external funders, preparing, submitting and managing ethics committee submissions and preparing and submitting project registration documents. To present the results of research studies to appropriate audiences within the Trust and externally including national and international conferences and meetings as required by the lead nurse and clinical supervisor. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature, and research to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members. To provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.

Project Management: To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service as necessary, to help develop service provision. To familiarise themselves with, and to comply with, the Trust's requirements on research governance. Please see attached job description and person specification to this advert for further details.