Principal Clinical/ Counselling/ Forensic Psychologist

Job overview

The Specialist and Secured Care Delivery Pathway Integrated Substance Misuse Services (ISMS) Psychologist will lead the development and implementation of structured psychological pathways for substance misuse which are co morbid for trauma, and mental health needs across the Secured Services care delivery pathway.

People in prisons have a number of needs and may come into prisons with co morbid mental health difficulties and substance misuse. This is an exciting opportunity to develop pathways across prisons in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, HMP Bedford and Peterborough where NHFT delivers psychosocial substance misuses recovery services.

The postholder will work in supporting recovery workers to engage with the population using trauma informed, evidence based recovery to provide a positive difference to people in our care. There will be opportunities to conduct research and evaluate interventions.

Please note this post is subject to security vetting. To be considered for this post you will need to have continuously resided in the UK without any breaks for a minimum of 3 years prior to this application and be able to evidence your years of residency. Please note without sufficient evidence your application may not progress.

Main duties of the job

Work closely with teams across the prisons to develop competencies of staff in working with people who use substances in prison

Staff training

Research and evaluation

Embedding co production and service user involvement into the services

Develop resources that are co-produced and meet the needs of the population

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical:

• To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s psychological problems including developmental background, long term personality adaptations, interpersonal patterns of relating, service and diagnostic issues.
• To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, and groups, within and across teams
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account 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 care plans.
• To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
• To ensure that all members of the treating team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.

6 To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, highly complex/sensitive information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.

• To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team, particularly where there are conflicting opinions about the multiple options available for assessment and intervention.
• To provide formal and informal clinical advice and support to psycho social substance misuse teams across a number of prisons

Teaching, training and supervision

• To receive regular clinical professional supervision from a Consultant Clinical/ Counselling Psychologist.