Principal Clinical Psychologist

Job overview

We are looking for an experienced Clinical Psychologist with significant knowledge and expertise in working with young people with complex needs, including neurodevelopmental difficulties, to join our team at Red Kite View. The successful applicant will be responsible for providing expert assessment, formulation and treatment to young people and families, supporting psychologically informed interventions of colleagues via the provision of supervision, consultation and training, and to embed psychological formulation and trauma-informed approaches across the service. You will provide clinical leadership and direction in service and policy development in line with new national specifications, ensuring that these are psychologically and trauma informed and that care is formulation led. You will work closely with the multi-disciplinary inpatient team, community CYPMHS services, third sector and social care services across West Yorkshire, bringing a psychological perspective and understanding of young people’s distress. This will include formulation driven care planning, risk assessments and contributions within team meetings. You will provide supervision, reflective practice and post-incident support to psychological professionals and non-psychologists, including supervision of trainee clinical psychologists. You will participate in audit, service evaluation and research and have a key role in the psychological aspects of service and practice development.

Main duties of the job

The Children and Young People’s Inpatient Service at Red Kite View takes a trauma-informed and systemic approach to understanding the presentations and needs of young people and their families. Our work is underpinned by evidence based psychological models, including Adaptive Mentalisation Based Integrative Treatment (AMBIT) and Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), where psychological formulation informs a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to treatment. This is a time of significant and exciting change for CYP services and the successful applicant will contribute to service developments in line with new national guidance.

We are committed to robust professional leadership, equality, diversity and inclusion and supporting staff wellbeing and CPD. A number of our team are accessing further accredited training in therapy modalities (including Systemic therapies, PBS, RO-DBT, MBT and CBT) and leadership programmes. We have strong links with the local Clinical Psychology Doctoral training course at the University of Leeds. Our Psychological Professions Strategy outlines our vision.

Informal enquiries and visits are encouraged. Please note that the post is advertised for a longer period due to the lead recruiter’s annual leave.

Please contact Ruth Sutherland, Consultant Clinical Psychologist (ruthsutherland1@nhs.net; 07977 327263) or Laura Marsh, Art Psychotherapist (lauramarymarsh@nhs.net; 0113 8557150)

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• The specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of young people presenting with complex needs including neurodevelopmental presentations
• Provide supervision, reflective practice and post-incident support to colleagues
• Lead on service developments, audits, evaluation and research
• Provide training and support for the multidisciplinary team in care planning and risk management for complex cases

We are passionate about supporting teams and services to be psychologically-informed, maximising therapeutic potential and proportionate risk management. The successful applicant will be committed to working within an MDT environment and adapting interventions for young people with complex, diverse needs, who pose a risk of harm to self or others, and who may have additional needs such as Autism or Learning Disability. You will join a team with varied theoretical backgrounds and have opportunities to develop your skills and interests.

The post holder will provide psychology input to the inpatient service and in liaison with community teams across West Yorkshire. The role will include provision of specialist psychological services to the staff, young people and families wards accessing CYPMH Inpatient services. They will be responsible for assessing and treating their own specialist caseload of clients and to maintain associated records. The post holder will provide clinical supervision to other psychologists, assistant psychologists and non-psychologists within the service. They will have the skills and experience to work autonomously and make appropriate decisions without opportunity to consult more widely at times. The post holder will conduct psychologically informed risk assessments and formulations alongside the MDT and will support staff to develop appropriate forums for case discussions, team formulations, and reflective practice.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.