Assistant Psychologist - Cheyne Child Development Service

Job Overview

PLEASE NOTE WE MAY CLOSE EARLY IF VOLUME OF APPLICATIONS IS HIGH

We are delighted to be advertising a full-time, permanent Assistant Psychology post within the Cheyne Child Development Service (CCDS). We are looking for a psychology graduate who is keen to develop their skills in the area of child development and neurodiversity.

This post will be based mainly at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital but may involve some work at our other clinical site in White City. You will be joining a well-established team of clinical psychologists, working as part of our wider multidisciplinary child development team.

The post holder will support the clinical psychology team in their assessment and intervention work with children/young people with neurodevelopmental difficulties (e.g. autism, ADHD, developmental disabilities), and their families. There will be opportunities to be involved in undertaking specialist diagnostic assessments, to work with families as part of our pre-assessment support offer, and to facilitate post-diagnostic groups. There will also be opportunities to get involved with service audit/evaluation and service development projects.

Previous experience in the area of child development/neurodiversity is desirable however applications are welcomed from candidates who are interested and motivated to engage in this area of clinical work. Supervision and support will be provided by a clinical psychologist with

in the team.

Main duties of the job

To support the work of the Clinical Psychology Team in their assessment and intervention work with children who have neurodevelopmental difficulties and their families. To assist with pre-assessment clinics and support clinicians in the process of diagnostic assessment (e.g. carrying out school observations and cognitive assessments), and in the provision of support for the children and their families, both pre- and post-diagnosis (individual and group work). To support with clinically related administration, supporting the team to manage emails and referrals to the psychology team, and to support the development and conduct of audits, collection of statistics, and service development projects.

Working for our organisation

The CCDS is based across two sites: Doughty House, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital and Parkview Centre for Health & Wellbeing (near Shepherds Bush), providing multidisciplinary child development assessment & interventions to the boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea & South Westminster

The areas we cover have varying socio-economic need as well as diverse cultural populations. The post is within a multi-disciplinary team which operates within a wider multi-agency context, that includes CAMHS, Social Services, Education, other Local Authority services and voluntary agencies. Assessment and therapeutic input will be provided within clinics, community

resources such as nurseries & schools and within clients’ homes depending on the nature of the work being undertaken. The populations served are ethnically diverse, where consideration of cultural difference and influences is crucial in the assessment of children’s disabilities.

The Central and North West London NHS Trust (CNWL) is responsible for the provision of Child and Adolescent Mental health Services (CAMHS) to the populations of Brent, Hillingdon, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster, as well as providing a range of highly specialist services to other Trusts and Agencies, and to a wider regional catchment area. These services include Paediatric, Child Development and Looked After Children Services.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• To contribute to the effective working of the psychology team by supporting the team to manage the psychology team email account, registering new referrals and maintaining up-to-date databases to track processes or progress through pathways
• To support the team in completing pre-assessment calls to parents, gathering information on risk, and signposting to appropriate support/services

To assist the team with completing specialist diagnostic assessments of children/young people, including completion of cognitive assessments, administration of self-report measures, direct and indirect structured observations, and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care

To conduct school observation visits as part of the multidisciplinary assessment.

To assist in the coordination and running of groups including post-diagnostic autism groups for parents, toileting, sleep and feeding workshops, and other therapeutic groups.

To assist the psychology team in the development of clinical materials or training materials, and in addition to develop such materials independently as falls within own degree of competence.

To support the team to gather/analyse outcome data.

To assist the psychology team with completing service development projects, in order to contribute to ongoing improvements within the service.

Person specification

Training & Qualifications

Essential criteria

• An upper second-class honours degree or higher in psychology.

Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.

Desirable criteria

• Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.
  
  

Experience

Essential criteria

• At least one-year of post-graduate experience of working as an Assistant Psychologist or in a related area.
• Experience of working with children/young people who have mental health problems and/or other disabilities.
• Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and/or lived experience.
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with children/young people with special needs, learning difficulties or other neurodevelopmental difficulties
• Experience of using cognitive assessments such as the WISC-V
• Experience of developing and facilitating psychoeducation groups with children/young people or their parents/carers
• The Trust encourages and welcomes applications from people with lived experience of neurodiversity or mental health challenges, We see this as valuable and recognise the positive impact this experience can have on the work we do.

Experience of regular clinical supervision from an HCPC Practitioner Psychologist

Knowledge And Skills

Essential criteria

• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive
• An understanding of the needs of children with disabilities and their families
• An ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to a mental health context
• Well-developed IT skills, including entry and analysis of outcome measures and/or research data
• A clear understanding of the assessment and intervention remit of this service
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office, including Excel, Word & PowerPoint, and comfortable analysing data
• Developed high standard of report writing and record-keeping.
• Training and/or experience in using the ADOS-2
  
  

PERSONAL

Essential criteria

• Ability to interact work effectively within a multidisciplinary team and to interact with staff from all disciplines, contributing to effective team functioning

Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently with work agreed and managed at regular intervals.

Ability to interact with people with mental health problems/and or disabilities

Able to manage emotionally stressful situations such as children displaying dysregulated behaviour, or hearing distressing information

Desirable criteria

• A keen interest in working with children/young people with neurodevelopmental conditions and/or other developmental disabilities.
  
  

Other

Essential criteria

• Ability to use supervision appropriately and effectively, and to be reflective about own practice
  
  

Desirable criteria

• A desire to pursue a career in Professional Psychology