Clinical Psychologist (Autism and ADHD)
Pay: £58,500 £63,000 per annum FTE, pro rata for 15 hours per week.
Hours: 15 hours per week.
Company: The Nook Therapy Clinic.
Location: Bath, Somerset.
This post holder will work as part of The Nook Therapy Clinic providing diagnostic assessments to young people and adults. This role is open to Clinical Psychologists who can offer expertise in the field of autism and ADHD. The post holder will support designated members of staff and provide advice and awareness raising of neurodiversity across agencies to facilitate group activities, contributing to the planning and implementation of interventions.
Main Duties and Responsibilities- Contribute to the diagnostic assessment of autism and ADHD in children, young people, and adults (additional training will be provided if needed).
- You will be under the supervision of the lead psychologist and will provide specialist advice and support to multi disciplinary and multi agency professionals and families working with neuro diverse children, young people, and adults.
- You will help lead MDT discussions with the team to support the assessment and diagnosis of adults and children with ASD and ADHD.
- Under the guidance of the lead psychologist, you will gain experience and provide tailored, evidence based, outcome focused time limited support to the partners/carers and wider family members of autistic/neuro diverse children and young people.
- Contribute to the development, coordination and evaluation of specialist interventions provided within the Neurodevelopmental Service.
- Support and contribute to research projects, ensuring interventions are evidence based and comply with NICE guidelines, current legislation pertaining to autism and ADHD and professional standards.
- Undertake a caseload to support senior Neurodevelopmental Team colleagues and work according to a plan agreed with the Team Lead and Clinical Lead for the service.
- Offer specialist knowledge and skills applied through theoretical and practical experience and contribute to multi disciplinary case discussions.
- Undertake training and become proficient under supervision in the assessment of autism and ADHD and the use of diagnostic assessment tools as recommended in NICE guidance.
- Ensure effective and timely contribution to multi disciplinary team discussion and supervision around diagnostic assessments.
- Contribute to the development of the service, supporting the organisation to implement a range of activities and/or programmes. These may be ongoing and require contributing to evaluation and improvement.
- Provide specialist advice and consultation to other professionals forging strong relationships across the Neurodevelopment multidisciplinary team (MDT) and other agencies.
- Be an autonomous practitioner within their level of competency, under the guidance of the lead psychologist. Manage own caseload providing support and advice to individuals with autism spectrum conditions and ADHD.
- Ensure adherence to Health Board policies and procedures and legislation and good practice guidance around autism and ADHD at all times.
- Contribute to the development and review of Neurodevelopmental team policies and procedures.
- Adhere to professional codes of practice and Health Board values, providing excellent standards of care.
- Critically evaluate research evidence relating to clinical effectiveness and share this information with other team members. Highlight unmet needs for this service area to respective senior colleagues.
- Support colleagues in relation to Neurodevelopmental service audits, service evaluation and quality improvement.
- Support an effective system to enable service users and family/carer involvement in service development.
- Utilise theory, evidence based literature, and research to inform your work. Contribute to clinical research, as opportunities arise.
- Communicate with clients, their relatives and multi agency professionals regarding complex, condition related, sensitive and/or distressing information.
- Overcome barriers to acceptance and understanding, requiring the use of highly developed interpersonal skills and empathy.
- Attend case conferences, meetings and reviews as required.
- Effective communication with a range of people, including service users and their families, within the Neurodevelopment multidisciplinary team and across multi agency settings.
- Demonstrate an excellent range of communication skills, incorporating emotional intelligence.
- Prepare comprehensive, analytical, and sensitively written diagnostic assessment reports on service users.
- Ensure appropriate and timely sharing of information with other agencies as required/with consent.
- Develop and deliver a range of educational and training materials in a range of settings through different media.
- Relevant degree in Clinical Psychology and Registered member of HCPC.
- Willingness to train in the use of specific autism and ADHD diagnostic assessment instruments.
- Demonstrates an understanding of the needs of autistic individuals, individuals with ADHD and their families/carers/partners.
- Insight into the changing needs of those with autism and ADHD across the lifespan.
- Knowledge of multi agency partnership working and/or provision of multidisciplinary care/support for autistic people.
- Knowledge of standards of record keeping.
- Understanding of the impact of local, cultural, linguistic and demographic factors which influence service delivery in own clinical specialism.
- Knowledge of working with adults and/or children and their families with Autism and/or ADHD.
- Willingness to develop knowledge and experience in working with ASD and ADHD across the life span.
- Experience of multi agency partnership working and ability to promote multi-disciplinary/multi agency and collaborative practice with a wide range of partners.
- Ability and experience in developing, planning, implementing and delivering a range of training packages to others.
- Experience using information gathering/reporting systems and IT literacy in the use of appropriate software.
- Familiarity and confidence with various IT packages Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel.
- Actively participate in professional and personal development ensuring completion of mandatory and core training required for the role.
- Ensure active engagement with clinical and line management supervision offered.
- Attend Community of Practice network events as deemed necessary by Team Lead.
- Ensure active engagement with performance appraisal reviews as per Health Board policy.
- Supervise junior staff members as required.
- Post holder works within limits agreed upon and managed by the clinical lead.
- Use of initiative required in working independently and prioritising work within these boundaries.
- Receive regular supervision from a qualified clinical psychologist.
- Work within service and handbook guidelines, policies and procedures and the professional codes of practice of the British Psychological Society.
- Engage in all mandatory training and other aspects of training identified through appraisal.
- Protected by an effective risk management process.
- Comply with The Nook Therapy Clinic policies in relation to risk of self and others, actively participate in this process and have responsibility for managing risks and reporting exceptions.
- Physical strain occurs due to sitting for lengthy periods during clinical sessions, meetings or at a computer.
- Physical effort required in transporting and carrying test materials and equipment between bases for use in clinical sessions.
- Substantial mental effort required in conducting specialised assessments requiring a high level of concentration to ensure that all necessary information is gathered from a range of sources, and assessment procedures are carried out according to established protocols to ensure validity and reliability.
- Concentrated mental effort required for report writing in order to summarise cogently key issues. This is also the case in the development of research and training initiatives.
- High levels of emotional effort required in dealing with clients who are upset, overwhelmed by events or symptoms, highly anxious or angry. Addressing issues of challenging behaviours in clients may be emotionally taxing both in relating directly to the client and to staff who may be under a considerable level of strain.
The Post Holder is expected to have continuous regard for the Equality Act (2010) and always act in ways that support equality and value diversity.
The above is not an exhaustive list of duties and you will be expected to perform different tasks as necessitated by your changing role within the organisation and the overall business objectives of the organisation.