Assistant Psychologist Perinatal Community Teams

We are seeking an enthusiastic Assistant Psychologist to join the Community Perinatal Mental Health teams in SLAM. You would be joining a supportive team of Perinatal psychologists and psychotherapists. The role will be supporting the provision of psychological therapies, with a main base in the Southwark team but working across other SLAM perinatal teams (Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon).,

• To assist practitioner psychologists and psychotherapists (P&P) in the delivery of a specialist perinatal P&P service in Community Perinatal Services across Croydon, Lewisham, Southwark and Lambeth.
• To provide clinical work as required by the service, under the direct guidance, close clinical and professional supervision of a
practitioner psychologist.
• To assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, development of audit and/or research projects,
teaching and project work.
• To work following clinical guidelines and the policies and procedures of the service, whilst closely supervised and regularly seeking help
from clinical/professional supervisor or manager., KR 1 Clinical and Client Care
• Where appropriate to support psychological assessments for clients accessing support from the community perinatal mental health
service under the close supervision of a practitioner psychologist including assessments for suitability of individual therapy or participation in therapeutic groups.
• Where appropriate to support individual or family psychological interventions for clients accessing support from the community perinatal
mental health service under the close supervision of a practitioner psychologist. For example, this may include supporting clients who may benefit from behavioural activation, exposure and response prevention, graded exposure or other specific behavioural experiments as well as developing trauma informed birth preferences in collaboration with women, their families and the wider professional network. It may also include being a part of a reflecting team alongside a qualified family therapist.
• To support the development and provision of protocol-based group psychological interventions for clients in the Community Perinatal
Mental Health Service, psychoeducation and support for those accessing the service, building resilience and relapse prevention in the perinatal period.
• To assist the psychologists in the development of individual or group clinical materials or training materials.
• To arrange, schedule and co-facilitate training to carers or employees of partner agencies in order to support the clinical work with clients.
• To support and develop service user engagement work and ensure quality improvement and service development projects are worked
up in partnership with women and their families with experience of using our services. KR 2 Contributing to team or service clinical functioning
• To contribute to the effective working of the community perinatal psychology service by registering new referrals; creating and
maintaining databases to track processes or progress through pathways and keeping them up-to-date; contributing to the training and support of other staff in developing and providing psychological care of clients.
• To act in a manner that supports a psychologically informed framework for the service.
• To participate in the service's delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
KR 3 Policy and service development
• To follow policies and procedures in own area of work
• To participate in the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local
communities. KR 4 Care or management of resources
• To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust's equipment and physical resources.
• To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting supplies as needed.
• To be responsible for safe-keeping of equipment or stock provided to the post holder and informing the supervising psychologist or
manager when stock requires replenishing (may apply to psychometric tests, specialised stationery etc. KR 5 Teaching and Training
• To participate in demonstrating work methods to newly recruited honorary or substantive Assistant Psychologists and to support their
development of necessary skills.
• To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations or published articles.
• If required: To arrange, schedule and co-facilitate training to employees of the Trust or employees of partner agencies in order to
support service awareness and improvement. KR 6 Record-keeping and Information Governance
• To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
• Under the supervision of the practitioner psychologist to maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing,
according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.
• To maintain data bases and enter data, and perform analyses and produce reports.
KR 7 Research and development
• To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research projects to inform the service psychologists and others in the
development of Trust psychology and other services, training provision and research activities.
• To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.
Interviewer information pack
• To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist in the development in the Trust of evidence based practice.
• Under guidance to conduct surveys with service users and carers to gather views on service provision
KR 8 Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development
• To receive regular clinical and professional supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines
• To gain wider experience of professional psychology within the NHS over and above that provided within the principal service area
where the post-holder is employed.
• To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.
• To undertake personal training relevant to the post in agreement with the supervising psychologist and the manager.
KR 9 General
• To travel to home visits, professional network and psychology meetings as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
• To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its
management
• To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations and to support others involved in such situations.
• To work flexibly which may include offering some regular commitment to late clinics, within the overall Job Plan in order to support service user and partner / carer engagement.
The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by: + Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice + Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment + We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity Please note: + That all applications for this post will need to be made online + That you read and understand the Job Description and Person Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria + That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible + That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs + That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not been successful + That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees + That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process + That we are a smoke-free Trust SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe' Helpful Resource: How to Use TRAC for Job Applications If you're preparing to apply for a role, this guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to use TRAC effectively throughout the application process: Using TRAC to apply

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond. We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good'. We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers. The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust. Our Values We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special. As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working., SLAM provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training. SLaM employ around 5000 staff and serve a local population of 1.1 million people. We have more than 230 services including inpatient wards, outpatient and community services. Currently, provide inpatient care for approximately 5,300 people each year and treat more than 45,000 patients in the community in Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; as well as substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich. By coming to work at SLaM, you will gain experience of being part of an organisation with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care. You will have access to professional development and learning opportunities, and have the chance to work alongside people who are world leaders in their field. Our working relationship with King's Health Partners allows those working at the Trust to get involved in academic research.