Clinical Psychologist (Ref 4203)
- Multiple Locations
- Full Time
- £48,526 - £54,619 per annum
Devon’s Bridges Service (formerly known as Edge of Care) aims to bring together a range of disciplines to work intensively and flexibly, to provide timely and creative support to meet the complex needs of young people and their families and to prevent care being needed.
The role
- Are you an experienced clinician looking for a new challenge and opportunity to join an innovative service at a time of exciting change within Devon Children’s Services?
- Can you work with children, young people and their parents/carers, providing evidence-based interventions in the community at times of crisis?
- Are you experienced and skilled in working with adolescents who are at risk of entering the care of the local authority?
- Would you like to be a part of an innovative service within Devon Children’s Services to better respond to the needs of adolescents in order to prevent the need to enter care?
- Would you like to experience life in one of the UK’s most beautiful areas, with exciting cities, charming countryside and magnificent coastlines?
We are looking for applicants who can bring skills, experience and enthusiasm to meet the needs of children and young people and their families with complex emotional and mental health needs in the community.
You will join our new and innovative Bridges Service, which is part of Devon’s Children’s Services, at an exciting time of change. In this important role you will use your extensive skills and experience as a clinical psychologist to deliver high quality care, developing and sustaining relationships across agencies and working as a core member of a multi-disciplinary team. We use the STAIRS model (a collaborative, analytic, evidence-based approach) alongside a restorative approach, drawing on trauma-informed practice and understanding the impact of attachment relationships in our work. Using both evidenced based practice and routine outcome measures, you will use a strength-based approach to work collaboratively with young people and families, in line with Devon Children’s Services key principles.
Children in Care Council, 2016:
“We need workers who think about how they treat us. This means workers who treat us fairly and who show us they care. We don’t want to be labelled and we should be treated like normal people; don’t look down on us"
Workers need excellent communication skills, this includes listening skills. Our workers need to be able to listen to our views, ask how and what we are feeling and make sure they understand what we are saying by checking back with us. We expect our workers to demonstrate that they respect us and our experience in real ways by not taking phone calls during meetings, and by writing down what we say and talking in short simple language.
Finally, we expect our workers to work hard for us. This means doing what they say they will do, sticking to promises and not making excuses. We expect our workers to respond promptly to us and provide up to date contact details, especially for ‘out of hours’. It is important that workers build good relationships with us and are flexible and willing to change their view and always do what is best for us.”
About you
You will be an experienced Clinical Psychologist with post-graduate doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology with professional registration with Health Care Professions Council. You will be experienced in working with children, young people and their parents and carers and have direct experience of working with adults and children with trauma histories, attachment insecurity and emotional/ behavioural difficulties.
You will be able to work alongside colleagues in a multi-disciplinary team and develop relationships across agencies to meet the needs of children and families. The ability to adapt communication and intervention style to meet individual need is important and you will have knowledge of child development and child protection procedures. Experience in working with adolescents and their families with complex needs would be desirable.
Managing risk and being able to assess mental health presentations in the community is a core part of this role, responding to both urgent and routine, planned and unplanned need. You will be required to work flexibly across a range of clinical, community and home-based settings to meet the needs of the child, which could include working occasional evenings and weekends if appropriate.
You will be responsible for providing and supervising therapeutic intervention that is trauma-informed, strengths-focused, evidence-based and tailored to meet the needs of the child/young person and their family/carer. Supervision of other team members from different disciplines and trainees is expected to be part of your role as you share your skills and knowledge with those around you. There is a commitment from the service to offer high quality CPD opportunities to all our staff, in line with HCPC and BPS requirements and there will be opportunities for protected time for individual therapeutic interventions to progress particular therapeutic modalities as appropriate.
Personally, we’re looking for an individual who is passionate about working with children/ young people in the community with the confidence to intervene to meet a range of mental health needs and a desire to work with others to continually improve what we do.
For an informal discussion about the role please contact Molly Bodinetz, Senior Clinical Psychologist on 07890 031 710 or molly.bodinetz@devon.gov.uk.
Interview Date: 28th February 2023.
Living here
Devon provides a unique, varied and beautiful environment. The coastal areas of North and South Devon and Torbay provide excellent opportunities for water sports. The National Parks, Dartmoor and Exmoor, are havens for country lovers. Exeter is a thriving University City offering culture and city life. There are excellent rail, road and air connections, with a regional airport in Exeter.
- We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
- DCC embraces the positive benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to providing an environment that is inclusive and safe. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to stop discrimination, challenge inequality and promote diversity across Devon. More information can be found on our Equality and Diversity webpages.
- The Council offers flexible working arrangements in terms of when and where people work e.g. hybrid working, part-time, condensed hours etc.
- This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
- Personal data we collect from you will be processed in accordance with the Applicant privacy notice.
- Happy to Talk Flexible Working.
- For more information about Working for Devon please visit our Working for Devon page.
- This role requires a DBS disclosure.