CHILDREN?S INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION PATHWAYS
TITLE: CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST (BASIC GRADE)
HOURS: 3 days a week
SALARY: Dependent on experience
LOCATION: Childhood Matters, The Bessborough Centre, Blackrock, Cork
RESPONSIBLE TO: CHIPPS Clinical Lead (Senior Clinical Psychologist, Dr
Emma Ronayne)
Childhood Matters is the new trading name of The Bessborough Centre.
CHIPPS, the Childhood Matters Child in Care Mental Health team, is
seeking to recruit a Basic Grade Clinical Psychologist to join our
MDT.
CHIPPS is a mental health service for children aged **Apply on the
website** years who are in the care of Tusla. The work that we carry
out is psychology-led, attachment-based, trauma-informed, and
specialist in nature. We offer a stepped-care model of intervention
with therapeutic input taking various forms including consultation to
social care and other professionals; groups (both psychoeducational
and therapeutic) for children/young people/foster carers as well as
direct, individual therapy for children/young people and their carers.
Interventions are attachment-focussed and incorporate dyadic and
systemic ways of working with the child, carers and team around them,
drawing on models such as Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP);
Theraplay; Mentalisation-Based Treatment (MBT) approaches; Sensory
Attachment Intervention (SAI), and Therapeutic Life Story Work (TLSW),
among others. Our Multidisciplinary Team is currently comprised of
clinical psychologists, assistant psychologists, a play therapist,
child art psychotherapist and specialist occupational therapist.
The successful candidate will play a key role in contributing to MDT
discussions of each referred child?s needs as well as those of the
system around them, formulating the presenting difficulties and
considering appropriate intervention. The clinician joining our team
will provide both direct and indirect therapeutic input. They will
liaise with partner agencies to endeavour to achieve positive outcomes
for children in care and their carers, working to build/restore
placement stability and enhance key relationships in the child?s
family/support network.
The role will include offering specialist training and consultation to
colleagues and the wider team/system around the child, such as social
workers, teachers, foster carers, and residential and support workers
supporting children in care. We are committed to embedding an
evidence-based culture of trauma-informed care and therapeutic
practice and therefore keen to continually assess the effectiveness of
our service. All clinicians are asked to complete routine outcome
measures and carefully consider the effect(s) of their interventions
in collaboration with the MDT.
The Bessborough Centre is a trauma-informed and equal-opportunity
employer. We offer competitive salary packages as well as benefits
including enhanced maternity leave; pension contribution scheme;
health care plans; flexible working hours; internal and externally
provided training opportunities, and competitive annual leave
entitlement.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
* To work as a member of CHIPPS multi-disciplinary team, providing
high-quality, specialist psychological input in-person to children in
care and their carers, also offering guidance via telephone or video
conference, email support, consultation, assessments and treatment to
children and their parents/carers
* To support psychological practice within the team through
consultation, supervision, formulation and training/education
* To be responsible for holding and managing a clinical caseload and
exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the planning and
prioritising of own workload and the assessment, treatment and
discharge of clients within the bounds of the service?s operational
policies
* To engage with service development opportunities, developing
leadership capacity and autonomous responsibility where appropriate
* To operate as lead clinician on complex cases in interagency
contexts when required
* To compile comprehensive assessment and treatment reports and any
other reports as required in connection to the children and their
parents with whom they are working.
* To use analytical and judgment skills and be responsible for
taking clinical management decisions in complex clinical issues (with
support of senior colleagues)
* To provide consultation, mentorship, supervision and advice about
psychological issues to other members of the team/service and other
professionals working with service users, across a range of agencies/
settings as appropriate.
* Promote an effective and productive team ethos, fostering our
Childhood Matters trauma-informed and trauma-responsive approach at
all times
* Promote equality, diversity and human rights, and treat others
with dignity and respect ensuring services are developed, managed and
delivered to meet specific needs linked to protected characteristics.
* Promote equality, diversity and Human Rights in working practices
by developing and maintaining positive working relationships, ensuring
that colleagues are treated fairly and contributing to developing
equality of opportunity and outcomes in working practices
* Contribute to developing and maintaining equality of opportunity
in working practices by complying with legislation and organisational
policies. Advise colleagues about equality, diversity and human rights
policies and procedures and ensure they are followed
* To attend court, if required, as an expert witness.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
QUALIFICATIONS:
* Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (or equivalent if training was
pre-doctorate accreditation)
EXPERIENCE:
* Experience of providing attachment-based psychological
interventions to children who have experienced developmental trauma is
essential
ESSENTIAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE
* An ability to offer attachment-focussed, evidence-based
psychological interventions tailored to meet the individual needs of
children/young people and their carers referred to CHIPPS
* An ability to work dyadically with carers and children as well as
systemically with the network around the child
* Familiarity with key legislation relating to children in the care
of the state and awareness of partner agencies involved in working
with children in care
* Experience in conducting cognitive assessments and using
psychometric tests and routine outcome measures in child mental health
services
* Skills in the provision of supervision and consultation to both
external and internal professionals and teams (where appropriate and
dependent on level of experience)
* Excellent communication skills (oral and written) and an ability
to explain psychological concepts to non-clinical
professionals/colleagues as well as to children/young people and
carers
* Excellent time management skills and an ability to meet deadlines
and prioritise workload
* Exceptional organisational skills and a capacity to balance
clinical tasks and administrative workload including clinical
note-writing, letter/report writing, updating of services databases
etc.
* High level of knowledge of developmental trauma, attachment, child
development and neurodiversity, and child and adolescent mental health
issues
* Awareness of the complexities and challenges of working
therapeutically with children who have experienced developmental
trauma as well as their carers and the system around the child
* Knowledge of psychological theory and research in the field of
developmental trauma, attachment and therapeutic models and frameworks
relevant to this population
* An understanding of the use creative, non-directive approaches in
therapy for children who have experienced developmental trauma
* An excellent understanding of safeguarding children issues as well
as an understanding of care and control, notification procedures and
equal opportunities, data protection and general good practice
* Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Outlook; Power Point, and
Excel
DESIRABLE SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE
* CPD/training completed in any of our core therapeutic models
including Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP); Theraplay;
Mentalisation-Based Treatment (MBT) approaches; Sensory Attachment
Intervention (SAI), Therapeutic Life Story Work (TLSW) or other
attachment-focussed interventions and systemic approaches to working
with developmental trauma
* Experience of consulting to/liaising with social care teams and
professional groups such as teachers, court-appointed guardians and
other professionals in the justice system
* Post-qualification experience as a Clinical Psychologist in a
child mental health setting
* Experience of using digital clinical record systems
TO APPLY
To apply submit your CV and covering letter to Human Resources
Department, Bessborough Centre, Blackrock, Cork or email: **Apply on
the website** by 5pm on Thursday **Apply on the website**th February
**Apply on the website**. Interviews will be held week beginning
**Apply on the website**th February at Childhood Matters in Blackrock,
Cork.
We need : English (Good)
Type: Permanent
Payment:
Category: Health
