Principal Clinical/Counselling Child Psychologist Refugee Service | NELFT NHS Foundation Trust
| Posting date: | 04 April 2024 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £58,972 - £68,525 per annum |
| Hours: | Part time |
| Closing date: | 04 May 2024 |
| Location: | Petersfield Avenue, Harold Hill Romford, RM3 9PB |
| Company: | North East London NHS Foundation Trust |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 6177526/395-PP |
Summary
We are keen to recruit an enthusiastic and committed Clinical or Counselling Psychologist who shares a passion for human rights and social justice. The post will suit someone wanting who is passionate about addressing the needs of particularly vulnerable groups to lead and develop newly commissioned Havering Refugee and Asylum Seekers services. We offer excellent development opportunities including high quality and regular supervision, opportunities for research, and close working with other specialist refugee and trauma services across the London region. You should have highly developed skills in the treatment of trauma and in supervision. If you would like to make a positive difference to the lives of survivors, we would love to hear from you.
Havering
Havering is a richly diverse and multi-cultural borough with an excellent network of external agencies with whom we are increasing our link working to improve the holistic approach to service user care. We would encourage applicants to apply who represent this diversity. We would also encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health difficulties and/or caring responsibilities to apply recognising the importance of this expertise and the representation of these voices. Havering is a semi-rural borough with large open green spaces whilst also benefiting from excellent transport links with London and the wider county of Essex.
The post holder will be part of a new mental health outreach support service in Havering that is dedicated to supporting refugees and asylum seekers within Havering. The post holder will be expected to offer psychological assessment and therapy to children (aged under 18) asylum seekers, refugees and families living in the borough of Havering. The post holder will act as a key focal point for discussions around supporting asylum seekers and refugees with mental health difficulties and will be involved in some community development work with community and voluntary sector organisations around mental health and wellbeing, providing teaching and training on relevant topics.
The post holder will operate within the asylum seeker and refugee arm of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and will be expected to work refer on/work closely with other relevant health and social care services available through Havering.
The post holder must have experience of working with adults, children and families and experience of risk assessment, risk management and safeguarding protocols as well as understanding of the difficulties faced by those from an asylum seeker and refugee background (e.g. language barriers, ability to engage with services). They should be sensitive to working with a culturally diverse community and understand culturally specific views on mental health.
The post holder will support the delivery of the NELFT trauma informed care strategy in the Havering locality.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £4,313 to a maximum of £5,436 p.a. pro rata for part time).
High Cost Area Supplement - Fringe
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 5% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £1,192 to a maximum of £2,011 p.a. pro rata for part time).
The post holder will carry out professionally based duties and responsibilities in the following areas:
• To provide a psychological wellbeing outreach service to all asylum seekers and refugees who live in Havering.
• To address emotional distress that asylum seekers and refugees experience in a non-stigmatising context.
• To raise awareness about the benefits of therapeutic interventions among the asylum seeker and refugee population, reduce stigma, and improve access to support for those who do not conceptualise their difficulties as psychological.
• Building trauma alliance with the system to provide early intervention and understanding of trauma from a population health perspective.
• To provide a holistic assessment and therapy service to asylum seeker and refugee children, young people and families who present with complex needs that require specialist intervention.
• To offer a flexible care model that may include offering assessments and/or therapy within the hotels, family homes (if clinically appropriate for the presenting difficulties and intervention), offices and buildings of organisations working with asylum seekers and refugees in Havering, as well as in primary and secondary schools, and community settings as required.
• To offer culturally appropriate and gender sensitive interventions that mobilise individual and collective strengths and are based on genuine partnership and collaboration, actively involving the service users in decision making in order to contribute to long-term empowerment.
• To encourage positive coping strategies and contribute to building resilience amongst children and young people and their families, in order to enable them to manage emotional challenges and difficulties safely, and lay down the foundations for good mental health.
• To reduce the need for crisis-led/statutory services in the short, medium and long term.
• To liaise with other professional within CAMHS, Talking Therapies, GPs education, social care and safeguarding services as appropriate to ensure the safety and wellbeing of asylum seekers and refugees.
• To deliver psycho-educational and psychosocial group activities to support asylum seekers, refugees and their families to support understanding of normal responses to loss, trauma and stress, and enhancing self- confidence and the wellbeing of Service users in order to promote their ability to integrate into communities.
• To deliver psycho-educational groups and reflective practice for those working closely with asylum seekers and refugees to support understanding of normal responses to loss, trauma and stress, and enhancing self- confidence and the wellbeing of Service users in order to promote their ability to integrate into communities.
• Liaising closely with refugee community groups and partnership agencies, working within an outreach model and community psychology principles in order to upskill the system in understanding trauma and creating enablement for this population group.
Please refer to the Job Description & Person Specification attachment.
This advert closes on Thursday 18 Apr 2024