Band 4 - Assistant Psychologist - Bristol

We are looking to recruit an assistant psychologist, with an interest in working with autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities who present a significant risk to others, to join our friendly multi-disciplinary team at Cary Ward, Fromeside.
Cary Ward is an 8 bed medium secure ward for men with autism and /or a learning disability within our Secure Services. Secure services consists of Fromeside, an 81 bed medium secure unit and Wickham, a 30 bed low secure unit, both based on the Blackberry Hill Hospital site in north Bristol. Cary Ward multi-disciplinary team includes representation from clinical and forensic psychology, speech and language therapy, mental health and learning disabilities nursing, psychiatry, education, social work and occupational therapy.
This role will be jointly supervised by a forensic psychologist and a speech and language therapist, and will involve clinical work focusing on individuals' communication needs, as well as more focused psychological work. The role will include developing accessible materials for service users, co-facilitating therapeutic groups and contributing to the development and implementation of positive behavioural support plans., We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service users.
Please apply to join us, we would love to hear from you. Any personal details you supply to us are kept safe in line with the General Data Protection Regulations.
Adverts normally close for application a few minutes before midnight on the closing date and we will let you know if we are offering you an interview by email via our recruitment system 'TRAC'. We contact all applicants within 4 weeks after the closing date, so please check your emails regularly once you have submitted your application; you are welcome to contact us, via the TRAC system, if you have any queries about your application.
The post-holder will receive regular supervision from a qualified psychologist as well as a qualified speech and language therapist. They will join an experienced and friendly psychology department with expertise in working with sex offenders, violence, trauma and with service users with a diagnosis of personality disorder. There is a range of expertise within the department including different clinical models and approaches; there are good support, supervision and management structures., 1. Under supervision, assess and provide psychological interventions and/or co-lead group work for users of the Secure Services and communicate complex and sensitive information to users who may be distressed or angry.
2. To administer and score psychometric tests with users of the Secure Services including making judgements about suitability of assessment at the time and deciding on alternative options as necessary.
3. To support the full implementation of the Care Programme Approach in Secure Services.
4. To participate in regular clinical supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines.
Professional
1. To fully observe the BPS (2006) Code of Ethics and Conduct and the DCP (1995) Professional Practice Guidelines.
2. To participate in Secure Service professional and business meetings as appropriate.
3. To be aware of, and to adhere to Trust, Psychology Service and Secure Services policies and procedures.
Research and Development
1. To provide support to Secure Services in the completion of research projects.
2. To collect and input research data as supervised by the Research Lead for Secure Services.
3. To learn to apply psychometric questionnaires and cognitive assessment under the supervision of an appropriate member of the Secure Services Clinical Psychology Department.
4. To become familiar with and implement the use of statistical software (SPSS) as appropriate for analysis of research data.
5. To conduct administrative tasks, including use of IT skills and record-keeping, for support of research projects.
6. To contribute to presentation of project data/outcome at research meetings or Clinical Governance meetings if required.
Clinical Governance
1. To liaise with other professionals and agencies working with the Secure Services to ensure that best practice is shared.
2. To promote the use of effective interventions and research methodologies in the Secure Services.
3. To participate in Clinical Governance processes in the Secure Services.
Teaching and Training
1. To attend Assistant Psychologist local and regional meetings.
2. To participate in appropriate training courses and workshops as directed by supervisor.
3. To contribute towards the research training of other members of the multidisciplinary team in the Secure Services, working in collaboration with the Clinical Psychology Department, as required.
Communications and Working Relationships
1. Professional Lead for Psychology, Secure Services.
2. Clinical Psychologists at Fromeside and Wickham Unit
3. Fromeside Staff
4. Mental Health Professionals in Avon, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset.
We are proud to be fostering a diverse workforce that reflects our communities. A key commitment to this is improving staff representation from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, those from the LGBTQ+ communities, people with 'lived-experience' of mental health conditions and people living with disabilities,- we are a 'Disability Confident Employer' offering a guaranteed interview to Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria.
We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service users.
Please apply to join us, we would love to hear from you. Any personal details you supply to us are kept safe in line with the General Data Protection Regulations.
Adverts normally close for application a few minutes before midnight on the closing date and we will let you know if we are offering you an interview by email via our recruitment system 'TRAC'. We contact all applicants within 4 weeks after the closing date, so please check your emails regularly once you have submitted your application; you are welcome to contact us, via the TRAC system, if you have any queries about your application.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) describes algorithms that can be used to produce new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos. It is developing all the time and is now being used as a support mechanism for all kinds of content-based creations. Please note the use of AI is monitored and if you have used it in your application you are required to declare this.

Working for our organisation
We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust): a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.
We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.
Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.
At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.