Everyone deserves a safe place to call home.
Company Limited by Guarantee number 1741926 Charity Number 287779 Registered in England as Single Homeless Project
shp Single Homeless Project
| Job title: | Assistant Psychologist |
| Delegated Authority: | Level 8 |
| Team: | SHP Psychology Services/Camden Outreach |
| Responsible to: | Assistant Director Health and Psychological Services |
| Responsible for: | N/A |
Job purpose
This role exists because psychological support should not depend on someone being easy to reach, easy to engage, or ready to ask for help. As an Assistant Psychologist in SHP’s Camden Rough Sleeping Outreach & Hub Service, you will help make mental health support more accessible to people whose needs may have been missed, misunderstood or left unmet for too long.
Working alongside the resident Clinical Psychologist, you will help bring psychological thinking into the heart of frontline rough sleeping support. This means helping the service look beyond presenting behaviours and understand people’s experiences in the context of trauma, exclusion, poor health, substance use, poverty and repeated system failure.
Your work will support more compassionate, curious and effective responses that reduce harm, strengthen engagement and help people move towards safety, accommodation and longer-term stability. You will also help staff feel more confident and supported to work in trauma-informed and psychologically informed ways, even when the work is complex.
You will be part of SHP’s wider Psychological Services offer, with clinical supervision, learning and development, and the support of colleagues working across psychotherapy, reflective practice and psychologically informed environments. This is an opportunity to grow your practice in a service where psychology is brought closer to people’s real lives — helping create the conditions for trust, recovery and lasting change.
Key accountabilities
Client Work
Complete psychosocial assessments with clients, both through outreach and within the Hub, to help identify mental health needs, risks, strengths and support options.
Support initial mental capacity assessments, where appropriate, to inform clinical decisionmaking, referrals, advocacy and wider support planning.
Under the guidance of the Clinical Psychologist, provide one-to-one psychological support and therapeutic interventions that help build trust, reduce harm and support engagement.
Contribute to client risk management, safety planning, safeguarding and referral pathways, ensuring relevant information is recorded and shared appropriately.
Support the development and delivery of accessible psychosocial group work at the Hub, shaped with clients, staff, peers and partner agencies.
Teamwork and Practice Development
Work with the Clinical Psychologist, Outreach and Hub teams to develop shared psychological formulations that strengthen support planning and client engagement.
Support staff to use trauma-informed, relational and psychologically informed approaches in their day-to-day work with clients.
Contribute to reflective practice, facilitated case discussions and critical incident debriefs, where appropriate and agreed.
Attend and contribute to team meetings, handovers, away days and Psychological Services meetings, sharing learning and supporting joined-up practice.
Work with local managers and the Clinical Psychologist to ensure the role is focused, purposeful and clearly understood across the service.
Partnership Working
Build effective working relationships with local statutory mental health services, housing, health, substance use and other relevant providers.
Support appropriate referrals, advocacy and joint work so clients can access the right support at the right time.
Work with SHP colleagues and external partners to strengthen Camden’s wider response to rough sleeping, mental health and multiple disadvantage.
Contribute to organisational learning across SHP by sharing insight from the role and supporting the development of good practice.
Information Management
Record client contacts, assessments, interventions and outcomes promptly and accurately on SHP’s client recording systems.
Ensure client records, support plans, risk information and safeguarding updates are clear, current and shared with relevant colleagues.
Maintain confidentiality and ensure clients understand how information about their support may be recorded, accessed and shared.
Support the service to gather and understand data on psychosocial need, mental health, engagement and the impact of psychological interventions.
Health, Safety and Service Environment
Follow SHP policies, procedures and safe working practices, including those relating to outreach, hub-based work, individual sessions and group work.
Contribute to safe, informed and trauma-aware practice for both clients and staff.
Support the service to consider how the physical and social environment of the Hub can promote safety, dignity, engagement and recovery.
Personal and Professional Development
Take an active role in supervision, reflective practice, probation, appraisal and ongoing learning.
Keep up to date with relevant research, guidance and practice, including developments in trauma, mental health, rough sleeping and multiple disadvantage.
Work autonomously within the boundaries of the role, using supervision appropriately and following professional and organisational guidance.
Contribute to the learning and development of SHP’s Psychological Services Team, while continuing to grow your own practice and confidence.
Miscellaneous
SHP is at discretion to amend your responsibilities and, in addition to these, you may be required to perform other duties as may be required for the efficient running of the organisation.
To create inclusive working environments and cultures to enable colleagues and clients to feel safe and empowered to achieve their full potential.
Technical and professional know-how needed for position
When completing your application, you will be required to address (using examples) some of the points below
Experience and Knowledge
An understanding of the psychosocial experience, and support needs, of adults experiencing multiple disadvantage including street homelessness, substance use, mental ill-health, offending and physical ill health.
Experience of carrying out psychosocial and associated assessments
An understanding of psychologically informed environments (PIE) and trauma-informed approaches, and how this may be applied to street outreach and hub-based work
Two years post-academic qualification experience of health and/ or social work in homelessness or ‘like’ fields of work.
A basic knowledge of pertinent research and national guidance relevant to the client group.
A basic knowledge of relevant legislation and its implications for clinical practice with this client group (Including but not limited to the Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act & The Care Act)
An understanding of, and commitment to, equitable and inclusive practice.
Skills and Abilities
Completion of an accredited undergraduate Psychology degree, and/or post-graduate psychology conversion course.
Two years post-academic qualification experience of health and/or social care work in homelessness and ‘like’ fields of work.
Evidence relational skills in building trust with people who are likely to have had previous negative experiences of care and a range of bio-psycho-social needs that may be unmet.
Ability to work with others and prepare/ submit, advocate and/or liaise with external bodies over referrals including mental health, substance use, health and social care services.
Interest in, and commitment to developing and delivering consultancy to facilitate staff teams’ thinking and approach through reflective practice, case discussion/ formulation, and training.