Job Description
**Clinical Psychologist for Children's Residential Care** A Clinical Psychologist is sought to provide psychological assessments, interventions, and therapeutic support to children and adolescents in residential care who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, or other adverse childhood experiences. **Key Responsibilities:** * Conduct comprehensive psychological assessments of children to identify trauma, emotional difficulties, behavioural challenges, and mental health issues. * Use trauma-specific assessment tools and psychometric measures to determine the impact of adverse childhood experiences on development and mental health. * Provide diagnostic clarification of disorders such as PTSD, anxiety, depression, attachment disorders, and behavioural issues. * Develop and implement trauma-informed therapeutic interventions for children, including individual, group, and family therapy. * Provide evidence-based interventions, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and other modalities suited to working with trauma. * Offer crisis intervention as needed, addressing issues related to self-harm, suicidal ideation, and emotional distress. * Support children in managing emotional regulation, developing coping skills, and building resilience in their day-to-day lives. * Collaborate with the residential care team, social workers, medical professionals, and educational staff to create holistic, child-centred care plans that promote healing and recovery. * Participate in multi-disciplinary team meetings to discuss case formulations, treatment plans, and progress. * Provide psychoeducation to caregivers, foster parents, and residential care workers on trauma, attachment, and developmental needs. * Facilitate family interventions where applicable, helping to strengthen family bonds and resolve attachment-related issues. * Provide consultation to residential care staff on the psychological needs of the children and strategies to support trauma-informed care in everyday practice. * Offer guidance on managing challenging behaviour, emotional dysregulation, and attachment-related difficulties. * Deliver training to residential staff and social workers on trauma and its impact on children, attachment theory, managing behaviour in a trauma-informed way, and recognising signs of psychological distress. * Contribute to the development of psychological services within the residential care system, ensuring that interventions are trauma-informed and evidence-based. * Participate in quality improvement initiatives aimed at enhancing the mental health support provided in residential settings. * Conduct or contribute to research projects focused on trauma and its impact on children in residential care, with a view to informing service delivery and policy development. * Use outcome measures to monitor the effectiveness of interventions and adapt treatment plans as needed. * Ensure the highest standards of safeguarding and child protection in all interactions with children. * Report concerns in accordance with Irish child protection laws and regulations. **Qualifications and Experience:** * A Doctorate in Clinical Psychology recognised by the Psychological Society of Ireland and be fully registered with the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) * A minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience working with children and adolescents, preferably in residential care or similar settings * Experience in working with trauma, abuse, and attachment-related issues * Demonstrated competence in psychological assessments, particularly trauma-informed assessments * Training in evidence-based therapeutic approaches for trauma (e.g., TF-CBT, EMDR) * Proven ability to work with complex cases involving emotional and behavioural difficulties in children and adolescents