Seeking allied health professionals for SMHS mental health services
Clinical psychologists Dr Emily South and Jessica Prasopsang
Allied health professionals form a vital part of the multidisciplinary teams that combine to deliver mental health services within the South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS).
SMHS takes in a large geographic area that includes major metropolitan hubs, rural regional centres and rapidly expanding coastal towns. The service is anchored by our hospitals including Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH), Fremantle Hospital and Rockingham General Hospital (RGH).
With increasing demand for SMHS mental health services, we are investing in new beds and services to support the needs of the community, and we are looking for suitably skilled and passionate allied health professionals, including clinical psychologists and clinical neuropsychologists to join the team.
Clinical psychologists form part of the front line of our mental health response and work to create better evidenced based outcomes for patients, their families and loved ones, and the broader community by providing clinical and psychometric assessment, differential diagnosis, formulation and psychological treatment of mental health, behavioural and emotional disorders to individuals, including evidenced based group programmes.
Hear from two of our clinical psychologists about what it is like to work in mental health at SMHS:
- Dr Emily South from the FSH Mental Health Assessment Unit and Mental Health Consultation Liaison Service
- Jessica Prasopsang from the RGH Consultation Liaison Service and Rockingham Peel Group (RkPG) Community Mental Health Service Early Episode Psychosis Program.
What do you like about working in mental health?
Emily: I like working in mental health because I find the work is very dynamic and varied so I see a broad range of people and clinical presentations. I also really enjoy working as a part of a broader multidisciplinary team – both within mental health and across FSH medical and surgical teams. I enjoy working collaboratively with medical, nursing and allied health professions who are all focused on common patient centred outcomes. I also value the opportunity to work with patients who are experiencing psychological and or mental health difficulties in the context of their medical and health problems.
Jessica: The mental health service at RkPG have an incredibly dedicated, supportive and knowledgeable team. We have fantastic colleagues who go above and beyond for each other and the cohesive working nature is evident in the high standard of care and outcomes for our clients. RkPG works hard to support everyone’s career goals by providing opportunities to transfer and learn from different teams allowing us to gain further experience and training, whilst applying our own specialised skillset and knowledge to other areas. The demographic we work with can be very vulnerable and complex and this typically attracts passionate clinicians with similar values, fostering a like-minded and supportive team culture.
What is involved in your role as a clinical psychologist in mental health?
Emily: My role varies to a degree depending on the setting I’m working in. On the mental health assessment unit, I typically see people for a one-off psychological assessment or session. In the mental health consultation liaison service, I might see someone once, or for the duration of their admission in hospital, depending on their needs. Primarily, my role involves delivering comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments and formulations of presenting issues – this means trying to understand why this person is presenting to hospital with their current set of challenges. Another big part of my role is looking at, based on this formulation, what this person needs in the community for ongoing support. Importantly, my role also involves providing feedback to the treating team and broader multidisciplinary team – both to inform discharge treatment recommendations and inform the care of that person during their stay in the hospital. In the general hospital, this may look like liaison and consultation with treating medical teams to optimise patients care and engagement in treatment or rehabilitation. As an early career clinical psychologist, I am not directly engaged in offering clinical supervision, though plan to complete my board approved supervisor training in due course to enable the development of trainees within the department. Finally, my role more broadly includes ongoing evaluation of the services we provide as clinical psychologists.
Jessica: My role within the RkPG is multifaceted. In addition to individual and group therapeutic psychological intervention, my role includes cognitive assessments, training and education of staff and students, conducting innovative research relevant to our client demographic, development, implementation and evaluation of programs and consultation to different areas of the service. Supervision of clinical psychology trainees and registrars may also be involved. The role allows for flexibility in pursuing specific areas of clinical interest and I am fortunate that within my consultation liaison role, I work between mental health and general medical teams. This has allowed me to integrate mental health into the medical system. My priority is de-stigmatising and humanising mental health issues whilst providing holistic care and supporting patients through various life-impacting medical journeys. In addition, educating and supporting staff across the hospital about trauma-informed care and watching the ripple effect has been very rewarding and one of the best parts of my role.
For anyone considering applying for mental health clinical psychology roles at SMHS, what advice do you have?
Emily: Do it, it’s a great opportunity to work within the public health system with a wonderful group of clinicians who are passionate about patient care. From the moment I began in the clinical psychology & clinical neuropsychology department, I found everyone to be extremely welcoming and willing to share their time. There is a clear structure provided by the department in regard to health department processes, professional practice and supervision that is really containing and I always feel well-supported as a clinician within that framework. I always feel supported to grow and develop as a clinical psychologist with the encouragement and opportunities for professional development, quality improvement research and service development. We’ve got a great department with psychologists embedded in multiple clinical specialities across the hospital meaning you have the opportunity to rotate through different areas and really diversify your skill set. I began at FSH as a clinical psychology registrar and have completed my registrar program in the department. I found it was a great environment as a registrar because you’re getting really valuable experience in the hospital, and you’re consistently supported by experienced clinicians and senior staff.
Jessica: I would encourage any clinical psychologist or clinical psychology registrar to apply if they would like to develop their assessment, psychotherapeutic intervention, research and consultation skills. Particularly if their interest is working with vulnerable clients with challenging and complex needs, and who enjoy working within a supportive multidisciplinary team. The breadth of presentations that you are exposed to and the opportunity to learn every day from the highly knowledgeable multidisciplinary team builds a solid foundation for confidently working with a wide range of presentations of varying acuity throughout your career.
We are currently looking for allied health professionals with all levels of skills and experience to search our current vacancies (external site) within SMHS mental health or to reach out and have a discussion with one of our recruitment team members by completing an expression of interest form.
SMHS are not just looking for locals either. If you are located in other parts of Australia or overseas, you are encouraged to follow in the footsteps of many of our staff who have decided to make Western Australia their home.
