Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist NHS AfC: Band 8a

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides specialist mental health, learning disability, and community healthcare services for the population of the Black Country.

Across the whole of the region we provide:

• Adult and older adult mental health services
• Specialist learning disability services
• Mental health services for children and young people
• Community healthcare services for children, young people and families in Dudley

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was formed on 1 April 2020, with the merger of Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Combining resources, strategies and talented workforce enables us to deliver a wider variety of outstanding services that are based on best practice and are continually improving.

We currently employ over 3,500 people and just like the population we serve, we are made up of diverse cultures and backgrounds. Whatever your role, working in a NHS Foundation Trust, like ours, is a demanding and extremely rewarding experience. Knowing that every day you can help to make a positive difference to someone’s life is a very powerful feeling. We know that our Trust runs on this desire to help and support people, and our Trust vision expresses this. Our vision is to improve health and wellbeing for everyone, especially our colleagues to achieve the best possible work/life balance.

We proudly offer supportive, inclusive and family friendly employment and flexible working policies. We have a wide range of professional services and employee networks to help our colleagues be at their best - and find support if they need it. To find more about our staff benefits, please visit our website: blackcountryhealthcare.nhs.uk. 

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and ethnic minority candidates are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Black Country Healthcare we recognise and value all forms of knowledge and expertise, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification or criteria in the job description/person specification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

For further supporting information to help you apply for this role please see documents attached under ‘Additional documents’.

Job overview

We are looking for an enthusiastic and passionate Psychologist to join our Community Mental Health Service. 

The Service provides recovery focused intervention to working age adults with a range of presentations. You will work alongside other psychologists and an MDT to provide focused and goal-oriented interventions, in line with NICE guidance and the wider evidence base. Clients present with a range of complex needs and there are opportunities to deliver and develop a range of psychological interventions skills including CBT, DBT, and EMDR among others.

The service is currently embarking on Community Mental Health Service Transformation, meaning that there is scope to be involved in decision making and advocating for service design and structure. At 8a level we would want a candidate who is able to demonstrate and develop leadership skills in supporting the service to develop as an accessible and effective mental health treatment team. 

You will need to have the ability to build effective therapeutic relationships with clients and also have good working relationships with team members. There is a strong emphasis on this being a supportive team and you would be supported and offer support to others through individual supervision, group supervision, workshops and a compassionate working environment. There are opportunities for professional development through close working relationships with principal and consultant psychologists as well as training and initiatives.

Main duties of the job

Working within a multidisciplinary team, you will be providing psychological interventions individually and through groups to adults with complex needs, including depression, anxiety based difficulties, difficulties relating to psychological trauma and personality development and long and enduring mental health diagnoses such as psychosis.

You will have the opportunity to support the wider team through consultation, training and supervision with Community Psychiatric Nurses, Occupational Therapists and Support, Time and Recovery Workers as well as supervision of other psychological professionals. 

There will be opportunities to be involved in training the wider service across the trust in CBT fundamentals and offering ongoing supervisions and support to the team in developing these core intervention skills.

The post would suit someone who enjoys being part of a team, is recovery focused and is keen to develop their skills in a range of areas. It will suit a creative individual who can support the team with ideas for service development and new initiatives as well as supporting the team though the upcoming community mental health service transformation.

The post will be based at Steps To Health, with some remote working.

Working for our organisation

The Community Mental Health Service in Wolverhampton aims to improve mental health and wellbeing through the delivery of psychosocial therapeutic approaches, including recovery based and social interventions.

The Service provides a range of NICE compliant interventions, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy.

The Black Country Healthcare Foundation Trust works hard to deliver key values of being Caring, Enabling, Working Together and demonstrating Integrity. And is proud to offer staff support and networks and provide an inclusive environment for all staff.

It is an organisation which is committed to both service and skills development. You will have the opportunity to forge links with the highly acclaimed Recovery College and create links with wider mental health services across the trust.

You will be joining a very supportive team that has implemented many different initiatives to look after the well-being of the team, such as regular CPD group supervisions, team building events, reflective practice sessions and groups and an established staff support service. 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the Job Description and the Person Specification for further information or alternatively contact Dr Amy Kirby on a.kieby1@nhs.net

Person specification

Experience and qualifications

Essential criteria

• • Post-graduate doctoral level training in Applied Psychology (or its equivalent) as accredited by the BPS including models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• • HCPC registration as an Applied Psychologist

Desirable criteria

• • Post-graduate qualification showing evidence of supervised practice in an evidence-based psychological therapeutic model
• • Experience of CBT, DBT, psychodynamic therapy, systemic therapy
• • Experience of supervisory role and clinical leadership skills

** Please Note that Internal at Risk Employees will be given preference for this position**

We reserve the right to bring the closing date forward for this vacancy at any time should we receive an overwhelming response of applications. We therefore encourage applicants to apply early if you wish to be considered for this post.

If you do not hear from the recruitment 4 weeks within the advertised closing date please assume that you have been unsuccessful at the shortlisting stage. Please ensure that you check your emails on a regular basis for any recruitment updates regarding this vacancy. If you are not successful at the shortlisting stage and would like feedback, please contact the Recruitment Team directly for feedback. 

The salary range quoted is as per NHS Agenda for Change pay structures. This is based on the number of years’ working directly within the NHS at the advertised pay band. Experience gained with other NHS Trusts will apply, but candidates without prior experience working direct for the NHS would normally be appointed at the lowest point unless they can demonstrate the equivalent experience and then be eligible for incremental increases in future years.

Successful applicants for clinical posts up to and including Band 4 are expected to hold the national Care Certificate qualification and will be supported to attain this once in post.

The Trust is committed to equal opportunities, providing opportunities for flexible working and is a non-smoking organisation.

As a Trust we are passionate about Anti-Racism, Disability Inclusion, and LGBTQ+ Equality, and are committed to diversifying our staff team in all areas and at all levels of seniority to better reflect the diverse communities we serve. Therefore, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from people who belong to a minority or marginalised community, including from Black and Asian, Disabled (including hidden disabilities such as Neurodiversity, Mental Health, etc), or Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans or Queer (LGBTQ+) people.    

Furthermore, Disabled applicants have the option of requesting that their application is considered under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS). Please indicate your intention to apply under the GIS in the relevant section of your application. Regardless of whether you participate in the scheme or have shared a disability, you will be provided the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the interview process at each stage of the recruitment process.

Due to the nature of the work some posts may be subject to a Standard Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, through the Disclosure and Barring Service as stipulated under part V of the Police Act 1997. Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working with us; this will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances of your offences.