Job summary
We are delighted to be offering an opportunity for a Band 7 Clinical or Forensic Psychologist/Psychological Therapist to join our service in the North East region of the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway; a partnership between NHS England and His Majesty's Prison and Probation Services (HMPPS).
The pathway is a collection of regional services made up of individuals who are enthusiastic about creative ways of working with a client group who have often been marginalised and excluded from services, or find it hard to engage with traditional approaches. There are exciting opportunities for research and evaluation, as well as networking with colleagues across the pathway and sharing emerging practice.
Our service is comprised of both a Psychologically Informed Consultation Service (PICS) and Rebuilding Lives, which is the regional name for the Intensive Interventions and Risk Management Service (IIRMS) part of the national pathway.
Main duties of the job
Rebuilding Lives offers a period of stabilisation for service users during their probation licence period with delivery of socio-occupational and psychological interventions as needed. This work commences up to six months prior to release from prison and continues during time spent in the Approved Premises and on into community housing. Service users typically have complex presentation, personality difficulties and have been deemed to present a high or very high risk of violence or sexual harm at some point on their current sentence.
The PICS element of the service provides consultation, formulation and pathway planning and support to HMPPS staff in supervising their cases, as well as workforce development to increase knowledge and psychologically informed practice.
The post holder's time will be split equally between Northumberland Tyne and Wear PICS, and Durham and Cleveland IIRMS, offering variety of role and opportunities for skills development. It is desirable that the post holder has experience working with the Forensic population and specifically with Personality Disorder. They must be able to demonstrate experience/competence around psychosocial formulation and delivery of psychological interventions using a relational model. There is an expected supervisory element from this post holder in order to help the staff team and HMPPS colleagues develop their psychologically informed knowledge.
About us
We aim to attract and retain a diverse, talented and committed workforce, who are caring and compassionate, and therefore able to meet the demands of the modern NHS now and in the future. In return we can offer a dynamic working environment in which to build a career.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Whilst the posts main duties are in the North East area, there will be occasional national meetings to attend as well occasional travel to meet with colleagues in other part of the service. Covering a wide geographical area can present some challenges, but to assist with these demands, we support flexible working requests for example carrying out some duties via TEAMS or other online platforms, and a mix of office and home-based working.
Due to the nature of our client group applicants may find it helpful to contact the service for a discussion prior to submitting their application. As the post is open to Psychologists from clinical or forensic settings, as well as Psychological Therapists who meet the criteria, consideration will be given to the Professional and CPD needs of the successful applicant.
Please find attached job description for full details.
Advertising date : 5th October 2023
Closing date : 5th November2023
Interview date : 15th November 2023
We welcome your application.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Whilst the posts main duties are in the North East area, there will be occasional national meetings to attend as well occasional travel to meet with colleagues in other part of the service. Covering a wide geographical area can present some challenges, but to assist with these demands, we support flexible working requests for example carrying out some duties via TEAMS or other online platforms, and a mix of office and home-based working.
Due to the nature of our client group applicants may find it helpful to contact the service for a discussion prior to submitting their application. As the post is open to Psychologists from clinical or forensic settings, as well as Psychological Therapists who meet the criteria, consideration will be given to the Professional and CPD needs of the successful applicant.
Please find attached job description for full details.
Advertising date : 5th October 2023
Closing date : 5th November2023
Interview date : 15th November 2023
We welcome your application.
Person Specification
Education and Qualification
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical or forensic psychology (or equivalent conferring eligibility for HCPC registration as a practitioner psychologist), including specifically models of psychopathology and risk, clinical psychometrics and Neuropsychology, two or more evidence based psychological interventions and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the British Psychological Society and the HCPC. OR An Honours Degree in Psychology recognised for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society, or RMN, or equivalent degree level qualification in mental health and Post-graduate qualifications in psychological assessment and psychological therapy (e.g. Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, Post-graduate diploma in CBT, IAPT High Intensity CBT diploma).
Desirable
- Training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
- Additional training in specific therapeutic approaches
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment in specific difficult to treat groups relevant to the client group
- Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinical sensitive information to clients, their family, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course with presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity, including severe and enduring mental health problems, psychosis and personality disorder.
Desirable
- Experience of providing teaching, training or supervision
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
- Knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex multivariable data analysis
- Experience of working in a forensic setting.
Skills and Competencies
Essential
- Skills in managing emotional impact of dealing with highly emotive and distressing situations through self-management and use of the clinical supervision process.
- Keyboard skills and computer literacy/data collection and analysis skills (e.g. SPSS)
- Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinical sensitive information to clients, their family, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
Desirable
- Skills in providing clinical supervision and consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
Role/Team specific requirements
Essential
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multimedia materials for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure of highly emotive behaviour.
- Effective interpersonal skills and ability to work well in multi-disciplinary/agency teams.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
Personal Characteristics
Essential
- Flexible attitude towards work
- high degree of personal resilience
Additional Requirements
Essential
- Ability to meet the mobility requirements of the post
Person Specification
Education and Qualification
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical or forensic psychology (or equivalent conferring eligibility for HCPC registration as a practitioner psychologist), including specifically models of psychopathology and risk, clinical psychometrics and Neuropsychology, two or more evidence based psychological interventions and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the British Psychological Society and the HCPC. OR An Honours Degree in Psychology recognised for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society, or RMN, or equivalent degree level qualification in mental health and Post-graduate qualifications in psychological assessment and psychological therapy (e.g. Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, Post-graduate diploma in CBT, IAPT High Intensity CBT diploma).
Desirable
- Training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
- Additional training in specific therapeutic approaches
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment in specific difficult to treat groups relevant to the client group
- Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinical sensitive information to clients, their family, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course with presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity, including severe and enduring mental health problems, psychosis and personality disorder.
Desirable
- Experience of providing teaching, training or supervision
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
- Knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex multivariable data analysis
- Experience of working in a forensic setting.
Skills and Competencies
Essential
- Skills in managing emotional impact of dealing with highly emotive and distressing situations through self-management and use of the clinical supervision process.
- Keyboard skills and computer literacy/data collection and analysis skills (e.g. SPSS)
- Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinical sensitive information to clients, their family, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
Desirable
- Skills in providing clinical supervision and consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
Role/Team specific requirements
Essential
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multimedia materials for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure of highly emotive behaviour.
- Effective interpersonal skills and ability to work well in multi-disciplinary/agency teams.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
Personal Characteristics
Essential
- Flexible attitude towards work
- high degree of personal resilience
Additional Requirements
Essential
- Ability to meet the mobility requirements of the post
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
