Job summary
PLEASE ENSURE YOU MEET CRITERIA FOR THIS SCHEME BEFORE APPLYING. CAREFULLY READ THE APPLICATION GUIDE BELOW AND CLEARLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN YOUR SUPPORTING STATEMENT. THANK YOU.
Aspiring Clinical Psychologist
We are excited to announce that, as part of our ongoing commitment to address issues of diversity and inclusion within the field of Clinical Psychology, and as a part of our wider responsibility to address social inequalities in healthcare, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust has successfully secured funding from Health Education England, for an assistant psychologist post as part of the Aspiring Clinical Psychologists Access Scheme.
This scheme offers paid assistant psychology experience to recent psychology graduates who are eager to develop initial clinical experience as aspiring Clinical Psychologists, but their personal financial circumstances make opportunities offered by unpaid clinical work experience inaccessible. This scheme is specifically designed to enable such graduates the opportunity to gain valuable experience, insight, and preparation for the next step in their journey towards qualifying, such as a substantive Assistant Psychologist post.
Main duties of the job
The successful applicant will support and enhance psychological practice within the Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team, in Central Lancashire, under the direct supervision of a HCPC registered Clinical Psychologist. As part of the scheme, you will also be supported to have access to peer development groups which are provided within the Trust, as well as learning opportunities focussing on career development, in order to support success beyond this initiative.
We hope that this post will offer a plethora of valuable experiences to the successful psychology graduate. We are keen to support and touch base with the successful candidates, during the scheme and beyond, as we hope the scheme will be a stepping stone for a career in Clinical Psychology.
We look forward to receiving your application and welcoming you to Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.
About us
Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.
The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.
Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust encourages flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, flexi-time and career breaks. We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.
For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role
Application Guide
This guidance aims to help you to focus your application and allow you to show more strongly how you meet all the required criteria that will be used to short list candidates for interview. Psychology graduates from Black Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and those with lived mental health experiences are particularly under-represented within our profession and therefore would be encouraged to apply.
Please read the information below and then complete your answers.
This post is part of a nationally funded programme by Health Education England called the Aspiring Clinical Psychologist Access Scheme. This scheme aims to improve equity of accessto clinical psychology training to allow for wider representation across our workforce. Relevant paid clinical experience is hard to find and many aspiring clinical psychologists access unpaid opportunities to further their learning and experience. Some psychology graduates however experience a range of barriers, which mean they are unable to take on unpaid work experience. This then reduces their chances of making a successful application to undertake doctorate level training in Clinical Psychology.
The Aspiring Clinical Psychologist Access Scheme therefore is for anyone who is unable to take on the financial burden of an unpaid role to gain experience helpful to further their career. This could be due to various reasons such as: additional responsibilities making unpaid experience an impractical option; limited access to support from others who could provide for you during your unpaid role; and fewer opportunities to access unpaid work experience due to limited contacts or resources. Research shows these barriers are more likely to affect certain groups such as first-generation university graduates, care leavers or those estranged from their families; those who receive additional financial aid; those with disrupted education; and those with caring responsibilities.
The Assistant Psychologist post will be located within the East Lancashire locality. Successful applicants will be required to come into Trust premises to conduct the work required and should be in a position to take up their post as soon as possible. The post will be for a period of twelve months and the post holder will work 5 days a week.
Application form
This is an entry level work role and we do not expect you to have specific clinical experience, however please ensure you meet the Essential criteria before applying.
You may want to share personal information, but we do not want or expect you to identify anyone personally or disclose information that in any way feels uncomfortable to write in an application form.
Applications must be made via an online application form that can be completed via www.jobs.nhs.uk There is usually a high level of interest in these posts, so we suggest submitting a prompt application. Applications will close when the maximum number of applicants is reached.
Supporting Statement
We require your Supporting Statement to focus on essential and desirable academic skills, personal qualities, values, and ambition in the field of Clinical Psychology. Key skills and values for this role include: good communication skills; warmth and empathy; resilience; professional skills; curiosity and openness to learning; and personal maturity. Please show us how you have developed your values, skills, and qualities within your answers, both here, and if short-listed, in your interview.
Please use the headings and information below as a helpful guide in writing your supporting statement and show how you meet all the expectations and requirements. We ask for approximately 100 words per answer. Applications that do not follow these instructions may not be short listed.
- Statement confirming essential requirements
A psychology undergraduate degree 2:1 or above with Graduate Basis for Chartership.
Not currently in, nor already have had, a paid clinical assistant psychologist role or similar.
Not on a salaried or post-graduate training programme.
Meets the criteria for the Aspiring Clinical Psychologist Access Scheme of being unable to take on the financial burden of an unpaid clinical role.
- What interests you in a career in Clinical Psychology
What has interested you to aspire to work as a Clinical Psychologist? What are your expectations of the role?
- What psycho-social factors may impact on an aspiring clinical psychologists ability to access voluntary work
What factors may be in play? How may they interact?
- What values or experiences show your capability to work with a diverse population of service users & their families
What values or skills do you have? Any specific examples?
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role
Application Guide
This guidance aims to help you to focus your application and allow you to show more strongly how you meet all the required criteria that will be used to short list candidates for interview. Psychology graduates from Black Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and those with lived mental health experiences are particularly under-represented within our profession and therefore would be encouraged to apply.
Please read the information below and then complete your answers.
This post is part of a nationally funded programme by Health Education England called the Aspiring Clinical Psychologist Access Scheme. This scheme aims to improve equity of accessto clinical psychology training to allow for wider representation across our workforce. Relevant paid clinical experience is hard to find and many aspiring clinical psychologists access unpaid opportunities to further their learning and experience. Some psychology graduates however experience a range of barriers, which mean they are unable to take on unpaid work experience. This then reduces their chances of making a successful application to undertake doctorate level training in Clinical Psychology.
The Aspiring Clinical Psychologist Access Scheme therefore is for anyone who is unable to take on the financial burden of an unpaid role to gain experience helpful to further their career. This could be due to various reasons such as: additional responsibilities making unpaid experience an impractical option; limited access to support from others who could provide for you during your unpaid role; and fewer opportunities to access unpaid work experience due to limited contacts or resources. Research shows these barriers are more likely to affect certain groups such as first-generation university graduates, care leavers or those estranged from their families; those who receive additional financial aid; those with disrupted education; and those with caring responsibilities.
The Assistant Psychologist post will be located within the East Lancashire locality. Successful applicants will be required to come into Trust premises to conduct the work required and should be in a position to take up their post as soon as possible. The post will be for a period of twelve months and the post holder will work 5 days a week.
Application form
This is an entry level work role and we do not expect you to have specific clinical experience, however please ensure you meet the Essential criteria before applying.
You may want to share personal information, but we do not want or expect you to identify anyone personally or disclose information that in any way feels uncomfortable to write in an application form.
Applications must be made via an online application form that can be completed via www.jobs.nhs.uk There is usually a high level of interest in these posts, so we suggest submitting a prompt application. Applications will close when the maximum number of applicants is reached.
Supporting Statement
We require your Supporting Statement to focus on essential and desirable academic skills, personal qualities, values, and ambition in the field of Clinical Psychology. Key skills and values for this role include: good communication skills; warmth and empathy; resilience; professional skills; curiosity and openness to learning; and personal maturity. Please show us how you have developed your values, skills, and qualities within your answers, both here, and if short-listed, in your interview.
Please use the headings and information below as a helpful guide in writing your supporting statement and show how you meet all the expectations and requirements. We ask for approximately 100 words per answer. Applications that do not follow these instructions may not be short listed.
- Statement confirming essential requirements
A psychology undergraduate degree 2:1 or above with Graduate Basis for Chartership.
Not currently in, nor already have had, a paid clinical assistant psychologist role or similar.
Not on a salaried or post-graduate training programme.
Meets the criteria for the Aspiring Clinical Psychologist Access Scheme of being unable to take on the financial burden of an unpaid clinical role.
- What interests you in a career in Clinical Psychology
What has interested you to aspire to work as a Clinical Psychologist? What are your expectations of the role?
- What psycho-social factors may impact on an aspiring clinical psychologists ability to access voluntary work
What factors may be in play? How may they interact?
- What values or experiences show your capability to work with a diverse population of service users & their families
What values or skills do you have? Any specific examples?
Person Specification
Education
Essential
- The Graduate Basis for Registration (further to completion of an honours degree in psychology accredited by the British Psychological Society, or, in the case of courses that are not accredited or where the first degree is not in psychology, by completion of the Society's Qualifying examination, or completion of a Society accredited Conversion Course).
Desirable
- Further education or research in relevant area of psychology e.g. working with women, perinatal mental health
Knowledge
Essential
- Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information effectively in both oral and written formats, and in environments which are highly emotive and stressful.
- Commitment and ability to work with clients where there may be significant clinical, service, cultural and system barriers to engagement.
- Ability to work independently and using own initiative on a day-to-day basis.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of, or demonstrable interest in working with clients with complex and enduring needs
Desirable
- Experience of / or demonstrable interest in working with parents and families in the perinatal period.
- Experience of / or demonstrable interest in the application of theory to practice e.g. the application of attachment theory
Person Specification
Education
Essential
- The Graduate Basis for Registration (further to completion of an honours degree in psychology accredited by the British Psychological Society, or, in the case of courses that are not accredited or where the first degree is not in psychology, by completion of the Society's Qualifying examination, or completion of a Society accredited Conversion Course).
Desirable
- Further education or research in relevant area of psychology e.g. working with women, perinatal mental health
Knowledge
Essential
- Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information effectively in both oral and written formats, and in environments which are highly emotive and stressful.
- Commitment and ability to work with clients where there may be significant clinical, service, cultural and system barriers to engagement.
- Ability to work independently and using own initiative on a day-to-day basis.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of, or demonstrable interest in working with clients with complex and enduring needs
Desirable
- Experience of / or demonstrable interest in working with parents and families in the perinatal period.
- Experience of / or demonstrable interest in the application of theory to practice e.g. the application of attachment theory
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.
