Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Associate Practitioner Psychologist

The closing date is 17 March 2026

Job summary

Applications are invited from qualified Associated Psychological Practitioners or Mental Health Wellbeing Practitioners. The post will provide assessment, psychological skills based interventions and group work for the care of Service Users within the Burnley and Pendle CMHTs. The post holder will work alongside a Clinical Psychologist and a Senior Psychological Therapist as well as other mental health professionals in the wider multidisciplinary team (MDT).

The post holder will be operationally managed within the teams as a core team member, while strong professional leadership works alongside to support the role.

An interest in working with individuals experiencing significant levels of distress and complexity will be essential. Good team working skills are essential and skills in group approaches, or an interest in developing these, would be an asset. The postholder will also have opportunities to support with service development and evaluation.

Clinical and professional supervision is provided, and a growing network of complex case fora and expanding menu of psychological therapy models afford excellent opportunity for the post holder to develop their skills in MDT working and psychologically informed care in a secondary context. The teams value learning and investment in the future workforce, the team regularly offers placements to students from health and social care courses including clinical psychology.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will provide care to service users under the Burnley and Pendle Community Mental Health Teams. The post holder will work with people from different cultural backgrounds and of different ages, using interpreters when necessary and should be committed to equal opportunities.

The post-holder will be required to conduct psychological assessments, develop structured formulations and deliver psychologically-informed, evidence based interventions under the supervision of an experienced clinical psychologist/ qualified psychological professional.

The postholder will work alongside service users, families, carers and multi-disciplinary team members to co-ordinate care as a key worker, supporting collaborative decision-making about care and treatment.The post holder will deliver a set of wellbeing-focused psychologically-informed interventions, aligned to cognitive-behavioural principles, based on the best evidence available, that address problems often experienced by people with severe mental health problems.

About us

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you'd like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support 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 and flexi-time.

The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Explore our full wellbeing offer here: Keeping our workforce well

Details

Date posted

03 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year Per Annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

351-PEN1073-SRP

Job locations

Pendle House

83-85 Leeds road

Nelson

BB9 9TG


Job description

Job responsibilities

If you would like to learn more about this opportunity, please review the attached job description and person specification.

Job description

Job responsibilities

If you would like to learn more about this opportunity, please review the attached job description and person specification.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • A graduate certificate (Level 6) or postgraduate certificate (Level 7) delivering the national curriculum for Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioners (Adult Specialist Mental Health)
  • Registered as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner on a professional register recognised for this role by NHS England

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working with people with mental health needs gained through a graduate certificate or postgraduate certificate training with significant supervised practice.
  • Experience running groups/activities
  • Experience working as part of a team

Skills

Essential

  • Communication/Relationship skills
  • Able to establish and maintain empathic, supportive relationships with people in significant distress or who are cognitively impaired, their families and carers
  • Able to communicate in a sensitive and reassuring manner, with empathy, and where appropriate reassurance.
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • A graduate certificate (Level 6) or postgraduate certificate (Level 7) delivering the national curriculum for Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioners (Adult Specialist Mental Health)
  • Registered as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner on a professional register recognised for this role by NHS England

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working with people with mental health needs gained through a graduate certificate or postgraduate certificate training with significant supervised practice.
  • Experience running groups/activities
  • Experience working as part of a team

Skills

Essential

  • Communication/Relationship skills
  • Able to establish and maintain empathic, supportive relationships with people in significant distress or who are cognitively impaired, their families and carers
  • Able to communicate in a sensitive and reassuring manner, with empathy, and where appropriate reassurance.

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.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Pendle House

83-85 Leeds road

Nelson

BB9 9TG


Employer's website

https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Pendle House

83-85 Leeds road

Nelson

BB9 9TG


Employer's website

https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Ward Manager

Rachel Feather

Rachel.Feather@lscft.nhs.uk

Details

Date posted

03 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year Per Annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

351-PEN1073-SRP

Job locations

Pendle House

83-85 Leeds road

Nelson

BB9 9TG


Supporting documents

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