Assistant Psychologist

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust; West Midlands; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional mental health service provider is seeking an Assistant Psychologist for a 9-month fixed-term contract in the West Midlands. The role offers an opportunity to work closely with qualified psychologists and to deliver high-quality psychological support to young individuals facing mental health challenges. Candidates need a psychology qualification, experience in a multidisciplinary team, and working with youth in mental health settings.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

Clinical supervision from a senior psychologist

Qualifications

• Essential to manage psychologically distressing patient information.
• Ability to work independently under supervision of a psychologist.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality care and support to young individuals.
• Assist in clinically related administration and project work.

Skills

Qualification in Psychology or equivalent

Experience in a multi-disciplinary team setting

Experience with young people experiencing mental health difficulties

Job description

Assistant Psychologist Post Band 4 - 9 month Fixed Term Contract - 37.5 hours per week

We have a vacancy for an Assistant Psychologist at the Darwin Centre, our regional Child and Adolescent Mental Health inpatient unit at Combined Healthcare, a CQC-rated Outstanding Mental Health Trust. This post is a 12 month fixed term contract.

As an Assistant Psychologist, you will work closely with qualified psychologists and other mental health professionals to provide high‑quality care and support to young individuals experiencing mental health challenges. This role offers a unique opportunity to gain valuable experience in an inpatient setting while contributing to the well‑being and development of young people in need.

There is some flexibility to allow home working at times, depending on service need. The post holder will receive weekly clinical supervision from a senior or consultant psychologist and be part of a supportive team of therapists. There is opportunity for teaching, research, clinical audit and CPD.

Core Features Of The Roles Will Include

• Working alongside a Senior Psychologist/Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Multi‑Disciplinary Team to provide high quality psychological formulation and intervention for patients
• Administration and scoring of psychological assessments, screening tools and outcome measures
• Providing structured interventions under the supervision of a psychologist
• Working with young people who have complex needs which can present/lead to challenging situations or behaviours and risk
• Assistance with service development and evaluation
• Supporting psychologists to offer group interventions
• Previous experience of working with young people mental health problems is desirable
• Previous experience of working in a multidisciplinary team would be an advantage

As a Trust we remain bold and ambitious with plans for both service and system collaborative transformation over the coming years to improve the health and wellbeing of our local people through high quality care.

We pride ourselves on ensuring our team has their wellbeing put first and as such provide a range of wellness opportunities including flexible working.

We are committed to the Greener NHS national ambition to becoming the world’s first carbon net zero national health system by 2045. As part of this, sustainability is embedded in our strategy as one of our four key enablers. For 2024/2025, we have launched our Proud to be Green engagement campaign which is aligned to the targets set out in our Green Plan. The Trust is committed to supporting you in working towards our net zero ambitions through our sustainability programme.

The Trust is committed to ensuring that a diverse workforce is representative and inclusive at all levels. We would very much welcome applications from all under‑represented groups including women, people with disabilities, people from global majority backgrounds, and those from the lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities.

Assist in the delivery of psychologically informed assessment, formulation and psychological support. Post-holder will work under the supervision of a Senior Psychologist or Consultant Clinical Psychologist.

Post holder will be expected to deliver test materials and to be able to concentrate for long periods of time to complete assessments, score and write up the results. Post holder may be required to work with clients who are highly distressed, anxious or hostile and will experience sensitive situations frequently.

Working independently to a plan agreed with a psychologist. To assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits and projects, collection of statistics, development of audit and/or research projects, teaching and project work.

Managing own workload with support from a psychologist to identify priorities. Good organisational skills as well as ability to work to deadlines and produce good quality work is required. The ability to cope with psychologically distressing patient information is essential.

Essential Qualifications and Experience

• Qualification in Psychology or equivalent
• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or evidence of imminent registration
• Experience in a multi‑disciplinary team setting
• Experience with young people experiencing mental health difficulties