Band 4 Assistant Psychologist - HMP Eastwood Park

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust; Wotton-under-Edge; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

A mental health service provider is seeking a Band 4 Assistant Psychologist at HMP Eastwood Park to support assessments and therapy for female offenders. The candidate will assist in delivering group interventions, develop psychological resources, and contribute to research while working under supervision. Ideal for those committed to challenging stigma around mental health.

Qualifications

• Experience of person-facing work, either paid or voluntary.
• Understanding of common mental health problems.
• Experience working in a forensic setting.
• Experience of working in a health or care role.
• Experience of working with diversity.

Responsibilities

• Support the delivery of the group interventions programme.
• Develop psychological resources.
• Support the referrals process, including clinical administrative tasks.
• Prepare and deliver high-quality psychological interventions.
• Gather and organise information about clinical notes.

Skills

Self-awareness and emotional resilience

Ability to use supervision well

Good written and verbal presentation skills

Ability to work collaboratively with other staff

Education

An honours degree in Psychology (2:1 or 1st)

Eligibility for graduate membership of the BPS

Introductory training in a psychological therapy

Job description

Band 4 Assistant Psychologist - HMP Eastwood Park

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our Nexus Day Service at HMP Eastwood Park, which forms part of the National Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPD) provision within the prison. The Nexus Day Service sits alongside our Nexus Provision PIPE (Psychologically Informed Planned Environment) and Nexus Outreach Service.Nexus is a welcoming, compassionate, and innovative team to work within and consists of a multi‑disciplinary clinical and operational team. There are lots of opportunities for development within our service, from specialist training and supervision.The role of an Assistant Psychologist in the Nexus Day Service is to support the qualified practitioners with assessment and formulation reports, participate in research, provide group interventions, and support the screening and referrals process--all of which is done whilst receiving supervision from a registered psychologist.We are looking for someone with an interest in working with female offenders with a personality disorder. People who attract a diagnosis of personality disorder are often stigmatised, and we are therefore keen to find somebody driven to support the wider system to challenge the stigma surrounding personality disorder.

Main duties of the job

• Support the delivery of the group interventions programme in the Nexus Day Service.
• Develop psychological resources.
• Support qualified staff with assessments, developing formulations, and writing psychological reports.
• Support the referrals process, which includes some clinical administrative tasks.
• Support research and evaluation, including delivering and scoring psychometric questionnaires.

Please see the attached Job Description for a full list of duties and responsibilities.

About us

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust): a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.

We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person‑centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

AWP is committed to support and create a positive research and evidence‑based environment and culture, which can have a beneficial impact on everyone who works for the organisation and the care we provide to those who use our services.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Job responsibilities

• To support the Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologists within the base service.
• Where required, to prepare and deliver high‑quality psychological interventions under supervision, either individually or in groups.
• Where required, to offer high‑quality psychological assessments following instructions appropriate to the assessment tools/processes.
• To gather and organise information about clinical notes, relevant psychological interventions, and clinical tools for use by other staff.
• To work alongside other team members and ensure close liaison and communication within teams.
• To work at a level of autonomy appropriate to a Band 4 Assistant Psychologist. Goals to be agreed and reviewed in clinical/management supervision.
• To maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times when working with distressed people.
• To maintain clinical records, databases, and other professional records as appropriate.

Please see the attached Job Description for a full list of duties and responsibilities.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• An honour's degree in Psychology (2:1 or 1st)
• Eligibility for graduate membership of the BPS
• Introductory training in a psychological therapy

Experience

• Experience of person‑facing work, either paid or voluntary
• Understanding of common mental health problems
• Audit or research experience
• Experience working in a forensic setting
• Experience of working in a health or care role
• Experience of working with diversity

Skills

• Self‑awareness and emotional resilience
• Ability to use supervision well
• Good written and verbal presentation skills
• Ability to work collaboratively with other staff

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.