Band 8a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist or Psychological Therapist

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in mental health services is seeking experienced Senior Psychologists or Psychological Therapists to deliver patient-focused care for a 12-month interim period in Milton Keynes. Candidates should possess experience in treating psychosis and demonstrate strong communication skills. Responsibilities include providing psychological assessments, therapy, and supervision to team members. The environment is collaborative, aiming to support individuals with first episode psychosis through specialist interventions.

Qualifications

• Post holder will have experience working with service users experiencing psychosis.
• Ability to provide individual and group interventions effectively.
• Willingness to engage in research and audits as part of the team.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality psychological interventions to service users.
• Conduct specialist psychological assessments and therapy.
• Supervise and train other team members on psychological care.

Skills

Experience in psychosis

Strong communication skills

Ability to provide supervision

Autonomy and flexibility

Education

Graduate degree in Psychology

Job description

The Milton Keynes Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) Service is a multi-disciplinary team providing treatment and support for people who are experiencing symptoms of psychosis for the first time, and during the first three years following a first episode of psychosis. With new monies and investment, the service is expanding with a focus on providing psychological inventions alongside care-coordination, help, advice and support. The team helps service users make sense of their experiences, provides treatment and interventions to enable them to get back to, or continue to, work or study, whilst liaising with other services and agencies to sort out benefits and finances, and help solve any housing problems.

A key part of the role will be acting as liaison and Principal Investigator for research trials (e.g. virtual reality CBT) from different universities.

We are looking for well-rounded and experienced practitioners. Our staff work pro-actively with confidence and motivation, showing initiative which has contributed to the development of numerous award-winning services. We find that they are often flexible, robust and resourceful and able to manage the challenges of working in an environment that can be demanding.

Learn more about working in Milton Keynes by following the link below.

Welcome to Psychological Therapies at Milton Keynes Mental Health Services :: Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (cnwl.nhs.uk)

Here at CNWL we encourage our psychological professions staff to pursue leadership opportunities in senior roles. Various prominent leadership roles within the Trust are currently held by Psychologists including: Director of Strategy and Integration, Chief Information Officer, 3 Clinical Directors. We try to facilitate the development of our psychological professions staff across all areas. We prioritize collaboration within our team and with our community partnerships, so we are hoping to find candidates who have the required communication and interpersonal skills that will allow them to thrive when working within their own team and with external partner organizations, in order to provide a meaningful service to the diverse populations we serve.

We also hope to attract therapists with broad training and experience. Additional support and training may be provided for clinicians to gain supervision experience and qualification within the relevant framework and commissioned funding.

If your application is successful, you will receive regular supervision and support from the Clinical Service Lead as well as benefit from support and guidance from other team members. You will also be linked in with Trust - Wide psychological professions initiatives and events.

• To ensure the systematic provision of high-quality specialist psychological interventions to service users of the Early Intervention in Psychosis team.
• To provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy in line with Government targets and NICE guidance.
• In addition the post holder will offer supervision, advice, consultation and training on service user's psychological care and treatment to other team members.
• To work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures.
• To utilise research skills for audit, policy development and, service evaluation and development within the team and service.

Are you a clinician passionate about working with service users with psychosis?

Do you enjoy working with carers and families?

Are you an independent practitioner who can promote psychology in a small team?

We are looking for applications from highly motivated and enthusiastic Senior Psychologists or Psychological Therapists who are committed to delivering patient-focused care and treatment to our service users for a 12 month interim period.

We are looking for a clinician with experience working in psychosis who can be relatively autonomous, pick up the job quickly and be flexible and adaptable to the team's needs.

The role involves delivering specialist psychological assessment and treatment to service users who are experiencing first episode psychosis. The post holder will be able to offer supervision, advice, consultation and training to other staff about psychological care for service users and carers. There will be a mix of individual and group interventions.

There is a strong sense of camaraderie within the Milton Keynes EIP team, and a strong partnership between operational and clinical staff. You will be working with our CBT for psychosis therapist and with other colleagues across Milton Keynes services.