Perinatal Psychological Therapist

Gloucestershire Health and Care; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free parking at many sites

27 days leave + bank holidays (increa­

NHS pension scheme

Training and development opportunities

Job summary

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC) is seeking a Band 7 Psychological Therapist for the Birth Anxiety and Trauma Service in Gloucestershire. The post is a 12-month fixed term (secondment possible) with 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday 9-5.

You will work within the Perinatal Mental Health pathway, delivering evidence-based psychological interventions to women with birth-related anxiety, trauma or perinatal loss, and supervise MDT colleagues as needed.

Responsibilities

• Carry a caseload and provide evidence-based psychological interventions to women with birth-related anxiety, trauma and loss (e.g., CBT, EMDR, Complicated Grief Therapy).
• Plan and prioritise workload and autonomously manage assessment, treatment and discharge within psychologically based care plans.
• Provide psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other staff and multi-disciplinary teams across settings.
• Provide training and supervision to others as required by service need.

Job description

Main area Perinatal Psychological Therapist Grade Band 7 Contract Fixed term: 12 months (Secondment will also be considered) Hours

• Full time
• Part time

37.5 hours per week (Monday - Friday 9-5pm) Job ref 327-26-843

Site Pullman Place Town Gloucester Salary £49,387 - £56,515 per annum (pro rata) Salary period Yearly Closing 16/11/2026 23:59

We love what we do and we think you will, too!

At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county .

We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care . We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking ‘what matters to you ’.

We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and w e are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality team s in all areas of the Trust .

Our application process aims to understand each candidates knowledge, skills and experience. We have found that candidates that use AI to generate their answers can lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.

It is really important to personalise your application to convey your individual skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively and for us to understand why you are applying for this role with GHC. We discourage over reliance on AI-generated applications as it will lessen your chances of success in securing an interview with us .

Job overview

This role is offered on a full time (37.5 hours) 1 year fixed term, secondment also considered.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a role in the Birth Anxiety and Trauma Service which is part of the Gloucestershire Perinatal Mental Health Service. The service is comprised of Specialist Midwifery, Psychological Therapy and Peer Support and provides interventions to women with moderate to severe mental health difficultiesdirectly arising from, or related to, their maternity experience. This may include those who experience post-traumatic stress disorder following birth trauma, perinatal loss or severe fear of childbirth (tokophobia).

This role also sits within the Perinatal Psychological Interventions Team and the post holder will work closely with Psychology Practitioners working in the Perinatal Mental Health Community Team.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and innovative Psychological Practitioner to primarily focus on delivering psychological interventions to individuals and families (both directly and by supervising and supporting MDT colleagues) with opportunities for training staff in other services.

Previous experience of working with women experiencing birth anxiety and trauma and perinatal loss is desirable. Training in complicated grief/perinatal loss or the willingness to undertake this training is an essential requirement for this post.

Main duties of the job

• As part of the Birth Anxiety and Trauma Service the post holder will carry a caseload and provide evidence based psychological interventions to women with moderate to severe mental difficulties relating to birth related anxiety, trauma and loss. E.g. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), EMDR and Complicated Grief Therapy.
• Plan and prioritise workload, exercising autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment, and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based care plans.
• To ensure that other staff, multi-disciplinary teams, and managers (across a range of agencies and settings) have access to a psychologically based framework for the understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation and the sharing of psychological interventions, research and theory.
• To provide training and supervision to others, as relevant to service need.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Working for our organisation

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people’s homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Gloucestershire Health and Care is committed to embedding and providing personalised care through all of its services as part of our high-quality care strategy. The purpose of personalised care is to empower people to lead the lives they want to live. Personalised care starts with a conversation with people about what matters to them. It builds on what people can do, as well as addressing their health needs. Including new ways of working and delivering care, emphasising that we need to make effective use of the full range of our people’s skills and experience to deliver the best possible patient care. So we want to know What Matters to You and that you will share our values and join us on this very important journey.

Please refer to the Additional Information attachment before submitting your application.

To support compliance with UK immigration requirements, all applicants who require a visa to work in the UK must disclose their visa history in full. This includes current and previous sponsors, dates of sponsorship, visa category, and any changes of employment. If you are on a Graduate or Dependant Visa, please disclose the expiry date on your application. Incomplete information may mean we are unable to consider your application

Person specification

Qualifications

• Qualifications as per essential criteria in person specification
• Perinatal Loss Training or willingness to undertake

Experience

• Broad range of post qualification experience
• A clear interest in perinatal mental health, birth trauma, tokophobia and perinatal loss
• Prior experience of working with tokophobia, birth trauma and perinatal loss presentations.

When joining us, as well as becoming a team that makes a difference, we also offer:

• Free car parking at many of our sites
• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
• A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
• A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
• Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
• Recognition and long service awards
• Fast Track physiotherapy
• Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.

If you are aged 16-30, you may be eligible for financial and pastoral support from the King’s Trust, with who we are in partnership with to support your first 6 months in role. We will pass on your details to the King’s Trust who will be in touch with you if you are eligible. If you would rather not be contacted, please let us know.

For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.

Good luck with your application.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable people and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.