Principal Clinical and Counselling Psychologist (Perinatal)

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Stafford; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Part time

Job summary

An NHS trust in the Midlands is seeking a Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to lead psychological services for the Brockington Parent and Baby Unit in Stafford. The role includes providing specialist assessments and interventions for mothers experiencing perinatal mental health difficulties. Candidates should have a doctoral level qualification in clinical psychology, experience in a clinical setting, and strong leadership skills. Join a dedicated team committed to improving mental health services for new parents and their infants.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

Continuing professional development

Supportive team environment

Qualifications

• Experience as a qualified clinical psychologist with perinatal mental health problems.
• Experience of working with mothers and infants.
• Registered with HCPC and membership in a relevant professional body.

Responsibilities

• Lead psychological provision within the Brockington Parent and Baby Unit.
• Provide psychological assessments and interventions for perinatal mental health.
• Contribute to maintaining a psychologically safe team culture.

Skills

Complex psychological assessment

Knowledge of maternal and infant mental health

Effective communication

Leadership skills

Education

Postgraduate doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology

Post-doctoral training in perinatal mental health

Eligible for chartered status with BPS

Job description

Go back Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist (Perinatal)

The closing date is 08 February 2026

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to join our service. If you have experience of working in perinatal and inpatient settings and are creative, motivated, and have strong leadership skills, we would love to hear from you.

The Brockington Parent and Baby Unit (PBU) is an eight bedded unit, based in Stafford, that accepts national referrals. The team deliver care to expectant and new mothers who are experiencing moderate to severe/complex mental health problems within the perinatal period. The Unit is a part of MPFT Perinatal Services which also includes South Staffordshire Perinatal and Maternal Mental Health Team and Shropshire Perinatal Community Mental Health Team. The three perinatal teams have close working relationships, supported by service-wide senior operational and professional leadership roles.

The Brockington Parent and Baby Unit is about to undergo extensive remodelling to further support with delivery of a modern and high-quality service. This has also provided an opportunity to review the staffing and skill mix within the team, and we are keen to recruit a 0.6 wte Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, as well as a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist and an Assistant Psychologist.

Main duties of the job

As the Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, you will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of psychological provision within the PBU, promoting psychological thinking and supervising/supporting psychological assessments and interventions provided by other Psychological Professionals or clinical members of the team. An important part of your role will be to ensure all members of the clinical team have access to psychologically based frameworks for understanding and informing the care of service users, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory.

In your own clinical work, you will provide highly specialist psychological assessments and interventions, working with women with a range of perinatal mental health difficulties, including OCD, psychosis, mood and anxiety disorders and trauma requiring inpatient admission. You will also bring experience of bonding and attachment to assess the parent‑infant relationship and any risks to the baby, making decisions based on the care needs of both mother and child.

As part of the leadership team, you will contribute to maintaining a psychologically‑safe team culture, support with ensuring team effectiveness and participate in/lead service developments. There will also be scope for delivering training and consultation to partner agencies.

About us

Come and work with us at our award‑winning NHS Trust, leading the way for trying new and better ways of working to help improve life for our local communities.

We have around 9,000 staff who provide physical and mental healthcare, support for people with learning disabilities, and adult social care across Staffordshire, Stoke‑on‑Trent, Shropshire, and Telford & Wrekin. We also run regional and national services, including help for new parents (perinatal care), eating disorders, forensic services, sexual health, and support for people in prison with mental health, drug, or alcohol problems.

We offer great career development for both clinical and non‑clinical roles, with ongoing training and support to help you learn and grow.

We are 'United in our Uniqueness' and committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels welcome and can be themselves, no matter their background or identity. We want our staff to feel supported and valued, and we aim to build a team that reflects the communities we serve. Together, we can make sure every voice is heard, and every difference is respected.

Please note, we may be required to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications

Please be aware that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in completing application forms will be monitored to ensure fairness and transparency. If you have used AI you must state this in your application.

Job responsibilities

As the Principal Psychologist, you will be part of the Brockington leadership team and responsible for the delivery of psychological provision and supervision within the Unit. You will also work clinically, contributing to MDT discussions, providing consultation to other members of the team, directly assessing mothers mental health and mothers relationships with their infants and delivering trauma‑ and attachment‑informed therapeutic interventions relating to perinatal mental health and parent‑infant mental health, as appropriate within a PBU setting.

The Principal Psychologist within the PBU sits within a clear Psychological Professions structure, both within Perinatal Services and the wider Children and Families Care Group and MPFT Psychological Services Directorate, and is supported professionally by the lead Psychologist for Perinatal Services and the Lead for Psychological Services for the Children and Families Care Group. This supports connections across services and opportunities for CPD, research, teaching on local doctoral courses and trainee Psychologist placements.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Post‑graduate doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology (or its equivalent), as accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
• Post‑doctoral training in one or more additional areas of specialised psychological practice directly relevant to perinatal mental health.
• Post‑doctoral training in one or more additional areas of specialised psychological treatment approaches for Parent‑Infant Mental Health and attachment.
• Post qualification training for role of clinical supervisor to Doctorate trainees in clinical/counselling psychology.
• Eligible for chartered status with the British Psychological Society.
• Currently registered with HCPC.
• Membership of a relevant professional body
• Additional post graduate level training in one or more therapeutic treatment approaches e.g. cognitive therapy, systemic/family therapy, EMDR

Experience

• Experience of working as a qualified clinical/counselling psychologist with people with perinatal mental health problems.
• Experiencing of working with mothers, infants, partners and families.
• Experience of working in both inpatient and community settings.
• Experience of adapting psychological therapy to the perinatal period.
• Experience of delivering psychological therapies working with mothers and infants together to support bonding and attachment
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for client's psychological care and treatment within the context of multidisciplinary care plans.
• Experience of teaching, training and providing professional/clinical supervision to others (including qualified psychologists and other professionals).
• Experience of providing clinical consultation to other professional staff.
• Experience of working in the NHS.
• Experience of planning and/or implementing perinatal MH service developments in accordance with local and national policy objectives.
• Training in EMDR or Trauma Focused CBT.
• Training in Video Interactive Guidance.
• Experience of delivering attachment based interventions to support the promotion of Infant Mental Health.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.

Skills

• Skilled in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management and their application within inpatient/community settings.
• Knowledge of maternal mental health, infant mental health and parent infant relationships.
• Well‑developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in the perinatal period addressing both perinatal and infant mental health difficulties.
• High level skills in the assessment and management of risk to both the mother and baby.
• Well‑developed skills to communicate effectively, both written and orally, complex highly technical and sensitive information to clients, families, carers, and lay and professional people both within and outside the NHS.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology and its application to service evaluation.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS and HCPC.
• Demonstrated skills in providing liaison consultation and clinical supervision to professional and non‑professional groups.
• Knowledge of legislation relevant to the client group and mental health.

Personal Attributes

• The ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism when dealing with highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical assault.
• Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and hold the stress of others.
• Ability to develop productive therapeutic relationships with a range of clients.
• Proven ability to develop and sustain positive working relationships with colleagues from all disciplines and agencies.
• Enthusiasm and interest in developing psychologically‑informed services in the Perinatal period.
• Ability to provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly challenging situations and severely challenging behaviours.
• Ability to demonstrate leadership and management skills.

Other

• Ability to develop and use complex multi‑media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
• Personal experience of mental health problems.

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.

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Part‑time, Flexible working, Home or remote working