Senior Psychologist (Clinical/Forensic/Counselling or therapist)

Greater Manchester Menthal Health NHS Foundation Trust; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

An opportunity exists with a leading mental health service organization for a qualified psychological therapist. The successful candidate will work within multidisciplinary teams, addressing complex mental health challenges and delivering high-quality therapeutic interventions. This role particularly values diverse experiences, including lived experiences in healthcare. An excellent salary package and comprehensive benefits are offered to support well-being and professional development.

Benefits

27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing with tenure

Excellent pension scheme

Cycle to work scheme

Salary sacrifice car scheme

Wellbeing programme

Blue Light Card Discounts

Qualifications

• Doctoral level or equivalent in psychology discipline is essential.
• HCPC registration or equivalent in psychological therapy is required.
• Experience in mental health and trauma-based interventions is crucial.

Responsibilities

• Develop assessments and therapeutic interventions for complex mental health cases.
• Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team to support service users.
• Participate in therapy sessions and training for staff.

Skills

Communication skills

Training delivery skills

Collaborative working

Time management

Advocacy for psychological approaches

Resilience in challenging environments

Professionalism under distressing situations

Education

Doctoral level in clinical or counselling psychology or equivalent

HCPC registration as a forensic psychologist

Post graduate training in therapeutic modalities (desirable)

Job description

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification

Staff benefits

• Pay Enhancements:

Band

Saturday (midnight to midnight) and any week day after 8pm and before 6am

All time on Sundays and Public Holidays (midnight to midnight)

1

Time plus 47%

Time plus 94%

2

Time plus 41%

Time plus 83%

3

Time plus 35%

Time plus 69%

4 - 9

Time plus 30%

Time plus 60%

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to 29 after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years
• Excellent pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Salary sacrifice car scheme
• Wellbeing programme
• Blue Light Card Discounts
• fuelGenie Fuel Cards (for applicable roles)

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Doctoral level (or equivalent qualification) in clinical or counselling psychology, or HCPC registered forensic psychologist, with additional therapy training.
• HCPC or other appropriate registration or accreditation as a senior psychological therapist with additional evidence of working within multidisciplinary complex risk services.
• Be expected to pass HMPPS security clearance (to be applied for post interview for successful applicant)

Desirable criteria

• Post graduate advanced training in one or more therapeutic modalities (e.g., EMDR, DBT, CFT, CBT, CAT, Schema)
• Clinical supervisor training

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of developing assessments, formulations and therapeutic intervention to people presenting with complex mental health, personality difficulties or offending behaviours.
• Experience of working with people with trauma.
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary or engaging with wider stakeholders.
• Experience of providing in-depth psychological therapy, using a range of skills and techniques.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working within a custodial, secure environment or with offenders.
• Experience of providing supervision to others.
• Experience of working within a trauma-informed environment.
• Experience of facilitating therapeutic group intervention.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Knowledge and awareness of the factors that contribute to offending behaviour, complex personality presentations, emotional dysregulation and interpersonal difficulties.
• Knowledge of psychological treatment approaches for working with those presenting with complex presentations and difficulties.
• Evidence of CPD as recommended by a professional registration body.

Desirable criteria

• Awareness of CPA and stepped care approach to mental health care and provision
• Knowledge of policy and legislation in relation to prisoner mental health and well-being.

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

• High level communication skills (written and verbal).
• Strong presentation skills and ability to deliver training to staff teams.
• Ability to work collaboratively with service-users and staff teams. And to liaise with a range of other professionals and communicate sensitive and risk information.
• Ability to organise time effectively.
• Ability to promote and advocate for a psychologically informed way of working.
• To show resilience within a challenging working environment and have awareness of own professional and personal limitations.
• The ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and threat of physical abuse.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of providing training to multidisciplinary staff groups

Other Requirements

Essential criteria

• There is an occasional requirement to travel across the wide footprint of the Trust to attend meetings and events relevant to the role.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working within a multi-cultural framework

Important Information about working for GMMH:

All positions within the Trust are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, for further information on the checks required please visit the NHS Employers website www.nhsemployers.org

The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.

The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we'd love to hear from you.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications

A candidate may utilise the help of AI when writing job application. The assessment of an application is made on its entirety and most times AI-generated content does not fully grasp the context and requirements of the job one applies for thus producing inaccurate and misleading information, especially in the supporting statement section of an application that can lack real life examples of one's achievements, success and challenges.

We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored. GMMH reserves the right to follow up with a candidate at the interview on specific responses and those examples used in the supporting statement to explore it further.

Sponsorship

We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government's website - click here.

If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.

The Home Office introduces new changes from 09/04/2025 that impact the health and care sector, you may wish to familiarise with it here.

Do you have experience outside the NHS?

We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities.

We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment. Please contact our Recruitment Team for more information.

**Please note, this vacancy may be closed at any time if sufficient applications have been received**

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• B8a Styal JD (PDF, 160.4KB)
• B8a HMP Styal Person Spec (PDF, 152.6KB)
• Important Candidate information (PDF, 2.5MB)