Senior Staff Psychologist Clinical, Counselling, Health Psychologist

NHS; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 53,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job description

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Senior Staff Psychologist (Clinical, Counselling, Health Psychologist), Band 8a (37.5 hours a week)

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Staff Psychology Service. We are seeking a skilled and compassionate staff psychologist to contribute to a specialist psychology service which supports colleagues in our Trust with the emotional impact of work, promoting psychological safety and a culture of compassionate care at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust. The service supports individual colleagues and teams with direct psychological interventions. Our psychologists also work at an organisational level to encourage wider cultural change concerning staff wellbeing at work.

The successful candidate will provide 1:1 psychological interventions and team psychological interventions on virtual platforms and in person within clinical areas of the hospital. They will also support the Staff Psychology lead in the delivery of the service and maintaining key relationships within and outside of the trust.

The successful candidate will be committed to the compassionate behaviours and values of the trust and will be able to demonstrate good personal, professional and clinical skills. The role requires a warm, flexible, compassionate and motivated team member who has excellent organisational skills and the ability to use their own initiative.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will have a post-graduate doctorate in clinical, counselling or health psychology and will be registered with the HCPC as a psychological practitioner. It is desirable that the candidate would have further training in specialist trauma interventions such as EMDR and/or post qualification in Compassion Focused Therapy.

They will have knowledge and experience of occupational health problems and psychological aspects of work-related problems and trauma. The candidate will have experience of facilitating brief psychological interventions with teams or in a group setting. It is desirable that the candidate has experience of culture change/change in the NHS.

The successful candidate will be responsible for providing 1:1 psychological intervention for colleagues who are experiencing work related distress and stress. They will provide team psychological interventions on virtual platforms and in person within clinical areas of the hospital utilising a Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) framework, including but not limited to delivering workshops and psychoeducation sessions.

They will form strong working relationships with divisions, departments and line managers across the Trust who are struggling with work related distress. There will be a particular focus on supporting staff groups that have had a key role in managing high levels of ongoing operational pressure.

About us

Our Trust has been improving colleague health and wellbeing services for a number of years and in 2019 introduced the 2020 Staff Support and Advice Hub.

Looking after ourselves and our colleagues continues to be a priority as we all continue to work within the rapidly changing and challenging circumstances. As a result, the Staff Psychology Service was developed from expanding and developing the previous staff support service.

This has meant the service is able to offer more timely, accessible and tailored support to teams and individuals, helping them to understand and manage the emotional impact of their work. The service offers 1:1 support for individuals and managers, team interventions and remote workshops.

The successive candidate will also be part of the collective group of psychologists from across the whole of Gloucestershire working collaboratively to improve service provision.

Job responsibilities

• Act as a Staff Support Psychologist, forming strong working relationships with divisions, departments and line managers across the Trust who are struggling with work related stress or distress.
• Provide specialised psychological advice and consultation to multidisciplinary teams, staff groups, leaders and managers on topics related to psychological wellbeing, including on matters which have been caused, exacerbated or influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic and associated legacies.
• Formulate and deliver direct clinical intervention through the application of a range of evidenced based psychological theories and models in individual and group work.
• Clinical interventions may be delivered in person or online and take the form of decompression groups for staff teams following an internal incident or period of prolonged stress, providing psychoeducation and skills-based training on identified areas of emotional difficulty, and providing 1:1 psychological support for employees struggling with work-related stress or distress.
• The post holder will need to apply knowledge of the current evidence-based clinical interventions in clinical/counselling psychology and mental health, when working in this setting.
• The Staff Psychology Service is underpinned by a compassion focused therapy (CFT) framework. As a result, the role necessitates advanced theoretical and practical knowledge in this model.
• The post holder will be expected to design and facilitate staff support sessions with groups and individuals.
• There will be a frequent requirement for intense concentration during individual and group sessions and exposure to distressing or emotional circumstances.
• Effective communication of highly complex, contentious, delicate and often unwelcome information to colleagues in a highly emotive atmosphere is expected.
• The post holder may be called upon by other individuals referring colleagues/team members into the service for support.
• Although the post holder acts autonomously and is professionally accountable for their own practice, they will undertake regular guided reflective practice.
• The post holder will have the opportunity to attend regular in-house psychology meetings, which include a focus on reflective practice.
• There will also be CPD opportunities.

Person Specification

Qualifications, Experience, Knowledge and Skills

• Post-graduate doctorate in clinical, counselling or Health psychology
• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a psychological practitioner
• Knowledge and experience of occupational health problems and psychological aspects of work related problems
• Doctoral-level knowledge and expertise in research methods for audit and evaluation
• Experience in treating trauma in a therapeutic setting
• Knowledge of relevant government frameworks and initiatives.
• Knowledge of current evidence based clinical interventions in clinical psychology
• Knowledge of evidence-based approaches for trauma
• Able to work in a highly complex and pressured environment
• Training in specialist trauma interventions, such as EMDR
• Post qualification training in Compassion Focused Therapy and Mindfulness
• Further post-graduate training e.g. consultancy, coaching, mediation/conflict resolution
• Experience as a qualified/independent psychologist in formulation and delivering a range of therapeutic approaches for adults with 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.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Staff Psychology Service, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Beacon House)

£53,755 to £60,504 a year (pro rata if part time)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

318-25-T0303

Job locations

Staff Psychology Service, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Beacon House)