Clinical or Counselling Psychologist/CBT Therapist in Bedford

We are seeking a 0.9wte Psychologist or Psychological Therapist to work in our Adult Community Mental Health Teams in Bedford. These services provide care to people with lived experience of serious mental health problems (for example, psychosis, bipolar disorder and personality disorder diagnoses) and their carers and families. You will be co-located with your CMHT team and with the other Psychologists, therapists, CAPs and Assistant Psychologists who work within the area. We work closely with primary care services and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to provide a comprehensive recovery-focused offer across our geographical area.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will provide specialist evidence-based assessment, formulation and intervention for people with a range of complex mental health needs, including individual, couple/family and group interventions. You will possess an enthusiasm for MDT working and the skills to help steer the team to a psychological understanding of their clients and further towards the development of psychologically informed and trauma-informed services.

The team values the role of psychological therapists highly and, as such, the role is multifaceted and includes consultation and teaching roles, as well as active involvement in quality improvement projects, staff support initiatives and wider Trust initiatives. We are therefore looking for someone with good knowledge and skills within these domains, and someone who is ready to join an innovative and efficient service as we implement the transformation of services in line with the NHS Long Term Plan.

As a member of the Bedfordshire and Luton psychological therapies staff group the post holder would join the regular psychology meetings which focus on Clinical Governance and peer-led Continual Professional Development (CPD). The Trust has an excellent track record of meaningful service user participation and co-production, and improving services using Quality Improvement methods. Living in Bedfordshire and surrounds offers an affordable quality of life with excellent road, rail and air links to the rest of the UK and Europe.

About us

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job responsibilities

Please see the job description and person specification for more detailed information about this post.

Person Specification

Qualification/Education/Training

• Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology or equivalence and able to demonstrate eligibility for BPS CPsychol (Chartered Psychologist) as well as having HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Or Postgraduate level training in CBT for Psychosis or Personality Disorder and demonstrated eligibility for accreditation as a practitioner/therapist with the relevant accrediting body (BABCP) as well as having a Core Mental Health Profession (e.g. Social Worker; Occupational Therapist; Community Psychiatric Nurse; Psychologist; Art Therapist) with current HCPC/NMC registration.
• Further training or qualifications in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.

Experience

• Experience in working in mental health multidisciplinary settings and representing a psychological perspective in these teams and services.
• Clinical experience of working with people with serious mental illness presentations.
• Experience of delivering CBT for Psychosis or Personality Disorder.
• Experience of providing teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
• Experience in contributing to service development, redesign and improvements in secondary mental health services.
• Experience of the application of psychological interventions in different cultural contexts.

Knowledge and Skills

• Able to adopt a respectful, culturally sensitive approach to service users, families, carers, colleagues and other professionals.
• Able to draw upon a theoretical knowledge base in the analysis of highly complex facts and situations, requiring sustained and intense concentration, to arrive at appropriate formulation and compare and select from a range of treatment options.
• An in-depth knowledge and skills in applying clinical risk assessment and management in own and others' clinical caseload.
• Aware of the potential impact of discrimination & disadvantage on mental health.
• Highly developed knowledge of the theory and delivery of specialised psychological practice relevant to a secondary mental health setting (including psychosis, personality disorder, complex trauma).

Other

• Able to contain and work with organisational stress and able to hold the stress of others.
• Able to adopt a respectful, culturally sensitive approach to service users, families, carers, colleagues and other professionals.

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.