Specialist Psychologist

This is an exciting and unique opportunity for an enthusiastic Psychologist to join Rharian Fields Specialist Eating Disorder Service. This role provides the opportunity to be part of the development of an all-age eating disorder pathway and alternatives to admissions.

Rharian Fields is part of the Royal College of Psychiatrists\’ Quality Network for Eating Disorders accreditation scheme and is rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission. This is a highly rewarding role to work within a dedicated and passionate multidisciplinary team developing evidence-based services for individuals with an eating disorder.

Please note: The earliest start date for this position is 03 November 2025.

Main duties of the job

To provide psychological oversight for service users receiving eating disorder treatment in both inpatient and outpatient settings. To ensure the psychological needs of our service users are identified and treated as per NICE and other best practice guidance in accordance with the British Psychological Society\’s ethos and frameworks. Delivering psychological assessment, formulation, treatment, and evaluation along with a focus on reflective practice for staff. To integrate psychological therapies into the unit and embed psychological thinking within the multidisciplinary team.

To assist in the management of highly complex comorbid cases and actively input into their reviews, guiding on psychological need and treatment to facilitate care to be provided in the least restrictive environments.

About us

Hello!

We are Navigo. We look after North East Lincolnshire\’s mental health and well-being, an award-winning social enterprise that provides mental health services to the NHS and beyond.

The whole basis of our work is to deliver services that we would be happy for our own family to use.

We offer a range of mental health services, including acute and community facilities as well as specialist support such as outstanding older adults inpatient services, rehabilitation and recovery community mental health, and an outstanding specialist eating disorder facility.

Ranked as one of the top UK companies to work for, we feature in the Best Companies top 100 large company list.

As a social enterprise, we do things a little bit differently and have also developed income-generating commercially viable businesses that provide training, education, and employment opportunities including Grimsby Garden Centre.

Working at Navigo is not like working anywhere else. Lots of places say that, but we really mean it.

We like to work with forward-thinking people who want to make a difference.

Come and Join us!

Please note: Whilst we value all applications, if we believe an application to be AI-generated, we will use a checking tool and may reject any application that has been automatically generated.

Should you require any assistance in completing this application due to a disability or other needs, please contact navigo.recruitment@nhs.net.

Job responsibilities

1. CLINICAL
2. To provide comprehensive highly specialist psychological assessments and treatments of service users referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of highly complex, contentious, and/or sensitive data from a variety of sources including psychometric tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations, and semi-structured interviews with service users, family members, and others involved in the service users\’ care. The post-holder will also be required to administer a wide range of highly complex psychometric tests that require the manipulation of materials at a high level of speed and accuracy. These procedures require long periods of highly focused concentration with narrow margins for error.
3. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family, or group.
4. To formulate and implement highly complex plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a service user\’s mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework (i.e., psychological formulation) of the service user\’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy. The post-holder will monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multidisciplinary care.
5. To be responsible for implementing a range of highly specialist psychological interventions for individual service users, carers, families, and groups. This will be employed both within and across teams, individually and in synthesis. The post-holder will adjust and refine psychological formulations, drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
6. In conjunction with colleagues, develop outcome measures to provide an empirically measured standard for delivery of own and supervisees\’ psychological provision.
7. Clinical work will require the analysis, interpretation, and comparison of a range of options to develop complex formulations based upon a range of theoretical perspectives, which will allow the most effective highly specialised programme of care.
8. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment, and discharge of service users whose problems are managed by psychologically-based care plans.
9. To provide highly specialist psychological advice, guidance, and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to service users\’ formulation, diagnosis, and treatment plans.
10. To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care for the benefit of all service users of the service, across all multidisciplinary teams, settings, and other agencies serving the client group.
11. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
12. To manage diary to ensure adequate provision of direct clinical work, as per the minimum standards of four face-to-face direct clinical sessions of one hour per each full workday. Additional duties/activities within training/supervision, service planning/development, research/evaluation, professional development, and attendance at key meetings will, as negotiated and agreed with the professional manager, at times reduce these activity levels.
13. To be an integral part of the development of the service to provide an All Age eating disorder service and alternatives to admission pathway. To work across inpatient, daycare, and community settings to support and consult with staff to ensure they feel contained during a time of change.
14. The post-holder will be required to work with service users in situations that may be highly antagonistic, abusive, and hostile. He/she will need to communicate, in a skilled and sensitive manner, highly complex, sensitive, and/or contentious information concerning assessment, formulation, and treatment plans, where there are significant barriers to acceptance, using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills. This includes writing clinical reports, letters, and notes in line with operational standards and liaising with the Senior Operational Manager for Adult Acute Services.

Person Specification

Additional Requirements

• Must be a driver with a valid license or have access to transport with appropriate insurance to meet the needs of the service.
• Advanced, specialist skills in psychological assessment, formulation, and intervention.
• Strong leadership qualities, resilience, and ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainty.
• Effective team player with good liaison and communication skills.
• Well-organized with good administrative skills.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to cope with workload pressure and prioritize tasks.
• Ability to make clinical decisions around complex and emotive issues.
• Empathy and engagement with the client group.
• Self-awareness and emotional resilience.

Qualifications

• Doctoral Psychology qualification or equivalent.
• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
• Relevant specialist CPD (e.g., CBT-E, SSCM, MANTRA, Motivational Interviewing, DBT, EMDR).
• Post-qualification training in psychological therapy.
• Accreditation in one or multiple relevant psychological therapies.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of specialist therapeutic interventions with the client group.
• Knowledge of more than one psychological therapy.
• Knowledge of legislation and its implications for clinical practice.

Experience

• Experience of clinical work in adult mental health services, particularly in assessment, formulation, treatment planning, and implementation.
• Experience working with people with severe and complex mental health needs, including eating disorders.
• Evidence of clinical experience working with eating disorder clients, especially in assessment, formulation, treatment planning, and implementation.
• Teaching and training of psychology and other staff; clinical supervision experience.
• A clear record of managing complexity and risk while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
• Understanding of the NHS and social care environment and its challenges.
• Evidence of a specialist interest in working with adults with eating disorders during training.
• Extended casework in relevant specialty areas before and during training.
• Experience of line management.
• Clinical audit experience in the specialist area.
• Experience in leadership roles within NHS psychology services and in developing, implementing, and evaluating strategies and policies in multidisciplinary and multi-agency contexts.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975, and a DBS check is required to check for any previous convictions.

Salary: £47,810 to £55,690 per year, Band 7 preceptorship to Band 8a.

#J-18808-Ljbffr