Clinical Psychologist / Counselling Psychologist (Community Pain)

Find out about the current vacancies available at the Trust and take the next step in your career with us.

At North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, our main priority is providing safe and high-quality care to our patients every day; the kind of care we would want for ourselves and our loved ones. If you share our passion then apply for this opportunity and help us make our patients’ experience the best it can possibly be.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 7 Clinical/Counselling Psychologist or Psychological Therapist to work within the Community Pain Management Service within the Medical Psychology Department at Group Hospitals of Tees. The post is to support patients who are living with persistent pain, encouraging self-management and the utilisation of psychological coping strategies, whilst also reducing the reliance on pharmacological intervention.

You will be working within a team of psychologists, psychological therapists, applied psychologists, assistant psychologists and physiotherapists, to provide high-quality and responsive care to patients who live with persistent pain. This is an exciting opportunity to join our dynamic and innovative Psychology Team.

The post-holder will be based within a diverse Medical Psychology Department at the Group with their main base at the University Hospital of Hartlepool, working alongside motivated and compassionate psychology colleagues. This post provides excellent additional opportunities, including strong peer support, quality supervision and an emphasis on CPD.

The successful post-holder will:

• Offer specialist assessment and evidence-based, psychologically-informed support to patients accessing the Community Pain Management service within the Medical Psychology Department.
• Work to provide a high-quality, compassionate and trauma-informed service to all individuals.
• Implement a range of specialist psychological approaches, adjusting and refining psychological formulations as required.
• Undertake psychological risk assessment and risk management, as well as providing specialist advice to colleagues across the MDT.
• Provide psychological consultation to the wider MDT, alongside training and psycho-education as required.
• Engage collaboratively with colleagues in service evaluation, audit and research.
• Support opportunities aimed at improving services.
• Receive clinical supervision and adhere to CPD/professional registration requirements.

At Group Hospitals of Tees, our main priority is to provide safe and high-quality care to our patients every day; the kind of care we would want for ourselves and our loved ones. We want our organisation to be the best place to work with the right staff, in the right roles, at the right time, to ensure we deliver exceptional patient care and experience.

We will support staff through providing an inclusive and supportive workplace with health and well-being initiatives, staff benefits and opportunities for personal and professional development. Staff recognition is very important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff achievements and dedication through the Star and Team of the month, Managers Awards, Shining Stars and Service Awards.

Qualifications

• A recorded/registered doctoral level qualification in Clinical or Counselling Psychology or equivalent, i.e. High Intensity IAPT Course/Post Grad CBT, a recorded/registered qualification as a psychological therapy practitioner, demonstrating the competences as required.
• Accreditation with BABCP.
• Full driving license and ability to use a car in accordance with the needs of the post.
• A post-graduate qualification and evidence of supervised practice in an evidence-based psychological therapy model (e.g. IPT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, CFT).

Experience

• Experience of working in a health setting for one year or more.
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of patients.
• Experience of working with people experiencing anxiety, depression and the lasting impact of stigma and trauma.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life span, presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity.
• Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence-based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post.
• Demonstrable experience with routine outcome monitoring.
• Experience of working in Acute Care Services.
• Experience of multidisciplinary team working.
• Experience of supervision of healthcare staff.
• Completed clinical audits within a service.

Knowledge and Skills

• Knowledge of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment with patients with complex needs.
• Psychological assessment, formulation and intervention skills.
• Knowledge of psychological theory and practice relevant to clinical settings including developmental and lifespan approaches.
• The ability to analyse complex data and make expert judgements based on information from a variety of sources.
• The ability to understand the role and contribution of colleagues and collaborate effectively with colleagues from all disciplines and across agencies.
• Knowledge of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies with specific difficult to treat groups.
• Knowledge of the wider community in which the services are located, and consideration of the impact this may have on clinical presentations and social/emotional concerns.

Personal Attributes

• Knowledge and understanding of anxiety, depression and trauma and how it may present in physical healthcare settings.
• Ability to communicate complex and highly sensitive information effectively, to a wide range of people.
• Knowledge of safeguarding and child protection issues and other relevant legislation.
• Takes initiative in service improvement projects or clinical developments.
• Contributes to shaping care pathways or integrating psychological support into wider services.

Important - Once sufficient applications have been received this vacancy may close early.

Disclosure and Barring Checks (DBS): It is the policy of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, that all successful candidates who are new to the Trust who require DBS clearance for the post they have been offered, are required to pay the cost for their DBS certificate. The method of payment for this is via salary deduction from your first month’s pay on commencement with the Trust. The DBS check will be undertaken during the pre‑employment check screening.

New Starters – Probationary Period: For any new employees commencing employment with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, you will be subject to satisfactory completion of a 6 month probationary period.

Employment References: As part of our pre‑employment screening process, all applicants are required to provide references covering their last three years employment history including any gaps.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Everything we do is shaped by our values: Respect, Support, and Collaborate. At University Hospitals Tees we want our workspaces to be places where everyone feels welcome, valued and safe.

Disability: We are a Disability Confident Lead employer. This means we give fair and full consideration to applicants and will offer reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process.

Right to Work in the UK: The Trust welcomes applications from all candidates who meet the criteria for the role.

Further Important Information: Please check your email on a regular basis for updates on your application.