Psychological Therapist/Highly Specialist Psychological Therapist

The Durham and Darlington Perinatal service are seeking a passionate and motivated Psychological Therapist to join us in our continued drive to provide the best Perinatal Mental Health Services. You will become part of a proactive, innovative, and supportive multidisciplinary team, with opportunities to further develop your knowledge, skills, and experience within this specialist area.

As a member of the Community Perinatal Mental Health Team, you will contribute to the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based care for women who are planning a pregnancy, are pregnant, or are in the postnatal period. You will manage a clinical caseload, providing psychological assessment and therapeutic interventions to women experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties during the perinatal period. This is a fixed-term/secondment 12-month position, working core hours of 9:00am to 5:00pm, for four days. The service supports hybrid working arrangements, offering flexibility alongside the demands of the role.

You will join an established and valued psychological therapies team within the service, holding an active caseload and delivering a range of therapeutic interventions. In addition, you will play an important role within the service's leadership structure, supporting the ongoing development of the service, contributing to quality improvement initiatives, and offering support, supervision and guidance to colleagues across the multidisciplinary team.

Main duties of the job

The successful postholder will be accountable for your own professional practice in the delivery of highly specialist psychological therapy to clients with highly complex mental health conditions or learning disabilities which may include challenging behaviours. The post-holder is responsible for providing a qualified specialist psychological therapy service to people in the designated service, providing both specialist model-specific expertise and broader psychological assessment and therapy, in addition to clinical supervision, advice and consultation to colleagues, and to other non-professional carers, on modality specific aspects of assessment, formulation, care and treatment.

You will work as a member of the multi-disciplinary team, ensuring that high quality, compassionate, individualised care is delivered which ensures safety and a commitment to promoting recovery and wellbeing and maximising independence. In addition you will provide clinical supervision and clinical consultation/advice in accordance with service needs as agreed with the lead psychologist. You will take a lead role within the team for model-specific psychological therapies in the pathway, including providing leadership in adherence to NICE guidance through clinical supervision and monitoring.

About us

We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby. From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care —our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for. We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help.

In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health. We're committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it. We won't rest until everyone in our region has the mental health care they need, to lead their best possible life.

Job responsibilities

This role may be eligible for sponsorship under the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker route. However, sponsorship can only be provided where applicants meet the specific requirements, therefore, we recommend that you assess your eligibility before applying for this position.

The Perinatal Service is committed to supporting Continuous Professional Development (CPD) through regular training opportunities, contributions from external speakers, shared learning events, and multidisciplinary case discussions. This creates a supportive environment in which staff can continuously enhance their knowledge and clinical practice. Team members are also encouraged to contribute to the delivery of maternal mental health awareness training for Midwives, Health Visitors, and Mental Health colleagues, helping to improve understanding and support for women and families across the wider healthcare system.

Our work is rewarding but can also be complex and challenging. As such, the ability to undertake effective risk assessment and management is essential, alongside a sound understanding of safeguarding principles and procedures. A key aspect of the role is maintaining a focus on the wellbeing and safety of unborn babies and other children within the family at all times. The successful candidate will demonstrate a commitment to maintaining high standards of care, working in accordance with evidence-based practice, professional standards, and Trust policies.

You will work collaboratively with colleagues, women and their families, carers, partner organisations, and other agencies to promote positive mental health outcomes and enhance the wellbeing of women and their families throughout the perinatal journey.

Person Specification

Qualifications:

• Post-graduate training (doctoral level equivalent) in clinical / counselling / forensic psychology (or its equivalent prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS.
• HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Post doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice - Band 8a.
• Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of doctoral trainees.
• Trained in care co-ordination.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.
• Registration with BPS.

Knowledge/Skills/Experience:

• Aware of the Trust's Quality Improvement System.
• Must be able to communicate complex and highly sensitive information effectively, to a wide range of people.
• Adapt creatively the evidence base for interventions in mental health for clients with communication difficulties / learning disabilities.
• Provide (within agreed timescale) effective teaching, training and clinical supervision.
• Work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team and undertake care co-ordination/lead practitioner responsibilities.
• Undertake complex multiagency working and liaise with multiple systems.
• Utilise psychometric tests competently.
• Identify, provide and promote appropriate interventions / means of support for carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and challenging behaviours.
• Utilise appropriate clinical governance mechanisms within own work.
• Use approved breakaway techniques.
• Experience of CBT, DBT, Psychodynamics, systematic therapy.
• Skills in using multimedia materials in presentations.

Knowledge:

• Working with mental health/learning disability clients (depending on designated service area).
• Multi-disciplinary team working.
• Experience of research and audit.
• Doctoral level knowledge of evidence-based practice relevant to the role.
• Risk assessment and risk management.
• Clinical governance.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Audit and research methodology.
• Social Inclusion agenda.

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.

Salary: £49,387 to £64,750 a year pro rata, per annum.