Band 8a Preceptorship Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist

at  Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

AWP Secure Inpatient Services are looking for two clinical, forensic or counselling psychologists with an interest in working with people with significant mental health difficulties such as psychosis, who present a significant risk to others.

• Given the nature of this role, we consider a phone call to discuss the role an essential part of the recruitment process. We would also strongly encourage visits to the service from applicants prior to any application or interview.

We have one full time 8a post based in our medium secure men’s service. This post could be offered as a 7-8a preceptorship for a candidate who evidences the competencies and potential for a development post. We also have one full time band 7 post with opportunities to work both within our men’s and women’s services, depending on the interests and experience of the candidate. Although these are full time posts, we would also be happy to discuss the possibility of part-time working with applicants. We welcome applications from trainees who are due to qualify shortly.
Secure Services consists of Fromeside, an 81 bed medium secure unit and Wickham, a 30 bed low secure unit, both based on the Blackberry Hill Hospital site in north Bristol. We have a large friendly psychology team with expertise in working with people with a wide range of presenting difficulties including; violence, sex offending, fire setting, learning disabilities, autism and psychosis.
We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust); a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.
We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.
Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.
At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.
The roles will involve providing direct clinical work, consultation, teaching and staff support, supervision, and working collaboratively with other members of the MDT including psychiatry, nursing, arts psychotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. The role will involve completing specialist assessments, developing complex formulations and designing and delivering individualized therapeutic interventions; as well as facilitating therapeutic groups and engaging in complex systemic work. There will also be the opportunity to engage in service development projects. The successful post-holders will need be adaptable, creative, to have good communication and team working skills, and to have experience and/or interest in working with people with significant mental health difficulties such as psychosis, who present a significant risk to others. There will be regular supervision and support for the roles, and a clear plan for achieving competencies for the 8a preceptorship role

Please refer the Job description for details