Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or Psychological Therapist

at  East London NHS Foundation Trust

We are looking to recruit a highly motivated, innovative and flexible HCPC-registered Psychologist or Psychological Therapist to work in a ‘floating’ role across Luton and Bedfordshire Adult Secondary Care Psychology Services.
This represents an exciting opportunity to experience working in a range of settings, including inpatient, CMHT, Learning Disabilities, Older Adults, Eating Disorders, Complex Emotional Needs, Early Intervention, the Crisis Pathway and Clinical Health Psychology.
The successful applicant will provide cover when a vacancy arises in one of the above services, due, for example, to the postholder moving on from their role, sickness absence or maternity leave. It is envisaged that the successful applicant would work into a maximum of two of these services at any one time, for a minimum period of six months (even if the substantive postholder returns within that time), in order to have the opportunity to complete meaningful interventions with clients. This is a substantive role with the guarantee of ongoing employment, even in the unlikely event that there are no gaps in provision. While deployment into a particular area will be driven primarily by the need to cover gaps in the service, it is anticipated that there will be some opportunity to accommodate requests to work into specific areas of interest to the post-holder. It is not expected that applicants will bring expertise and experience in all of the possible areas of specialty, but that they should bring transferable skills in working psychologically with a range of clients, and in adapting psychological approaches to different presentations. It is recognised that this is demanding role, and access to high-quality specialist supervision, training opportunities and ongoing support will be provided.
The post would be particularly suitable for a newly-qualified psychologist or psychological therapist who is looking for variety. The role offers an excellent opportunity to work with a very wide range of service users with complex mental health difficulties from a range of religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, as well as working in partnership with a variety of teams and community organisations which deliver psychologically informed care. As such, it also offers the chance to gain access to specialist supervision and training, and is a good opportunity to gain confidence in working with a whole range of clinical presentations. Adaptability and the ability to quickly form positive working relationships are key requirements.
The successful candidate may be asked to supervise trainee psychologists (after the required period of post-qualification experience), as well as clinical associates in psychology and assistant psychologists.
We welcome applications from trainees who are currently in their final year of training. The role would be particularly suitable for someone who is not yet committed to working in a particular specialty and wants to experience working in arrange of settings.
The post holder will be part of a wider team of friendly psychologists and psychological therapists, who meet regularly and provide peer support. You will have access to a range of training and education opportunities, such as Trauma Informed Care, EMDR and Quality Improvement, as well as the chance to get involved in research. This post represents an innovation for the service and as such there is the opportunity to co-develop the role with us, as we are committed to working in genuine collaboration with the post-holder to ensure the role meets the needs of both the service and the post-holder.
We welcome informal pre-application conversations with interested candidates; to discuss this post please contact Steven Livingstone, Consultant Clinical Psychologist / Associate Director for Psychology, s.livingstone4@nhs.net

Please refer the Job description for details