Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist - Forensic Psych Services
Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.
Our Trust cares for more than 100,000 patients at any one time across our community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex and parts of Bedfordshire and Suffolk.
We want you to be part of our journey of transformation, where our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do and to achieve our vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care.
You’ll be part of a Trust where you will be supported to be your authentic self and be the best you can be, where we will help you to grow, develop and thrive.
The Trust is recognised by the University of Essex and is a top provider of apprenticeships for people looking to be an assistant practitioner, senior health care support worker (CAP). Our trailblazing CAP apprenticeship won a national HSJ Award.
We are also recognised as a Veteran Aware Trust and holder of gold accreditation from the Ministry of Defence Employment Recognition Scheme. Our services are highlighted as an exemplar of good practice, producing the best care for more than 3.500 armed forces veterans in the past seven years.
We have been shortlisted and won national awards. We are an inclusive organisation and Level 3 Disability Confident Leader Trust.
We are constantly innovating and looking for new ways to deliver care, such as using technology to enhance patient care and working with partners to launch new services such as the Basildon Mental Health Urgent Care Department, virtual hospitals and falls response cars.
Join us and you’ll do the best work of your life – and make a difference to other people’s lives. What we do together, matters.
Job overview
Band 8a Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist Posts x 0.9 wte (33.75hrs p/week)
This is a split post to provide a qualified psychology service to people on the inpatient forensic wards at Brockfield House (0.4wte) and Edward House (0.5wte) in Essex.
This post is open to newly qualified psychologists (Band 7). If appointed at Band 7, the post-holder will be supported to work through a preceptorship programme towards Band 8a level.
An excellent opportunity has arisen for a HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical, Counselling or Forensic) to join the multidisciplinary teams at Brockfield House and Edward House. These are our medium-secure and low-secure forensic inpatient units in Essex providing secure services to adult males and females.This post includes working across both medium and low secure male and female wards, as required.
The teams at both units provide effective clinical risk management, and support the recovery pathway for service users with forensic histories and significant risk profiles. The post-holder will be providing psychological assessments as well as individual and group treatments to service users presenting with a range of complex mental health difficulties and criminogenic need.
Main duties of the job
The role sits within the wider Forensic Psychological Services Department which comprises clinical, counselling and forensic psychologists, trainee psychologists, assistant psychologists and psychology undergraduate placement students. EPUT's Secure Services operate across Essex, Bedfordshire and Luton.Video conferencing facilities between sites are also used to assist departmental communication.
Working for our organisation
BENEFITS AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES- Excellent Training and CPD opportunities for career development
- Season Ticket Loans
- NHS discounts for staff
- Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
- The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
- Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
Day One Flexible Employer, the Trust supports and actively encourages flexible working for all employees. We offer many options and you are encouraged to ask the recruiting manager what is possible for this role. If appointed, you will have the opportunity for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment.
As well as applicants from the UK, we encourage overseas candidates to apply for this role. We welcome diversity within our organisation. We can offer guidance for candidates coming from overseas about settling into working in the UK and we have a programme to provide a ‘buddy’ for you, i.e. a member of the Psychological Services Care Unit who has also emigrated to join us at EPUT and can guide you through as you settle into your new home.We understand that, as an overseas candidate, you will have gone through excellent training in your country of origin and we encourage you to join us.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES CLINICAL- To provide specialist psychological assessments of inpatients on the forensic wards based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi- structured interviews with clients and others involved in the client’s care. The post- holder will also be responsible for the safe use of any equipment used during assessments (e.g. test batteries).
- To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems and employing evidence based practice.
- To be responsible for implementing a range of highly specialised psychological interventions for people on the forensic unit; families and groups, within and across teams, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
- 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.
Please see full 'Job Description' and 'Person Specification' attachments for full details of the role.
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential criteria- Professional training in psychology
- Postgraduate training including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by HCPC.
- HCPC Registered as practitioner psychologist
- Knowledge of models of forensic psychology, including theories and models of offending, risk assessment (including Structured Professional Judgement approaches), and knowledge of theories of offence related therapy
Skills/experience
Essential criteria- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Experience of providing teaching and training to mental health staff around topics pertinent to working with offenders and/or adults with learning disabilities.
- Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience in the administration and interpretation of Structured Professional Judgement risk assessments (including the HCR-20, RSVP and SARA), as
- Experience of providing clinical supervision to staff carrying out group and individual work with forensic mental health or forensic learning disability patients.
- Experience of initiating and taking an active role in service-development
Personal
Essential criteria- The ability to create and maintain effective relationships within the clinical team and with a range of professionals.
- Team Player, inspirational to others, ability to negotiate ‘win win’ situations.
- Ability to work independently
- Confident and approachable.
- Personal experience of mental health problems.
Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.
Important note: please ensure that as part of your application, you include professional references with business contact information covering your last three years of employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.
As a newly appointed employee, you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post; the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.
Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply.If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email [email protected] and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.
The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.
Important Notice: Recently the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) which amended on 22 July 2021 and come into force on 11 November 2021 that anyone directly employed to work in a Care Home or who are required as part of their role to be deployed to a CQC registered care home are required to have had both their COVID vaccinations, unless they are exempt.This is therefore a requirement of this role and will form part of our pre-employment checks.
Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.