Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
About Us
EPUT provides community health, mental health and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. Also:
- We are among the largest employers in the in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.
- We run the COVID-19 vaccination programme across mid and south Essex and Suffolk and north east Essex.
EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT). A new leadership team was established at the Trust in 2020.
Our vision and values
Our Vision
“To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care”.
Our Purpose
“We care for people every day. What we do together, matters”.
Our Values- We Care
- We Learn
- We Empower
- We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
- We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
- We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
- We will help our communities to thrive.
- Mental Health Services
- Community Health Services
- Learning Disabilities Services
- Social Care
Find out more about the services we offer in our service directory.
Job overview
We are excited to be offering an opportunity for a clinical/counselling psychologist to join us as a Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist for 12 months maternity cover (April 2025 to April 2026). This is a part time post (0.64 WTE - 24 hours per week) at band 8B suitable for someone who wishes to step-up in role and gain experience at a more senior level.The post-holder will be working alongside the head of services in delivering psychological services across Mid-Essex. S/he will also be the principal psychologist for the community team based in Braintree and Maldon and will support and work alongside team managers to establish an integrated way of working within MDTs.
The role will also entail liaising with newly formed PCNs and PT-SMHT services in the community to deliver a seamless and integrated psychological service across “primary” and “secondary” care. There will be many opportunities for leadership development and for gaining experience in management and supervision.
Main duties of the job
In Mid Essex psychological services are fully integrated within multi-disciplinary teams covering a broad geographical area, with bases in Chelmsford, Braintree and Maldon. We work alongside a variety of experienced professionals from different backgrounds.Adult community psychological services offer a variety of interventions to community teams, including DBT, CAT, CBT-p, systemic family therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, art psychotherapy and indirect clinical work. This is an exciting opportunity to work within supportive MDTs and highly experienced clinical/counselling psychologists and psychotherapists.
We are looking for someone competent and experienced in delivering psychological assessments and interventions within the context of the NHS. Experience of offering consultations and developing clinical formulations that meet the needs of clients with personality disorders, psychoses, and other complex presentations is essential.
The successful candidate will need to demonstrate experience with clients who experience severe emotional disturbance, often with a history of trauma and multiple morbidities. The role will also include managerial responsibilities, supervision, responsibilities for the management and allocation of referrals and recruitment.
The post-holder will be expected to contribute to multi-disciplinary treatment planning, research, audit and service evaluation.
Working for our organisation
EPUT are looking for motivated staff who shares our Trust values of Care, Learn and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;- Season Ticket Loans
- NHS discounts for staff
- Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
- 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 to apply for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment
Join our Staff bank
What is Staff Bank?
Our EPUT NHS staff bank is an entity managed by the trust that hires clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals to take on shifts at our trust hospitals and community settings. Here at EPUT we maintain our own bank of specialist staff to ensure that we are able offer safe and effective care at all times.
All our permanent staff are automatically enrolled onto the staff bank however this does not mean you have to work any additional shifts, but the option is there for you if you wish.
If you are joining our Trust in a fixed term role, please indicate on your New Starter Paperwork that you wish to join our staff bank.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Applicants must have completed doctoral level training (or its equivalent) in Clinical or Counselling Psychology and/ or have additional training to include models of clinical psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the HCPC.Psychologists with experience of working with personality disorders and psychoses are strongly encouraged to apply, particularly those who can evidence a strong background in working with complex and challenging cases. Registration with the Health Care Professions Council is essential.
For further information about the main responsibilities of the role please refer to the job description.
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential criteria- Doctoral level training in clinical psychology, or its equivalent, including models of psychology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the HCPC
- Post-doctoral qualifications in DBT/CBT/CAT/Schema Therapy/CBT-P or other evidence based models for the treatment of complex cases, personality disorders and/or psychosis
- Evidence of significant CPD in relation to Adult Mental Health speciality.
Skills/Experience
Essential criteria- Experience in specialist psychological assessment and treatment of complex mental health presentations across the full range of care settings, including inpatient and community settings
- Experience of working in the NHS
- Experience of the role of Lead Specialist in highly complex cases
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.
Important Professional References
Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three year 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.
Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed.
Equal Opportunities Employer
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.
Covid Vaccination
Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19. The safety of our staff and patients is a top priority for us at EPUT.
If you would like to book a Covid vaccination or would like more information please contact us by emailing [email protected].