Senior Assistant Psychologist
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and compassionate Senior Assistant Psychologist to work within our MHTR Team in Surrey.
If you are seeking a new challenge, and have a keen interest in the criminal justice services, we encourage you to apply and join our supportive and welcoming team!
The Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) Team are part of MPFT’s Health and Justice Service. The MHTR team provide psychological assessments and interventions to people with mental health difficulties who have come into contact with criminal justice services and whose offences may attract a community or suspended sentence order.
The team aims to prevent short term custodial sentences and reduce reoffending by improving access to psychological interventions and addressing underlying mental health problems, thereby improving health and social outcomes for the individual and their family.
MPFT deliver services across England. We are experienced in working across a wide geographical area and there is no necessity to travel to headquarters, training and IT support is virtual.
What do previous Assistant Psychologists say about working in the MHTR Team?
‘The MHTR team is a friendly and supportive team. This job role has given me the opportunity to work with diverse populations, gain experience working with different presentations and develop my skills in a variety of therapeutic approaches.'
Main duties of the job
This post is based in Guildford and Staines, working with a hybrid approach, so travel may be required at times across your allocated area(s).
You will:
Under the supervision of an HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist
Support the clinical leads in triaging screenings of referrals and assessments
Undertake protocol based psychological assessments of service users
Formulate and deliver care plans collaboratively with service users
Prepare autonomously assessment reports, letters, the results of psychometric assessments, case note reviews and research/audit projects.
Provide advice, guidance and support to service users to enhance awareness of their psychological needs
Contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care including preparing training packages, as agreed with the Clinical Lead, deliver briefings about service provision to partner agencies, and contributing to the organisation of training seminars and conferences for others
Mentor band 4 assistant psychologists and provide induction support to these roles
Working for our organisation
By joining Team MPFT, you will be helping your communities and in return for this, we will support you by;- Supporting your career development and progression
- Excellent NHS Pension scheme
- Generous maternity, paternity and adoption leave
- Options for flexible working
- Up to 27 days annual leave (increasing with service up to 33 days)
- Extensive Health and Wellbeing support and resources
- If you work in our community teams, we pay for your time travelling between patients
- Lease car if you complete more than 500 business miles per annum, fully insured and maintained (including tyres), mileage paid at lease car rate
- Salary sacrifice car - fully insured and maintained (including tyres), your gross pay is reduced by the cost of the vehicle before tax, NI and pension deductions are calculated, mileage paid at business rates
- Salary sacrifice bikes up to £2k
- Free car parking at all trust sites
- Free flu vaccinations every year
- Citizens Advice support linked with a Hardship Fund for one off additional support up to £250 (if the criteria is met)
We are proud to be a diverse and inclusive organisation and there is a choice of staff networks that help you meet like-minded people.
Please be aware that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in completing application forms will be monitored to ensure fairness and transparency. If you have used AI you must state this in your application.
Please note, we may be required to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further information on the Job Description, main responsibilities and Person Specification to ensure you have the relevant skills for the post, please see the attached documents.
As a member of the team you will be responsible for undertaking assessments, formulating service users’ needs and delivering psychological interventions, under the supervision of a qualified Practitioner Psychologist.
An understanding of the needs of people with a diagnosis of personality disorder, mental illness, and/or learning disabilities is needed in this role, with the ability to communicate sensitive information to the patient, carer and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
We look forward to receiving your application. If you have any questions regarding the role, do not hesitate to contact us in advance of submitting your application.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- At least a 2:1 (Hons) in Psychology
- Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society Has significant experience of face-to-face work with people with mental health problems (including mental illness and personality disorder), neurodiversity issues, learning disabilities and/or offending behaviour
- Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional Psychology, mental health Experience of working with offenders
Experience
Essential criteria- Previous experience of working as an Assistant Psychologist in a healthcare setting
- Experience of using psychological assessments, formulations, risk assessments and care planning
- Experience of administering, scoring, and interpreting psychometric tests
- Experience in providing psychological interventions (group programmes and/or individual interventions)
- practice and/or research design and analysis