An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 4 Assistant Psychologist to join the Adult Mental Health Inpatient Psychology Team at The Harbour, Blackpool. This is a 12-month fixed-term post supporting psychological input across a female acute ward, Shakespeare.
The Harbour provides inpatient care for adults with complex mental health needs, supporting people at a point of crisis in the least restrictive and safest way. The main focus of these posts will be the delivery and evaluation of a brief DBT-informed psychological intervention for female acute inpatients who are self-harming and may experience high levels of distress, emotional and behavioural dysregulation and/or substance use challenges.
The post holders will join an established and growing inpatient psychology service at The Harbour. The current psychology team includes two Consultant Clinical Psychologists, two Principal Clinical Psychologists, one Clinical Psychologist and 3 existing Assistant Psychologists working into the other female and 2 male acute wards. The service is also due to expand further later this year with the addition of two Clinical Psychologist posts.
We are looking for qualified and experienced individuals with an interest in working with adults in an acute inpatient mental health setting. Applicants should have good verbal and written communication skills, be able to work effectively with colleagues and enjoy working as part of a busy multidisciplinary team.
The post holder will deliver structured individual intervention sessions and facilitate three group-based psychological intervention sessions per week. The role will also involve completion of clinical documentation, report writing, administration, scoring of outcome measures, collation of clinical activity data and contribution to audit and service evaluation.
The successful applicants will work under the supervision of a Principal Clinical Psychologist and within agreed clinical plans, intervention protocols and Trust policies relating to Assistant Psychologists. They will also work alongside each other and provide some support to the wider psychology service at The Harbour, including supporting Consultant Clinical Psychologists with clinical, audit, evaluation, administrative, report-writing and service-support tasks as required.
We are looking for applicants with a 2:1 degree in Psychology and eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society. Applicants must also have at least 12 months relevant experience within an adult acute or PICU inpatient setting and/or experience of working as an employed Assistant Psychologist.
LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.
Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you’d like to discuss your application, please ask.
We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.
LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.
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For more details on this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.
Informal enquiries are welcomes and can be directed to Dr Rachel Wade, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, at
[email protected]
Please note, as soon as sufficient applications are received this advert will close. It is hoped the successful applicant will start in post mid-late August.
