Clinical / Counselling Psychologist Maternal Mental Health Service

Band 8a fixed term for 9 months, or NHS secondment (maternity cover) We are offering a rare opportunity to join our well established Lighthouse MMHS in Shropshire Telford and Wrekin. We are a Psychology led, values driven team, providing a service for families (including partners) who have experienced birth trauma, pregnancy / neonatal loss, or moderate to severe distress related to fear of pregnancy / childbirth. The team hold a significant amount of expertise, with our clinical lead and several clinicians having also been involved in delivery of the Maternity Review Psychology Service for families who were part of the Ockenden Review. We are looking for a compassionate, family focused Psychologist with a keen interest in maternal mental health, to work collaboratively with colleagues in providing a service to families experiencing moderate to severe distress related to birth trauma, loss, or fear of pregnancy / childbirth. The post holder will work closely with specialist midwives, consultants and other mental health services, to offer a holistic service for families Main duties of the job

• Provision of a Psychology service within the Lighthouse Maternal Mental Health Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, including complex mental health needs. This is to involve providing specialist psychological assessments, leading to psychological formulations of distress; interpretation & opinion; and forming judgements to inform service provision & providing necessary psychological interventions.
• The post holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures. In so doing, they will be responsible for adhering to relevant Trust policies and professional ethics & standards. The post holder will be accountable for both professional & clinical actions.
• As a senior clinician, the post holder will develop a field of expertise that is a basis for providing advice to the service within which they work and will contribute to service and project development across the wider Trust area. This to include leading or contributing to training, supervision and governance aspects of the specific models of service delivery.
• The post holder will supervise and support the psychological assessment and therapy provided by more junior Psychologists within Lighthouse and provide peer supervisory support to colleagues as appropriate.
• The post is to include the provision of training placements for Psychologists in Training as required.
• The role includes employing research skills for audit, policy & service development and research, For more information relating to this vacancy please refer to the attached job description and person specification
Person Specification Qualifications and Training Essential
• Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical / counselling psychology (or its equivalent) including two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology
• Current registration / accreditation with appropriate body
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by relevant professional body
Desirable
• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
  
  Assessed experience of working as a qualified applied psychologist. Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, individually and in groups, including psychological trauma across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings 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 exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and intervention, within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
Desirable
• Considerable experience of working with people with complex psychological trauma and systemic working.
• Experience working with couples and families.
Skills Knowledge and Abilities Essential
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
Desirable
• Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies, A passion and enthusiasm for working with people experiencing complex mental health problems and their families and carers
• Able to demonstrate a positive and non-judgemental attitude towards service users and their family and carers.
• Ability to work constructively in a multidisciplinary environment, respect others and to contain the complex demands and conflicts that this can engender.
• Ability to develop productive therapeutic relationships with a range of service users.
• Ability to deal with organisational stress and to effectively manage own time and resources.
  
  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) and the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• 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)
And more. 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.