Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/CBT Therapist/Psychotherapist

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Job Overview

Do you enjoy working flexibly and creatively with people who have complex or diverse needs? We are delighted to advertise this Psychologist/Psychotherapist post, working with people in the gaps between NHS Talking Therapies (formerly IAPT) and community mental health services.

The post holder will be part of the Primary Care Mental Health Team which is a multidisciplinary service that works closely with GP practices using a holistic person-centred model of care. The postholder will work alongside psychological therapists and other colleagues from the NHS trusts and a range of third sector partners. The aims of the service are to:

1. Provide therapeutic input (individual and group) for people presenting with complex needs. Clients may present with co-occurring physical, social and mental health issues and/or neurodiversity-related issues, requiring a flexible, multi-modal approach.
2. Provide psychological consultation and supervision to primary care staff, including GPs and other allied professionals.
3. Develop and support the services to embed a flexible, psychologically informed model of care.

The post holder will be part of a therapy team of 17 staff and will receive direct support and supervision from the band 8a practitioner in their locality. They will be employed by Leeds & York Partnership NHS Trust (LYPFT) and will link into the professional network of Psychologists and Psychotherapists in LYPFT.

Main Duties of the Job

The postholder will work closely with the Consultant Clinical Psychologist and the senior psychological therapists in each cluster to develop a flexible and creative therapeutic offer, tailored to individual need. A particular focus will be on working to address health inequalities and ensuring equitable access to psychological support and interventions.

This is an exciting time to be joining this service as we have received significant investment in psychological therapies, in line with the NHS long-term plan and the national programme of community mental health transformation. The aims of the new transformed services are to foster integration between the NHS, the third sector and social care and to increase access to specialist interventions, including psychological therapies. These roles are 'early implementer' roles that will play a key part in piloting and evaluating this evolving service.

In addition to direct clinical work, the role will involve supporting the work of primary care mental health workers through supervision, consultation, and training. It will also involve collaborating with other stakeholders and third sector providers to develop effective pathways and networks.

Working for Our Organisation

The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is the main provider of Mental Health and Learning Disability services in Leeds. We also provide specialist inpatient services in York and some highly specialised services across the country. As a teaching trust with strong links to local universities, we are a centre of excellence for teaching, research and development.

There are many benefits of working for LYPFT including fantastic employee wellbeing support, 27 - 33 days annual leave, flexible working and remote working arrangements, the NHS Pension Scheme, coaching, support and opportunities for career development and training and education support alongside a range of exclusive discounts and payment schemes including for cars, extra leave days and more NHS Discount Offers.

We also have an incredible bank department, offering variety of roles in nursing, allied health professions, healthcare support worker and administration clerical. Permanent employees are automatically added to bank.

Applicants should be aware that for any individual who requires a visa to work in the UK, the Trust provides sponsorship for registered healthcare practitioner roles only. This is an essential requirement of the role, and the Trust is unable to offer you a role if you are unable to meet Trust requirements for sponsorship and Home Office requirements for a visa.

Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities

We are looking for an individual who can contribute to developing this exciting and innovative service and help it expand to reach groups and populations of Leeds where access to services previously may have been limited. Experience of providing consultation and supervision to individuals and groups as well as liaising with other professional groups across service pathways would be valued. The post holders would also be involved in helping the service develop its group-work program.

Post holders will need to be positive, flexible and independent practitioners who can contribute to developing new roles in primary care and feel comfortable working in a changing environment.

Aligned to a group of GP practices in Leeds. The exact location/base can be negotiated depending on preference, with some occasional work in other localities/venues as required. The role includes some remote working but is NOT suitable for entirely remote working.

Please watch our short video about the role: Video Link

There will also be opportunities to access HEE funded training in NICE guidance-supported therapies, such as CBT (including the opportunity to specialise in either complex trauma, eating disorders or psychosis), DBT, Systemic Family Therapy and Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT). In addition, we would very much encourage and support other development opportunities, such as protected time for research or a split post with another service.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential Criteria

• Doctoral level training in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or equivalent prior to 1996) and HCPC registration;
• OR Postgraduate Diploma qualification in Cognitive and/or Behavioural Psychotherapy AND Accreditation with BABCP as a CBT therapist. With either a prior core profession or via KSA route.
• OR Masters or above in a psychotherapy and accredited as a psychotherapist with UKCP or BPC (British Psychoanalytic Council)

Knowledge

Essential Criteria

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies used to treat the population of service users specified in the job summary

Experience

Essential Criteria

• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course 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.

Skills

Essential Criteria

• Full UK Driving licence and access to a vehicle

Applications are welcomed from candidates who wish to apply for a position based on a smarter (Hybrid) or flexible working arrangement - please contact the Recruitment Team if you have any queries regarding this in terms of your initial application. Where candidates are successful at interview, flexible working arrangement requests will be taken into consideration and may be accommodated where the needs of the service allow.

Fixed Term Contracts for existing NHS Employees - temporary contracts for employees of LYPFT, or colleagues joining from another NHS Trust, will be offered on a secondment basis wherever possible. In the event this is not possible, an FTC would be issued and this would require a break in service of two weeks.

The purpose of a temporary role could be for maternity cover, temporary funding or some other reason. At the end of which the need for the temporary work will cease. Temporary roles can stop, be extended and/or made permanent at any point during the period of work. Should the role become permanent then the post-holder will be informed of the process to be followed to convert the position to a permanent one.

Please note that from 1st July 2018, all new employees are required to subscribe to the DBS Update Service, DBS checks for volunteers remain free of charge.

Patient Safety is a priority at LYPFT with a focus on system-based improvement and creating opportunities for learning. We will ensure compassionate engagement with all those involved in an incident and all incidents are met with a proportionate response. LYPFT is committed to upholding its statutory responsibilities in relation to safeguarding adults and children. Please refer to job description for further information.

LYPFT is a member of the Disability Confident scheme and is committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process.

As part of the Trust's commitment to its Gold Standard Armed Forces Covenant status, members of the Armed Forces Community are entitled to a guaranteed interview subject to meeting the role criteria.

We welcome applicants with lived experience of providing unpaid care and/or support to a family member or friend with a disability, health condition, frailty, mental health problem, addiction or other health needs.

Please note that the Trust reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if enough applications are received. It is in the candidate's best interest to apply as soon as possible. In submitting an application form, you authorise Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the ESR IAT process should you be appointed to the post.

In applying for a role please ensure that you only declare qualifications that are relevant to the role itself. We reserve the right to check all declared qualifications on an application form, whether they are directly relevant to the role or not.

If you have not received any communication from us within four weeks you are asked to assume that your application has been unsuccessful. If you should have any queries regarding progress with your application form please contact us.

Please note: The Trust does not offer reimbursement of interview expenses.

Employer Certification / Accreditation Badges

Applicant Requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to Download

• Job Description (PDF, 368.4KB)
• Person Specification (PDF, 424.6KB)
• Applicant Information (PDF, 608.5KB)
• Recruitment Brochure (PDF, 345.4KB)