Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychologist - Learning Disability & Autism

St. Andrew's Healthcare; Northampton; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 61,000

Job description

You can achieve more at St Andrew's Healthcare

Learning Disability & Autism Division

Location: Northampton

Career Level C / Expert / Manager (NHS 7 / 8a)

Salary: £50,798 - £60,540 dependent on experience

£46,781 - £50,798 (Newly qualified or soon to qualify)

Full Time 5 days / 37.5 hours a week

Role will be suitable for an experienced Clinical / Forensic Psychologist or a Clinical / Forensic Psychologist due to gain HCPC Registration in next 6 months

The Charity

We are St Andrew's. We are a mental health Charity and our purpose is to inspire hope for those living with complex mental health needs.

We are looking to a future with less stigma, more community support, more research and education, and we aim to be at the forefront of inspiring real change. We want to ensure we can all live in a society where everyone with complex mental health needs is heard, valued and has hope for their future.

Come and join us, and support us to help people transform their lives.

You will join a team of over 20 Consultant Psychologists, and 50 registered Psychologists based across our 3 sites (Northampton, Birmingham and Essex) and our Community Partnerships division. As such, there will be lots of support but also great opportunities for people to progress in their future too.

The Role & Person

The Learning Disability and Autism Division delivers specialised assessment and treatment to men and women with a diagnosis of intellectual disability and/or autism and co-morbid mental health, neurodevelopmental and offending / challenging behaviour needs who require hospital treatment. An opportunity has arisen to work with us to provide the best treatment and care for these patients. The successful applicant will be joining a well-established psychology department which offers professional support and a wide range of expertise.

We seek a HCPC registered applied psychologist, Clinical, Counselling of Forensic, to join our team of psychologists, providing care to more than 100 patients. You will work clinically as part of a large Multidisciplinary team that includes psychiatry, nursing, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, social work, adult education, CAPS and vocation training and physical health and exercise teams.

You will have a caseload of patients and the help of an assistant psychologist. The key tasks are to assess, formulate and deliver treatment and evaluate clinical outcomes to your patients. Psychological treatment is provided within a broad cognitive behavioural model, with a strong emphasis on psychotherapy that addresses the impairments in autism and intellectual disability, psychological treatment for emotional and psychiatric disorder, as well as offence related interventions aimed at reducing recidivism. Clinical risk assessment and management is a major aspect of this role, and you will be familiar with a range of standardised methods for assessing clinical risks. In addition, you will work within the MDT to support and develop their practice on the wards.

St Andrews is also committed to moving patients into the community as soon as possible and as a result, has several bespoke properties on site that house individuals transitioning from the hospital into the community. Part of your caseload may therefore also involve working with these patients and helping to prepare them more for moving onwards.

Knowledge and experience of working with individuals diagnosed with Autism and/or Learning Disability is advantageous, as is experience of working with major mental illness, trauma and offending behaviour. As well as being part of our LDA psychology team you will have access to a larger group of clinical, forensic and counselling psychologists in the Charity for consultation and there is opportunity for peer collaboration across our other clinical specialities. The Charity supports innovation and research and there is opportunity for research and development in this role.

Our patients and your colleagues will expect you to live the St Andrew's CARE values of Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Excellence every single day.

You can achieve more at St Andrew's Healthcare

The Northampton site has facilities such as a café, garden centre, charity shop, woodwork & ceramics workshop all staffed by patients and service users along with other facilities such as gyms and swimming pools for patients and staff to use and all based in over 150 acres of beautiful woodland grounds.

Northamptonshire is also a great place to live due to having great schools, very reasonable house prices and a good mix of facilities within the town as well as really nice villages and countryside too. Based in the midlands you have great access to the M1 and M6 and will be based under an hour's drive / train from London and Birmingham too.

Interested? We would love you to apply

St Andrew's is the UK's leading mental health charity with an excellent and well-deserved reputation as a provider of specialist mental healthcare, and as such, it provides great opportunity for collaborative work and professional development.

If you would like to discuss this opportunity or visit the hospital before applying, please contact James Farrelly (Senior Recruitment Consultant) 01604 616624 or [e-mail]

In return

We offer an excellent benefits package including set pay progression linked to experience, 30 days holiday plus bank holidays, increasing to 33 days after 10 years service, sickness policy on par with NHS, car lease scheme, free parking, cycle to work scheme, retailer discounts scheme & access to vocational qualifications.