Psychological Skills Service (PSS) are looking for an energetic, compassionate and flexible CBT Therapist or Psychologist, who wants to work within an exciting new team in Cambridge. We would like someone who is interested in understanding more about the effects of complex trauma and spreading that message.

PSS is a new service that was developed to bridge the gap between primary and secondary care. We deliver different levels of individual therapy and group therapy and draw from a range of models including CBT, CBTp, ACT, CFT, schema and EMDR. All our service users get a trauma informed formulation.

We encourage service development and take therapy breaks twice a year to focus on improving what we do. We support ongoing training and provide weekly and individual supervision.

Main duties of the job

You will work alongside a mix of psychological professionals within the Cambridge team and across the wider team who work countywide.

You will carry out trauma informed psychological formulations with service users to understand what therapy can help with their difficulties and what they are ready for.

You will deliver a range of therapeutic groups that draw on trauma stabilisation, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), schema therapy, Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT).

You will also supervise Clinical Associates in Psychology, Assistant Psychologists, and support workers. There will be opportunities to develop other group and individual interventions / pathways and to be involved in service evaluation. Longer term, there are opportunities to support the development of an evidence based psychological treatment pathway for people living with the consequences of multiple and repeated traumas (e.g. EMDR/ trauma focused CBT).

About us

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health & social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health & wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting & empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.

Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services not only via inpatient and primary care setting but also with the community. These services include Children, Adult & Older Peoples mental & physical health, Forensic & Specialist mental health, Learning Disabilities, Primary Care & Liaison psychiatry, Substance misuse, Social care, Research & Development.

To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high calibre candidates that share our vision & values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people & members of our ethnic minorities & LGBTQ+ communities.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.

To provide psychological assessments of clients referred to the psychology service within the Psychological skills service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.

To develop psychological formulations of presenting problems or situations that integrate information from assessments within a coherent framework that draws upon psychological theory and evidence and which incorporates interpersonal, societal, cultural and biological factors

To develop and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings

To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family, carers or group.

To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients, and manage and maintain a caseload in line with service guidelines and under the overall co-ordination of the Lead Psychologists.

To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.

To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group

To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management in line with Trust and inter-agency policies and procedures

To communicate, in a skilled and sensitive manner, to clients, family carers and others as appropriate, information that may be contentious or highly distressing concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

• Doctorate level training in clinical or applied psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical, psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS, or a BPS Statement of Equivalence OR Professional training which supports the ability to provide high intensity clinical interventions OR PG Dip in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (or its equivalent eligible for BABCP accreditation).
• Eligible for BABCP accreditation.

Desirable

• Registered Mental Health professional registration

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working with people with complex and severe mental health problems
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings.
• 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, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.

Desirable

• Experience of delivering group treatments
• Experience of completing risk assessments
• Post-graduate experience of research, audit and service evaluation

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration. This requires the use of highly developed analytical and judgement skills.
• Ability to deliver CBT for people suffering from affective disorders and psychotic disorders.
• Skills in individual and group work and in programme planning.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc.).

Knowledge & Understanding

Essential

• Demonstrates an understanding of the service and the regional and national context
• An understanding of the needs and difficulties of people with mental distress and an ability to think compassionately about the lived experience of mental illness
• Good understanding of other professionals' theoretical perspectives of the adult group

Other

Essential

• Ability to travel independently

Employer details

Employer name

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Chesterton Medical Centre

35 Union Lane

Cambridge

CB4 1PX

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

310-ASMH-6339244