Job overview

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) is seeking to appoint a Senior Trial Therapist/Clinical Psychologist, to work as a trial therapist as part of the EASE trial, a randomised controlled trial that aims to examine the value of EMDR for individuals with early psychosis and a history of distressing life experiences.

LSCFT is a large health and wellbeing Trust employing over 7000 staff and serving a population across the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System.  The Trust provides inpatient and community specialist Mental Health services to children and young people, adults and older adults and also delivers forensic mental health services.  

The Trust delivers a wide portfolio of high-quality research and is supporting this important study. The EASE trial aims to examine the value of EMDR for individuals with early psychosis and a history of distressing life experiences. An earlier innovative feasibility randomised controlled trial (EASE feasibility trial) indicated that this treatment is acceptable and safe for people with first episode psychosis, and this trial intends to explore the effectiveness of the intervention on a larger scale. The EASE Trial is an exciting opportunity to become involved in building on this evidence base.

Main duties of the job

The post starts in July 2026. It is expected that candidates applying for this position will have experience of working with people with psychosis and will be experienced in delivering EMDR interventions. Additional training in the specific therapy manual will be provided. The main purpose of this post is to provide manualised therapy to service users who are participating in the EASE trial at LSCFT. The post-holder will receive clinical supervision and training from experienced clinical academics (e.g. Clinical Psychologists) working in the field of mental health research. 

You must have a Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical Psychology as approved by the BPS (Registered with HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist or equivalent and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC) OR have a formally recognised Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to post graduate diploma level Accreditation with BABCP AND Professional qualification in health and social care eg RMN or Social Worker OR KSA Equivalence. You will need to have a minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience of working with service users with complex mental health difficulties in adult mental health services where multi-disciplinary working was embraced as part of service. In addition, you must have completed EMDR training (Parts 1-3). We are looking for an energetic dynamic, self-directed and committed individual with an interest in becoming a key part of our research team.   

Working for our organisation

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.

The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Explore our full wellbeing offer here: Keeping our workforce well