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Job summary

Main area
Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 5
Contract
12 months (Fixed Term/Secondment for 12 Months)
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (The role requires travel between sites)
Job ref
346-FMH-090-25-A
Employer
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Sniperley House
Town
Durham
Salary
£31,049 - £37,796 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
30/09/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust logo

Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner

NHS AfC: Band 5

We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby.

From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care —our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for.

We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help. In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health.

We’re committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it.

We won’t rest until everyone in our region has the mental health care they need, to lead their best possible life.

Job overview

Durham Tees Valley Mental Health Treatment Requirement (DTV  MHTR) is one of three community sentence treatment requirements available for individuals being considered for a community or suspended sentence. DTV MHTR current covers County Durham and Teesside, offering a service into Durham Crown Court, Teesside Magistrates and Crown Courts, Peterlee Magistrates Court, Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court and the Intensive Supervision Court at Teesside Crown Court. The service is aimed at adults currently going through the Criminal Justice System, who have pled or been found guilty, whose offence meets the threshold for community sentence, and who have consented to engage (our service is a voluntary service). As part of a team, with compassion you will actively work to support service users to improve mental wellbeing and overall quality of life.

Main duties of the job

The main focus of the role will be to provide assessment and subsequent intervention for up to 12 sessions. Primarily the model adopted will be cognitive behaviour therapy based to address primary care mental health needs such as anxiety and depression.

You will be led by a psychologist who operationally and clinically leads the service. You will work alongside psychological colleagues as well as partner organisations such as probation, the courts and other healthcare providers to ensure the aims and objectives of the service are met. There will be weekly supervision for the post holder and there are other supervision forums and support in place for learning and development.

The role covers the courts in Durham and Teesside. There is a considerable amount of travel required in the post.

We offer a wide range of professional development opportunities and training and encourage individuals to further develop their own clinical skills and experience. We also have a large research agenda within the Forensic Service and encourage individuals to pursue this.

Working for our organisation

We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby.

From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care —our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for.

We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help. In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health.

We’re committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.

Applicants must ensure that prior to applying they have agreement from their current line manager that they can be released on a secondment basis. In the event that permanent funding is secured for this post the successful applicant will be confirmed in post on a permanent basis.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • PWP qualification from a British Psychological Society accredited PWP programme/apprenticeship
  • If qualifying by the apprenticeship route have also passed the apprenticeship end point assessment and
  • Accredited with the BABCP or BPS as a PWP (or working towards accreditation if within six months of qualifying)
Desirable criteria
  • Key skills in literacy, numeracy and IT
  • Core profession in mental health nursing, social work, occupational therapy, psychology

Skill

Essential criteria
  • Computer skills
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including telephone skills
  • Able to develop good therapeutic relationships with clients
  • Ability to work with service users in a way that helps address resistance
  • Able to work under pressure
  • Utilise psychometric tests competently
  • Record keeping
  • Plan and organise effectively to meet required timescales

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Ability to implement NICE guidance for Step 2 interventions for mental health problems
  • Knowledge of factors that can impact common mental health problems
  • Competent in risk assessment
  • Demonstrates an understanding of anxiety and depressive disorders and how they may present in Primary Care
  • Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post
Desirable criteria
  • Demonstrates knowledge of the issues surrounding work and the impact it can have on mental health
  • Knowledge of medication used in anxiety and depression and other common mental health problems

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Experience of working with people with common mental health problems in an IAPT setting
  • Ability to demonstrate a range of experiences in offering and delivering a full range of evidence based IAPT low intensity interventions
  • Experience of screening, assessing and working with a range of mental health issues at step 2
  • Experience of working with and manging risk
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of “Partnership working”.
  • Worked in a service where agreed targets are in place demonstrating clinical outcomes
  • Experience of working with forensic population

Employer certification / accreditation badges

We are a Living Wage EmployerVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveImproving working livesArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)Mindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerStep into healthArmed Forces CovenantBetter Health at Work Gold Award

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Jennifer Tomlinson
Job title
Principal Applied Psychologist
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07810654775
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