Job overview

Band 6 Specialist Psychological Practitioner (2-year fixed term position) 

An exciting job opportunity has arisen to recruit a Specialist Psychological Practitioner to support the delivery of a 2-year pilot, community step-down accommodation for women being discharged from secure care. This pilot aims to extend the inpatient treatment model into a community residential setting to promote recovery beyond discharge. The role will provide opportunities for both inpatient and community work, and to be involved in service innovation. 

Clinically the role will involve working with women presenting with complex trauma, personality disorder and mental illness, both directly through the provision of specialist psychological interventions and indirectly through supervision, reflective practice, consultation and training. The successful candidate will work alongside MDT colleagues sharing psychological knowledge and consistently improving the psychological mindedness of services along the pathway. There will be lots of opportunities for collaborative working with service users and staff, as well as involvement in service innovation and improvement. In relation to the pilot step-down accommodation, you would contribute significantly to the development of the psychological pathway and evaluation of this. Working across both the rehabilitation ward and the step-down accommodation, the post holder will have the opportunity to develop strong therapeutic relationships with services users. 

Main duties of the job

The role will involve working within the WSBS at Ardenleigh and at our step-down accommodation at Balsall Heath and there will be an expectation to travel between sites. You will work as a member of a multi-disciplinary team under the supervision of a registered clinical/forensic psychologist. In your role you will provide psychological support for service users transitioning from inpatient care to community integration. The post holder will support the direct assessment, formulation, and delivery of a range of individual and group interventions addressing emotional, behavioural, and relational factors to improve service user’ recovery and wellbeing. Central to the role is working with the wider MDT, to support psychological understanding of a person’s difficulties, which will involve providing training and supervision, as well as conducting evaluations of interventions.

We are looking for people from a range of diverse backgrounds with an interest in working with, supporting, and enhancing the lives of people who have experienced adverse life experiences, including trauma and neglect, and have a history of offending behaviour. This post is best suited to a professional with a background in teaching, counselling, social work, family work or nursing, who has some prior training and experience of delivering psychological interventions. Prior experience of providing support or supervision to a staff group would also be desirable. 

Working for our organisation

Welcome to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.  Our 4000 clinical and support staff help us to improve mental health wellbeing and meet the needs of the 70,000 people we serve each year.  We provide a range of mental healthcare services across Birmingham and Solihull, as well as specialised services nationally. We also offer medical, nursing and psychology training and are proud of our international reputation for both research and innovation.

Our population is culturally diverse, characterised in places by high levels of deprivation which create an increasing demand for our services and a necessity for us to make sure everyone can access the help they need. We are a team of compassionate, inclusive and committed people working together to provide excellent care to support our community.  If you are looking for a place to belong, where you can make a real difference to people’s lives, join our team where our warm welcome is waiting for you.