Job summary
- Main area
- Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- 12 months (Mat leave - 12 months fixed term contract)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 186-298-26-GH
- Employer
- Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- The ACORN Service, HMP Whatton
- Town
- Whatton
- Salary
- £49,387 - £56,515 per annum (pro-rata)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 20/04/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist
NHS AfC: Band 7
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Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for maternity cover within Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust as part of the ACORN Service at HMP Whatton. This is a specialist treatment service for individuals with personality difficulties and a history of sexual offending. The service is part of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway and is jointly delivered by NHS and Prison partners.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust’s Specialist Services Care Unit provides specialist treatment to individuals with personality related difficulties at HMP Whatton and HMP North Sea Camp, in addition to a Therapeutic Community at HMP Gartree (joint NHS/ HMPPS), and also offers OPD services within Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire (community provision). We are keen to work with people who are interested in working across the local OPD pathway provision.
Main duties of the job
The ACORN service is a comprehensive specialist service offering a range of therapeutic interventions on an outreach basis at HMP Whatton to individuals with problematic personality traits which are linked to difficulties with progression or risk. The service offers a suite of therapies including Schema Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitiation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (RO-DBT), and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) within tiered phases. Therapies, including socially creative sessions, psychoeducation and both group and 1:1 therapy are provided with an emphasis upon the importance of relationships and the environmental setting.
The successful post holder will work as part of a team approach to the assessment and treatment of individuals referred to the service, initially with a focus on the assessment waiting list, and co-delivering psychologically informed groups, alongside offering 1:1 therapy and supervision and consultation to the team and wider prison.
Working for our organisation
#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.
We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire's biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.
We offer a variety of employee-led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.
The health and wellbeing of colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in-house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.
The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net-zero commitment.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We are committed to working in partnership with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), both with Prison and Probation colleagues; this service is a joint enterprise so relies on collaborative working. The successful applicant will be based at HMP Whatton and work closely with prison colleagues to deliver a joint service, and may support other OPD pathway service provision locally. We also work in partnership with other healthcare providers and our criminal justice system partners to improve health, support justice and reduce re-offending behaviour. The OPD Pathway Team truly believes it can make a difference to the lives of individuals in the criminal justice system by offering consistent, equitable, high quality services to service users. If this sounds like a pathway you would like to join- we would like you to be part of our team. You should be enthusiastic, motivated, patient focused and enjoy a challenge and ideally have experience or knowledge of an OPD service or the OPD pathway.
Role Purpose
To work in partnership with the His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) at HMP Whatton within the ACORN Service delivering the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPD) specialist assessment and treatment service.
The post holder will work as part of a team of psychologists and prison officers offering a range of therapeutic interventions on an outreach basis to individuals with problematic personality traits which are linked to difficulties with progression or risk. The service offers a suite of therapies including Schema Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitiation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (RO-DBT), and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) within tiered phases. Therapies, including socially creative sessions, psychoeducation and both group and 1:1 therapy are provided with an emphasis upon the importance of relationships and the therapeutic milieu.
The post holder will:
Provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy (step 4 model) by working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service’s policies and procedures
Deliver a range of therapies on an individual and group basis.
Provide support, education, training and supervision for staff who are central to the service
Be involved in and liaise closely with multidisciplinary clinical teams across HMP Whatton, the OPD Pathway, the care unit and the wider criminal justice system.
In addition the specialist psychologist will:
Assist in planning and evaluating the service.
Utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research to develop services and interventions for clients with complex needs.
Attend relevant meetings in line with this contract and other meetings such as MAPPA.
Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.
The cost of the DBS application is £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment.
You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies.
Person specification
Values and Behaviours
Essential criteria
- All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust Honesty Respect Compassion Teamwork
- All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust’s expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy, and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation
Physical Requirements
Essential criteria
- Able to sit still for long periods in clinical settings or report writing
- Ability to train in breakaway techniques for personal safety
- Ability to travel between sites
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Honors degree in Psychology as accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).
- Doctorate in Clinical or Forensic or Counselling Psychology. Must be able to demonstrate eligibility for chartered status as a Clinical or Forensic or Counselling Psychologist and be registered with the HCPC as a practitioner Psychologist.
Desirable criteria
- Specific additional accreditation (i.e. specific therapy accreditation)
Training
Essential criteria
- Evidence of post-qualification specialist training in a specialist area of forensic/ clinical/ counselling practice
- Evidence of broader CPD such as risk assessment/ management and case formulation.
Desirable criteria
- Further specialist training in mental health, personality disorder, risk assessment and management, Schema Therapy/ EMDR/ DBT/ RO-DBT
- Evidence of completion of supervision training
Experience
Essential criteria
- Relevant experience developing expertise in clinical/forensic/Counselling psychology practice
- Experience of working effectively in multidisciplinary settings to devise specialist care programs
- Relevant experience of providing clinical supervision, reflective practice and debriefs
- Service evaluation and research
- Teaching and training
- Clinical Assessment
- Risk assessment and management
Desirable criteria
- Working with individuals with offending and complex trauma histories
- Working systemically/ within secure or prison settings
- Experience of using specialist treatments (i.e. EMDR, Schema therapy)
- Project or other service development experience
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Specialist knowledge of models of assessment, management and treatment for personality difficulties and complex trauma
- Demonstrates an understanding of a variety of models of formulation and how to convey this to others in an accessible form.
- Knowledge of criminal justice processes and awareness of the constraints of secure services
- Service evaluation
- Data analysis
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of relevant professional guidelines and best practice documents, such as NICE, BPS etc.
Skills
Essential criteria
- Able to engage constructively with people who are highly anxious, depressed, or hostile. To work intensively with people who present challenges in the complexity of their difficulties and needs (e.g. sexual and violent offending and self-harming/ suicidal behaviours))
- Skills in complex psychological assessment, intervention and management with special relevance to PD (inclusive of trauma informed approaches)
- Excellent communication, interpersonal style and teamwork skills
- High level of ability to plan and organise clinical service provision to meet service demands, and to maintain high quality professional practice
- Can demonstrate competence in supervision of junior qualified psychology and MDT staff and professional psychology trainees.
- Formulation and analytical skills
- Teaching and training skills
- Effective skills in word-processing and other clinically relevant computer software
- Use of psychometric test equipment
Desirable criteria
- Computer literacy
- Research skills
- Supervision skills
- Staff training skills
- Presentational skills
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Felicity Nichols
- Job title
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01949 803473
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