Job summary
- Main area
- Psychology
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- 12 months (Fixed term)
- Hours
- Part time - 30 hours per week (service is Monday - Friday 9-5)
- Job ref
- 301-LBG-26-8074053
- Employer
- Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- St Georges Hospital
- Town
- Stafford
- Salary
- £49,387 - £64,750 Whether applicant is Band 7 or Band 8A
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 17/07/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Clinical/ Counselling Psychologist and Psychological Practitioners
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Job overview
The South Staffordshire Perinatal and Maternal Mental Service is a specialist service delivering person centred care to expectant and new mothers who are experiencing moderate to severe and complex mental health problems within the perinatal period, or families who have mental health needs associated with loss and trauma occurring in the maternity and neonatal context.
Due to recent staff changes an opportunity has arisen to join our service on a fixed term basis. We are looking for a dynamic, passionate, and creative psychological professional who wants to make a difference to the lives of mothers, babies, and their wider families. You will have a passion for supporting both Adult and Infant Mental Health and have an interest in improving maternity systems and supporting those who have mental health needs associated with trauma or loss occurring in the maternity or neonatal context.
The successful candidate will be joining a supportive and engaged team of Perinatal and Maternal Mental Health psychological professionals, MDT and wider service. The post holder will receive regular supervision and CPD as well as informal support. Across MPFT Perinatal Services there is a strong psychological structure in place comprising of qualified clinical psychologists, psychological therapists and assistant psychologists supported by a Lead Psychologist for Perinatal and Maternal Mental Health.
Main duties of the job
The South Staffordshire Perinatal and Maternal Mental Health Service are a part of MPFT Perinatal Services which includes Brockington Parent and Baby Unit and Shropshire Community Perinatal Mental Health Team. Psychological Professionals play an integrative role in the MDT and are valued and well supported by colleagues. While this post will be primarily focused on delivering psychological support to individual families there will also be scope for delivering training and consultation to partner agencies and service development opportunities. The team offer a range of individual and group interventions from a range of theoretical models. Clinical supervision structures are in place to support clinicians to access model specific supervision for specific interventions such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Video Interaction Guidance and Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing. The service is committed to increasing the psychological offer, a key part of this is staff development. We have an established CPD programme within the team and you will be supported to develop your psychological skills in this specialty.
The South Staffordshire Perinatal and Mental Health Team covers the entire geographical region of South Staffordshire. There is an expectation for the successful post holder to be able to travel to meet the service need. We welcome applications for flexible and hybrid working.
Working for our organisation
Come and work with us at our award-winning NHS Trust, leading the way for trying new and better ways of working to help improve life for our local communities.
We have around 9,000 staff who provide physical and mental healthcare, support for people with learning disabilities, and adult social care across Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Shropshire, and Telford & Wrekin. We also run regional and national services, including help for new parents (perinatal care), eating disorders, forensic services, sexual health, and support for people in prison with mental health, drug, or alcohol problems.
We offer great career development for both clinical and non-clinical roles, with ongoing training and support to help you learn and grow.
We are ‘United in our Uniqueness’ and committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels welcome and can be themselves, no matter their background or identity. We want our staff to feel supported and valued, and we aim to build a team that reflects the communities we serve. Together, we can make sure every voice is heard, and every difference is respected.
Please note, we may be required to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications
Please be aware that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in completing application forms will be monitored to ensure fairness and transparency. If you have used AI you must state this in your application.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder will be an Clinical/Counselling Psychologist or Psychological Therapist, who will be a part of the MDT responsible for the provision of psychological interventions to women and their families who are in receipt of secondary care mental health services within the perinatal period, have moderate to severe tokophobia or have experienced a pregnancy loss within the last 12 months. This role will incorporate complex assessment, leading to psychological formulation and treatment planning, under professional clinical supervision; and forming judgements to inform service provision and providing necessary psychological interventions. This role will offer a service across the geographical area of South Staffordshire.
This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. If it is identified that you require sponsorship to undertake this role your application may be withdrawn
Person specification
QUALIFICATIONS & TRAINING
Essential criteria
- Doctoral training in Clinical or Counselling Psychology or Post-graduate training and accreditation in one or more psychological approaches. For a Psychological Therapist this would need to include CBT and/or EMDR with relevant accreditation by BABCP or EMDR Association UK.
- Qualification in relevant core mental health professional training.
- It is a condition of employment that the post-holder is registered with their core professional body - e.g. Health and Care Professions Counsil (HCPC), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC etc).
Desirable criteria
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by relevant professional bodies.
- Additional therapy training and accreditation relevant to perinatal or maternal mental health.
- Additional therapy training in approaches relevant for trauma or loss.
EXPERIENCE
Essential criteria
- Assessed experience of working as a qualified psychological therapist at a highly specialist level.
- Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, presenting with the full range of clinical severity across a range of care settings. Including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems
- Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care and treatment.
- Experience of working clinically with people presenting with challenging behaviour, and/or people who have communication difficulties.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
- Experience of the application of psychological therapy in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of Group work
- Training or experience in parent-infant relational work such as Video Interaction Guidance, Circle of Security.
SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & ABILITIES
Essential criteria
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex data analysis as practiced within the field of psychological care.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by professional bodies.
- Ability to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
Desirable criteria
- Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies with diverse client groups.
- Experience of assessing and treating clients psychologically within the context of multi-disciplinary care.
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
Essential criteria
- A passion and enthusiasm for working with people experiencing complex mental health problems
- Able to prioritise, work independently and on own initiative
- Able to multi-task and set goals for completion.
- Ability to work well under pressure and/or in times of crisis.
- Flexibility, creativity, and preparedness to be innovative in a developing organisation.
- Ability to be reliable, co-operative and consistent both as an independent clinician and in team settings
- Ability to demonstrate commitment to own personal & professional development.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate to support and maintain practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material
- Ability to work across community settings and travel across a geographical area.
- Computer literate.
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
- Rebecca Boddy
- Job title
- Principle Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 03003034132
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