Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- 9 months (Fixed Term or Secondment - 04/05/2026-29/01/2027)
- Hours
- Part time - 18.75 hours per week (Up to 0.5WTE)
- Job ref
- 354-CS-21858-A
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- MHST WS
- Town
- Worthing
- Salary
- £55,690 - £62,682 Per Annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 17/04/2026 23:59
Employer heading
MHST Senior Psychological Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may choose to use it to help prepare your application. We welcome innovation but ask that anything you submit reflects your own abilities, experience and voice. AI can support how you describe your skills and experience, but it should never replace your own words as we want to get to know you.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
MHSTs were developed following the 2017 Green Paper – Transforming Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Provision. We have three core functions:
1) To deliver evidence-based interventions to children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties
2) To support schools to develop their whole school approach to mental health and emotional wellbeing
3) To provide timely advice to school/ college staff to ensure that young people get the right support at the right time
We are an innovative integrated model with Thought-Full being delivered across both Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the Education and Skills department of West Sussex County Council.
Thought-Full (the name of the West Sussex Mental Health Support Teams in Schools) is a unique, integrated team led by West Sussex County Council and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. This work is a crucial strand of the Government’s 2017 Green Paper ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’ and part of the strategic vision for the development of children’s mental health provision across Sussex as described in the Foundations for our Future strategic plan. Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHST) sit within the ‘getting help’ aspect of the Thrive model.
Main duties of the job
As a Senior Psychological Therapist in Thought-Full you will work closely with the Service Lead and Educational Psychologists, playing a key role in the development and delivery of Thought-Full in West Sussex.
You will work with another Senior Psychological Therapist, supporting all the teams across West Sussex. You will oversee the clinical governance of the service. This will mean ensuring appropriate guidance and policies are in place for all aspects of the clinical delivery of the service (e.g. clinical standards, risk, supervision). This will involve utilising research and service development skills as well as leadership skills. As MHSTs are predominantly based on a CBT model, sound knowledge and experience of delivering low and high intensity CBT interventions, and supervision of CBT practitioners, is essential. Knowledge of other key theories and models when working with children and young people is also required.
You will also oversee the supervision in the service. You will supervise Band 7 Senior Mental Health Practitioners and ensure that supervision of assistant, junior and trainee practitioners is provided. You will support the clinical development of the team and deliver appraisals alongside service managers.
Working for our organisation
Sussex Partnership provides mental health and learning disability care for all age groups across Sussex and for children and young people in Hampshire.
We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/ life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, home-working, part time hours, flexible start/ finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
In order to be a successful Senior Psychological Therapist in our team you will be:
- Registered with the NMC, HCPC or BABCP via a core professional qualification – Applications are welcomed from OT’s, Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists and CBT Therapists
- Experienced/ trained in CBT
- Experienced working with Children and Young People suffering from mental health difficulties
- Passionate about supporting the prevention and early intervention of mental health difficulties for children and young people Experienced working within a mental health setting
- Experience in supervision
- Experience of leadership
It would also be advantageous if you are:
- Experienced working within a school or have a good understanding of the school system
See attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Evidence of continued professional development
Knowledge/Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working as part of a team
- Relevant clinical and research skills
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working with people with mental health problems
- Experience of working with children and young people
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Honours degree at 2:2 or above iPsychology, or equivalent. Eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartership with the BPS
Desirable criteria
- Further post graduate training in relevant area of professional psychology, health and social care practice, and / or research design and analysis
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
- Carly Mendy
- Job title
- Senior Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07464925770
List jobs with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Administrative Services or all sectors