Job Summary
A Senior Assistant Psychologist for the Primary Mental Health Treatment Requirement Team provides low-intensity (usually CBT-informed) interventions for service users who have been court ordered to take up mental health treatment as part of their community sentence. We work with low mood, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, sleep problems, and other symptoms of psychological distress.
Our work is all about being adaptable, responsive, and caring in working with a population that is often overlooked. We are passionate about being inclusive and are constantly looking for ways to improve our diversity and our accessibility, both in how we increase our referrals from under-served populations and in how we offer our interventions in different ways to accommodate different need.
Main duties of the job
You will assist with presentations to different teams to help them to understand our work, why they would refer a service user to us, and how to complete a referral
You will manage the admin of referrals, including passing them on for screening to the Clinical Lead, completing screening assessments, liaising with various court-related personnel and probation staff, and tracking the data associated with the referrals
You will assess if service users are likely to benefit from our service and support them in completing risk assessments
You will complete 12-week programmes of one-to-one interventions based on the specific needs and goals of each service user with our more complex service users
You will support and facilitate our Emotional Coping Skills Group.
You will audit our data and prepare for service evaluations
You will complete Risk Assessments for all service users given a PMHTR
You will assist in court screenings, including completing assessments on the day and making decisions as to who can access a PMHTR
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- A first or upper second-class honours degree in Psychology
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable
- Further post-graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with people with physical or mental health problems who may at times have the potential to respond to staff with hostility and aggression. Being able to respond to hostility and aggression in a professional manner
- Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively.
- Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients, carers, and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
- Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in reports, letters, and other health correspondence to service users and their referrers
- Ability to apply existing psychological knowledge to mental health context.
Desirable
- Experience of working in forensic mental health services.
- Experience of working with offenders, including people who may have committed violent and/or sexual offences.
- Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team.
- Demonstrable experience within a mental health setting.
- Understanding of current NHS/Social Care policies and practices relating to mental health.
- High standard of reporting writing.
Knowledge
Essential
- An understanding of psychology applied to adult mental health problems.
- An understanding of knowledge of personality issues.
Desirable
- An understanding of the criminal justice system
- An interest in developing a career as a professional psychologist
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Closing Date: 20 July 2025
