Assistant Psychologist: Sponsorship Available

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Job summary

Are you passionate about improving the lives of people with complex mental health needs? Do you want to develop your psychological skills in a fast-paced, highly supportive service where every day brings the opportunity to make a meaningful difference?

We’re looking for an enthusiastic Assistant Psychologist to join our Inpatient and Urgent Care Service, working within the Bridgwater Home Treatment Team. This is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience supporting people experiencing acute mental health difficulties and crisis, while working alongside experienced psychologists and a dedicated multidisciplinary team.

You’ll help deliver psychologically informed care to people who may otherwise require hospital admission, supporting them in their own communities during some of the most challenging periods of their lives. Through assessment, formulation and evidence-based interventions, you’ll play a vital role in promoting recovery, hope and psychological wellbeing.

We are proud of our recovery-focused, trauma-informed culture, where kindness, compassion and collaboration with Experts by Experience shape everything we do. You’ll be supported to grow your skills, contribute to service development and quality improvement, and work in an environment that values learning, innovation and teamwork.

If you’re motivated by making a difference and want to build your career in mental health psychology, we’d love to hear from you.

 

Main duties of the job

In this role, you will:

  • Support psychological assessment, formulation and intervention for people receiving care from the Home Treatment Team.
  • Deliver brief evidence-based psychological interventions on an individual and group basis under the supervision of qualified psychologists.
  • Work closely with colleagues across psychology, nursing, psychiatry and wider mental health services to provide holistic, person-centred care.
  • Help develop psychologically informed approaches within the team through consultation, training and shared learning.
  • Contribute to service evaluation, audit, quality improvement and research activities to help shape and enhance the service.
  • Gather and analyse outcomes data and service user feedback to support ongoing development and improvement.
  • Build positive relationships with patients, families, carers and professionals across a wide range of services.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Degree in psychology (first or upper second) with eligibility for Graduate Membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS)

Desirable

  • Training in at least one psychological intervention (e.g. CBT)
  • Training in further psychological interventions (e.g. CBT, DBT, MBT, systemic family therapy)

Experience

Essential

  • At least one year of experience working in mental health
  • Experience working therapeutically in a clinical setting
  • Experience working with multidisciplinary teams

Desirable

  • Previous experience as an Assistant Psychologist
  • Previous experience of working in an acute mental health setting
  • Further experience of working in other NHS settings (eg substance misuse) or non-NHS settings (eg third sector)
  • Experience of undertaking audit, service evaluations, and / or research

Additional Criteria

Essential

  • Skills in clinical assessment
  • Skills in psychological interventions
  • Must be a car driver with a valid driving licence and access to transport with appropriate business insurance in order to travel throughout the Trust, to meet the needs of the service

Desirable

  • Skills in teaching / training
  • Familiarity with psychometric testing

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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: 17 September 2026

To apply for this job please visit somersetft.tal.net.