Assistant Psychologist: Sponsorship Available

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

Job Summary

We are a small but friendly clinical team working within NSFT Day Care Service, located in HMP/YOI Norwich. The team comprises of a clinical lead psychologist, a psychotherapist, senior occupational therapist, assistant practitioner and senior mental health nurses, to provide therapeutic interventions to adult male prisoners.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a continually developing service, that offers therapeutic approaches underpinned by DBT and CBT. We offer treatment pathways that include, mood stabilisation, anxiety, relationship management, emotional regulation and trauma. We work with men who may self-harm, have attempted suicide, and experience high levels of anxiety or trauma/PTSD. We have also developed our service to support the violence reduction wing and support working with complex cases residing in seclusion.

 

Main duties of the job

As an assistant psychologist you will be expected to assist with running groups, writing formulations and discharge reports, inputting into multi-disciplinary team meetings regarding individuals in our service, and taking responsibility for your own work. You may also be expected to work 1:1 with prisoners in delivering interventions under supervision. In addition, you will be invited to attend and contribute to ongoing referral meetings and discussions and engage in regular clinical supervision to access support and continue developing your expertise. You will be responsible for your own clinical record keeping and as assistant psychologist you will have the opportunity to be involved in developing research to support the service delivery and effectiveness.

We also work closely with the NSFT mental health in reach team, the IAPT/Wellbeing team and the wider IMHJP and secure and forensic services care group. We also work closely with partner agencies such as drug and alcohol services, and the wider HMP to build links with prison staff and support the delivery of training on therapeutic interventions, mental health conditions and advise on support plans. This will allow skills taught at day care to be transferred back to the wings with the prisoners feeling confident that the regime staff will have some understanding of coping strategies they are trying to use.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • A BPS accredited degree in Psychology, conferring eligibility for GBC.

Desirable

  • Further Post Graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.

Experience

Essential

  • Working with service users with mental health needs
  • Experience of working with people who display behaviour that challenges

Desirable

  • Experience of research within the NHS
  • Experience of working with people with complex mental health needs
  • Working within a Forensic or secure setting

Skills

Essential

  • High levels of computer literacy and proficiency in the use of Microsoft Suite.
  • Ability in organising workload while working within limits of own competency

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of mental health
  • An understanding of the needs of people with mental health problems

Desirable

  • Knowledge of forensic risk assessment.
  • Knowledge of the criminal justice system and its interactions with health services

Other

Essential

  • Able to travel independently

Desirable

  • A desire to pursue a career in professional psychology.

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: 10 August 2025

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.