Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist
Closing date: 18 May 2026.
Main duties of the job
* Provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation and therapy while offering advice and consultation to non‑psychology colleagues and carers, working autonomously within professional guidelines and Trust policies.
* Use research skills in audit and policy development within the service area.
* Contribute to the service through teaching, publishing research and providing clinical supervision to doctoral trainees, assistant psychologists, community nurses and other multidisciplinary team members.
Clinical responsibilities
* Conduct specialist psychological assessments of service users referred to the Intensive Support Team, integrating complex data from multiple sources.
* Carry out a small amount of clinical work within the Community Learning Disability Team to maintain skills in talking/psychological therapies for people with learning disabilities.
* Formulate and implement treatment plans for people with learning disabilities, mental health problems, complex behavioural needs and/or Autism Spectrum Diagnoses, refining models and provisional hypotheses as required.
* Make evidence‑based decisions about treatment options across all care settings, including hostile or highly emotive environments.
* Provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals, contributing to a psychologically based framework of care.
* Undertake risk assessment and risk management for service users, including additional relevant clinical risk assessment training.
* Contribute to case discussion, care coordination and decision‑making processes, liaising with professionals, families and carers.
* Deliver complex behavioural work following the Directorates PBS pathway, and pursue additional PBS training to act as a Directorate mentor if required.
* Work flexibly, including planned out‑of‑hours clinical activity as agreed with the Clinical Lead IST.
Qualifications & Training
* Post‑graduate doctoral level training in applied psychology accredited by the BPS, covering models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics, neuropsychology, distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology.
* Post‑doctoral training in one or more specialised psychological practice areas.
* Post‑qualification training in clinical supervision for Doctorate trainees in applied psychology.
* Eligibility for chartered status with the British Psychological Society and full membership of the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP) or Division of Counselling Psychology (DCC).
* Current registration with HCPC and registration with BPS.
* Additional postgraduate level training in at least one therapeutic treatment approach (e.g., cognitive therapy, systemic/family therapy, EMDR).
Experience
* Substantial experience as a qualified psychologist with people with learning disabilities and complex mental health problems, including assessment and clinical interventions for a wide range of presenting problems.
* Experience assessing and diagnosing learning disability.
* Experience with people diagnosed with personality disorder in addition to learning disability.
* Experience with PBS assessment, formulation and practice.
* Experience delivering trauma‑informed psychological care to adults with learning disabilities.
* Experience working within multidisciplinary and multi‑agency settings, including the 3rd Sector.
Skills, Knowledge & Abilities
* Best practice in delivering high quality psychological services for people with learning disabilities.
* In-depth understanding of the psychological needs of people with learning disabilities and autism, and those with serious mental health problems.
* Proficiency in complex psychological assessment, intervention and management methods within community settings.
* High level skills in risk assessment and management.
* Ability to manage difficult clinical situations, including verbal abuse and physical aggression.
Personal Attributes
* Maintain professionalism when dealing with highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and physical assault.
* Manage organisational stress and support the stress of others.
* Enthusiasm for developing psychologically‑informed services for people with learning disabilities.
* Provide and promote suitable support to carers and staff exposed to challenging situations and behaviours.
* Balance competing service demands effectively.
* Demonstrate leadership and management skills.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and therefore a Disclosure and Barring Service check is required.
#J-18808-Ljbffr