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Assistant Psychologist
The closing date is 16 November 2025
Are you looking for something a bit different, a new challenge, a varied role?
Wathwood is an award-winning mental health hospital and prides itself on providing the highest quality of care to our patients.
We have exciting opportunities here at Wathwood in our unique Medium Secure setting. Whether you are newly qualified and looking to take your first step on your career ladder, or fancy a new challenge, we have something to suit everyone.
We are seeking to recruit an assistant psychologist to join our fantastic multi-disciplinary teams within the hospital who are motivated to establish therapeutic relationships with our patients and be actively involved in delivering patient care within a hospital setting. Experience of working in a forensic setting is desirable but not essential. You will also be expected to assist patients with their reintegration into the community as part of their rehabilitation and recovery.
Applicants must have good interpersonal, planning and communication skills.
We want to help our staff reach their full potential and are committed to providing the support, skills and development needed to success. This includes a supportive and strong health and well-being team.
Due to the high number of applications we receive for Assistant Psychologist posts, this advert will close when 80 applications have been received, so please submit your application to us as soon as you can.
Interviews will be held on Monday 24 November 2025.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for an enthusiastic, compassionate and highly motivated assistant psychologist to join our team, in a challenging but rewarding role, to make a difference to the lives of our patients.
Applicants need to have excellent interpersonal skills, the ability to work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team, be committed to providing the highest standards of care, promote and maintain high standards of care through excellent communication, motivation, supervision and role modelling.
The post holderwill work under the supervision of Forensic and Clinical psychologists to support delivery of psychological assessment and interventions for adult male mentally disordered offenders within a medium secure hospital.
Some work experience and/or post-graduate training relevant to forensic services is desirable. It is essential that the post-holder values working within multi-disciplinary teams. Supervised experience of delivering structured group programmes is welcomed.
We are looking for a candidate who is non-judgmental, professional, supportive and empathic towards patients and colleagues. They must have the ability to set and maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
Professional development and the well-being of our staff is crucial to support the delivery of key objectives for the hospital and wider Trust. We value and encourage your continuing professional development and will support you with experienced supervision and other learning opportunities.
About us
#TeamNottsHC comprises over 11,000 dedicated colleagues who #MakeADifference every day. We deliver intellectual disability, mental health, community health, forensic, and offender healthcare services across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire. Our care is provided from over 200 sites, spanning community locations, acute settings, and secure environments, including prisons.
We are one of the largest mental health and community Trusts in the East Midlands and one of Nottinghamshire's biggest employers. We also host national and regional services, such as the National High Secure Deaf Service and the Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health.
We offer a variety of employee-led staff networks, including Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) groups, the Green Champions network, the Freedom to Speak Up network, the Health and Wellbeing Champions network, and the Menopause Champions network. These networks play a vital role in supporting our diverse workforce and promoting a culture of inclusivity.
The health and wellbeing of colleagues is a top priority. We invest significantly in this through our in-house occupational health and staff counselling services, supported by a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team.
The Trust is committed to reducing its carbon emissions, with a specialised Energy and Environmental team working to ensure compliance with environmental legislation, enhance our environmental performance, and achieve our net-zero commitment.
Job responsibilities
To undertake protocol based psychological assessments of patients including neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with patients, and others involved in the patients care, under the supervision of a qualified psychologist.
To assist in formulation and the delivery of psychological treatment and/or risk management plans under the supervision of a qualified professional psychologist.
To assist in the running of therapeutic groups under the supervision of a qualified psychologist
To work with other staff to assess patients and review their care in preparation for multi-disciplinary reviews.
To assist in the development of a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all patients of the service, across all wards where care takes place.
Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment.
You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* A degree in psychology recognised by the BPS.
* Post graduate training in area relevant to Forensic Psychology and/or research.
Experience
* Work in health or social care setting
* Supervised experience of delivering structured group work programmes
* Understand MDT working
* Work with people with complex mental health issues
* Work in forensic/secure settings
* Supervised experience of psychometric testing
Knowledge
* Ability to understand and apply psychological knowledge to a mental health context.
* Understanding of broad issues in psychological and risk assessment
Skills
* Establishing therapeutic relationships with service users
* Use of SPSS, databases, spreadsheets etc. & interpretation of data
* Experience of delivering presentations, teaching, or training.
Values and behaviours
* All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust Honesty Respect Compassion Teamwork
* All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust's expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy, and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation
Physical requirements
* Has the ability to perform the full range of duties.
* Able to sit for periods of time.
* Expectation to complete breakaway training and further violence response training.
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.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
£27,485 to £30,162 a yearPer annum (pro rata for part time)
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