Employer Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Trafford Living Well Town Urmston Salary £26,530 - £29,114 n/a Salary period Yearly Closing 23/05/2025 23:59
Assistant Psychologist
Band 4
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Assistant Psychologist to join our expanding psychology team within Trafford Living Well .
Psychology is highly valued and integrated into the ethos of Living Well and the wider network of community partnerships. The successful candidates will be supported by three Clinical Psychologists within the team and we would welcome applicants who bring curiosity and creativity as we develop the psychology offer within this service.
Trafford Living Well are a trauma informed, compassionate and recovery focused service. We value the skills and strengths our staff and individuals accessing the service bring and we work to build on these. Living Well has co-produced values and principles that all staff and individuals share. As a result, our model operates within a biopsychosocial framework and is a humanistic and person-centred model of support. Our core values are based on creating open, honest, safe spaces where all people's strengths are valued.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will work as an Assistant Psychologist, under the supervision of a Clinical Psychologist, in the delivery of psychology services for individuals accessing Trafford Living Well. This will primarily involve offering short term psychosocial interventions (1:1 approx. 6 sessions), aswell as supporting with the development and delivery of group programs to individuals accessing the service.
The role will also require working independently according to a plan agreed with a qualified Clinical Psychologist and within the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures. The successful applicant will also assist in clinically related administration, conduct of audits, collection of statistics, and development of audit and/or research projects/ service evaluation, teaching and project work.
Working for our organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) Foundation Trust employs over7000members of staff, who deliver services from more than160locations.
We provide inpatient and community-based mental health care for people living in Bolton, the city of Manchester, Salford,Trafford and the borough of Wigan, and a wide range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and beyond.
Greater Manchester is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner city with great shopping, entertainment and dining options.
Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.
Our people enjoy their work, have opportunities to learn and develop their skills and are encouraged to generate new ideas that improve care for our service users.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the accompanying job description and person specification for a full breakdown of the main responsibilities.
Qualifications
An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology or equivalent.
Further training in relevant areas of clinical practice such as psychosocial interventions (PSI) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Experience
* Experience of working with people with mental health and/ or social care needs
* Experience of, and an understanding of, working in a multidisciplinary, multi-agency or complex care organisation.
* Experience of delivering psychosocial/psychological interventions to individuals with mental health difficulties.
* Experience of group work
* Experience of thorough risk assessment
Knowledge
* Demonstratable knowledge of mental health difficulties.
* Knowledge of the range of psychological assessments and interventions used when working with people with mental health difficulties within Living Well
* Knowledge of limits of competence and when to seek out supervision and support.
Knowledge and/or awareness of recent national changes within Adult Community Mental Health Services in the NHS (e.g., Community Transformation).
Skills
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills to communicate complex information to professionals and service users.
* Excellent interpersonal skills to engage with a range of staff groups within the service and to engage clients and their families with a range of complex needs.
* Ability to use supervision effectively to plan clinical work and manage personal responses to distress.
* Ability to manage own time effectively with a number of different parts of the role which will require prioritisation at different times.
* Previous experience in the facilitating or completion of service audits, evaluation, development or research.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Upper second class Psychology degree
* Further training in relevant areas of clinical practice such as psychosocial interventions (PSI) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Experience
* Experience of working with people with mental health and/ or social care needs
* Experience of, and an understanding of, working in a multidisciplinary, multi-agency or complex care organisation
* Experience of delivering psychosocial/psychological interventions to individuals with mental health difficulties.
* Experience of group work
* Experience of thorough risk assessment
Knowledge
* Demonstratable knowledge of mental health difficulties.
* Knowledge of the range of psychological assessments and interventions used when working with people with mental health difficulties within Living Well
* Knowledge of limits of competence and when to seek out supervision and support
* Knowledge and/or awareness of recent national changes within Adult Community Mental Health Services in the NHS (e.g., Community Transformation).
Skills
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills to communicate complex information to professionals and service users
* Excellent interpersonal skills to engage with a range of staff groups within the service and to engage clients and their families with a range of complex needs
* Ability to use supervision effectively to plan clinical work and manage personal responses to distress
* Ability to manage own time effectively with a number of different parts of the role which will require prioritisation at different times
* Previous experience in the facilitating or completion of service audits, evaluation, development or research
Important Information about working for GMMH:
All positions within the Trust are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, for further information on the checks required please visit the NHS Employers website www.nhsemployers.org
The Trust mandates all post holders who require a DBS for their role to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration throughout your employment with GMMH.
Applicants are encouraged to apply for posts at Greater Manchester Mental Health who have direct experience of mental health, learning disability or drug and alcohol services either as a service user or a carer.
The Trust is also committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We are aspiring to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse communities that we serve, and we are strongly committed to removing barriers to employment for candidates from under-represented groups, for example BAME, Disabled and LGBT+ communities. If you would like to have an informal chat about the recruitment process for this role or would value some additional support, we’d love to hear from you.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications
A candidate may utilise the help of AI when writing job application.The assessment of an application is made on its entirety and most times AI-generated content does not fully grasp the context and requirements of the job one applies for thus producing inaccurate and misleading information, especially in the supporting statement section of an application that can lack real life examples of one’s achievements, success and challenges.
We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored. GMMH reserves the right to follow up with a candidate at the interview on specific responses and those examples used in the supporting statement to explore it further.
Sponsorship
We are proud to be an approved sponsor for the Skilled Worker visa. Applications from individuals who require sponsorship will be considered alongside all other applications. Please be aware that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible roles and salary requirements on the UK Government’s website – clickhere .
If you are offered a role with us and you require sponsorship, we will check your eligibility in line with the information on the above website. Your offer of employment could be withdrawn if the role is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not otherwise able to evidence your right to work in the UK.
The Home Office introduces new changes from 09/04/2025 that impact the health and care sector, you may wish to familiarise with it here .
Do you have experience outside the NHS?
We want to attract and retain people with diverse skills and experience, to deliver inclusive healthcare services to our communities.
We will consider relevant experience outside the NHS to calculate your salary on appointment. Please contact our Recruitment Team for more information.
**Please note, this vacancy may be closed at any time if sufficient applications have been received**
Employer certification / accreditation badges
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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