Job overview
Service summary~:
The post holder will be part of a dynamic and dedicated multidisciplinary team containing Senior Mental Health Practitioners, Substance Misuse Services and VLSO's. They will be responsible for helping to support the development of psychological thinking and understanding within the wider team.
The post holder will be part of the specialist psychological therapies service for OpCourage North, covering the North West and will provide specialised Trauma Focused Psychological Therapies such as Trauma Focused CBT (TF-CBT) or EMDR. The post holder will be expected to have/develop an understanding of armed forces culture to meet the specific needs of the Veteran community.
The post holder will work with military veterans who have a range of complex psychological presentations such as Symptoms associated with PTS, anxiety, depression, adjustment, childhood and relational difficulties.
The post holder will travel across the North west, including Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria, Cheshire and Merseyside. Seeing clients in a variety of venues.
Remote working equipment, including access to the web based clinical system, will be provided.
The post holder will also have opportunity to provide clinical supervision to senior Mental health & Wellbeing practitioners, substance misuse practitioners, peer support workers and volunteers.
Main duties of the job
• To provide assessments for specialist psychological interventions/individual therapy.
• To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for veterans, including in groups if required. Developing and refining formulations across a range of clients and psychological models.
• To manage a therapy caseload providing evidence based psychological therapies to veterans seen within the service in line with targets agreed with management.
Working for our organisation
OpCourage NW works as part of a collaboration across the North of England.
Embedded within the partnership are 5 partners, 10 NHS trusts, and two 3rd sector organisations- Combat stress and walking with the wounded.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
• To provide assessments for specialist psychological interventions/individual therapy.
• To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for veterans, including in groups if required. Developing and refining formulations across a range of clients and psychological models.
• To manage a therapy caseload providing evidence based psychological therapies to veterans seen within the service in line with targets agreed with management.
• To be able to make reasonable adaptations to assessment and intervention processes to accommodate service users, for example those with -mild learning disabilities, BI and older adults.
• To contribute to new methods of service delivery, to encourage optimal opportunities for access to service for vulnerable client groups.
• To engage in joint working with other staff to optimise the use of resources.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients.
• To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies providing services for adults with mental health and disability problems.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• As appropriate, to become case manager, taking responsibility for initiating and reviewing care plan’s, clinical risk documentation, sharing information and liaison with other professionals involved in their care.
• To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research, to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other colleagues.
• To utilise outcome measures and service user feedback to evaluate, refine and develop clinical practice in line with the clinical governance agenda.
• To maintain awareness of local resources and self-help materials and the means of their access.
• To work collaboratively with veterans, families/carers and other professionals involved in the care of the client team to communicate information concerning the assessment, including formulations and recommendations of treatment and management using methods of proven efficacy.
• Collect, collate, evaluate and report information maintaining accurate clinical records in the management of clients receiving psychological interventions using a web based clinical notes system.
• To organise and implement specialist psychological advice, guidance, consultation and training to other professionals working with veterans with complex needs.
• To contribute to risk assessment and risk management of individual clients and provide general advice to other professionals on aspects of risk assessment and management.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner to clients, carers and relevant professionals, information about assessments, formulations and treatment plans.
• To engage positively within multidisciplinary meetings.
• To participate in the development and wellbeing of the wider team. This can be done for example via clinical supervision or service development.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• As appropriate, to become case manager, taking responsibility for initiating and reviewing care plan’s, clinical risk documentation, sharing information and liaison with other professionals involved in their care.
• To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research, to support evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other colleagues.
• To utilise outcome measures and service user feedback to evaluate, refine and develop clinical practice in line with the clinical governance agenda.
• To maintain awareness of local resources and self-help materials and the means of their access.
• To work collaboratively with veterans, families/carers and other professionals involved in the care of the client team to communicate information concerning the assessment, including formulations and recommendations of treatment and management using methods of proven efficacy.
• Collect, collate, evaluate and report information maintaining accurate clinical records in the management of clients receiving psychological interventions using a web based clinical notes system.
• To organise and implement specialist psychological advice, guidance, consultation and training to other professionals working with veterans with complex needs.
• To contribute to risk assessment and risk management of individual clients and provide general advice to other professionals on aspects of risk assessment and management.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner to clients, carers and relevant professionals, information about assessments, formulations and treatment plans.
• To engage positively within multidisciplinary meetings.
• To participate in the development and wellbeing of the wider team. This can be done for example via clinical supervision or service development.
• To be able to make reasonable adaptations to assessment and intervention processes to accommodate service users, for example those with -mild learning disabilities, BI and older adults.
• To contribute to new methods of service delivery, to encourage optimal opportunities for access to service for vulnerable client groups.
• To engage in joint working with other staff to optimise the use of resources.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients.
• To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies providing services for adults with mental health and disability problems.
Person specification
Essential and Desireable
Essential criteria
* Education/Qualifications: • Doctoral Clinical/Counselling Psychology with BABCP accreditation or working towards this. • Or, registered health professional and an IAPT recognised PGD in CBT. • BABCP Accreditation
* Experience: • Significant experience working as a psychological therapy practitioner in a primary care setting. Experience of routine outcome monitoring Experience of teaching and liaising with other professional groups Previous service within the armed forces communities OR Experience of working with military communities/service charities OR Evidence of understanding of the veterans’ communities
* Knowledge: • Demonstrates an understanding of anxiety, depression and trauma and how it may present Knowledge of the mental health, and wider social inclusion needs of Military Veterans and their families Knowledge of medication used in anxiety and depression and other common mental health problems Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post Knowledge of child protection issues, safeguarding and other relevant legislation
* Skills and Abilities: • Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets Ability to manage own caseload and time Demonstrates high standards in written communication Able to write clear reports and letters to referrers Full range of skills and competencies as laid out in the competence framework for CBT (Roth and Pilling 2007) Excellent IT skills Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS Has received training (either formal of through experience) and carried out risk assessments within scope of practice
* Work Related Circumstances: • Car driver/owner and/or ability and willingness to travel to locations throughout the Northwest of England Ability to adapt to the changing needs of the service. Willingness to work outside normal working hours on occasion. Willing to carry out all duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with the Trust’s Equal Opportunities and Equality and Diversity policies Appointments to regulated and controlled activities require an enhanced CRB disclosure and registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), Vetting and Barring Scheme.
Desirable criteria
* Education / Qualifications: • Post-qualification training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice ie CBT for Trauma, EMDR, DBT Post-qualification training in specialist therapeutic work with children, young people and families e.g. DBT, CBT, IPT, FT, DIT, Schema
* Experience: •Experience of joint working with other public sector and/or 3rd sector services
* Knowledge: • Demonstrates a knowledge of the issues surrounding work and the impact it can have on mental health / benefits & employment systems
* Skills and Abilities: • Ability to provide services in a variety of settings. Ability to support our research, audit and service evaluation
* Work Related Circumstances: • Knowledge and experience of the PCMIS operating system.
📝 Application support - We also offer virtual application support sessions each month, where you will learn some hints and tips to support you in completing your application form. To secure your place, and to find out more visit the on our website.
🌍 Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the
📬 After You Apply - Once your application is submitted, you’ll receive updates via email. Shortlisting is based on how well you meet the criteria outlined in the person specification. Only shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview, and invitations will be sent by email.
✅ If You're Offered the Role - If successful, the hiring manager will contact you directly with a verbal offer. They will then notify the Recruitment Team and submit the necessary paperwork. You’ll receive a formal conditional offer via email
🔍 Pre-Employment Checks - To confirm your suitability for the role, we will carry out pre-employment checks in line with. These include:
* Identity verification
* Right to work check
* Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role)
* Professional registration and/or qualification check
* Occupational health assessment
* Employment history and reference validation
All applicants external to Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust will be required to provide their to cover the most recent three years employment. This information will used to validate employment history and references.
If you require sponsorship, we will assess your eligibility based on current If the role is not eligible and you cannot demonstrate your right to work, your conditional offer may be withdrawn.
🚀 Once Checks Are Complete -
The Recruitment Team will coordinate with you and the hiring manager to confirm a start date. You’ll be booked onto a Trust Welcome Session and receive your Pennine Care NHS Terms and Conditions.
📣 Additional Information -
We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the communities we serve. We actively encourage applications from individuals of diverse backgrounds to help us grow, innovate, and improve.
If you wish to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme, you will be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria for the role.
If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please contact us on 0161 716 3181 as early as possible so we can support you.
Please note:
* We do not accept unsolicited contact from recruitment agencies. Hiring managers should not be contacted directly.
* We may close vacancies early if we receive a high volume of applications. To ensure your application is considered, please apply as soon as possible.
If you have problems applying, contact
Address
Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
225 Old Street
225 Old Street
OL6 7SR
Telephone
01617163181