NHS

Senior Assistant Psychologist


PayCompetitive
LocationBirmingham/England
Employment typeFull-Time

This job is now closed

  • Job Description

      Req#: E0277-25-0009?language=en&page=1025&sort=publicationDateDesc

      Job summary

      Options for Care is looking to recruit an exceptional Senior Assistant Psychologist (2-year Fixed Term) passionate about working with individuals with severe and enduring mental health diagnoses. The successful candidate will work at Stanford Court, our new mental health inpatient unit, based in Highgate, Birmingham.

      Our two established hospitals, Montague Court and Dartmouth House, have successfully supported the needs of individuals with mental health diagnoses. We also have Orchard House, our recovery home, which provides a safe and supportive environment for individuals on their journey to mental health recovery.

      Stanford Court will be a 23-bed male mental health inpatient unit based in Highgate, Birmingham. This will consist of 19 high dependency beds and four self-contained recovery flats to enable assessment of daily living skills in preparation for discharge.

      Dartmouth House is a 16-bed male long-term complex care mental health inpatient unit based in Handsworth Wood, Birmingham.

      Orchard House is an 8-bed residential step-down service based in Erdington, Birmingham, which allows extension of the long-term complex care pathway.

      Montague Court is an 18-bed male long-term complex care mental health inpatient unit based in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

      Main duties of the job

      We are seeking a Senior Assistant Psychologist who will have the opportunity to work autonomously and take on significant responsibilities. You will work closely with the multi-disciplinary team.

      The primary objective is to enhance the psychological care of service users who have complex mental health and behavioural needs. As a Senior Assistant Psychologist, you will provide psychological assessment, formulation and intervention under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist. You will also carry out administrative tasks related to clinical work, such as conducting audits, collecting statistics, and producing reports.

      Additionally, you will engage in research-related activities, including devising and conducting research projects and assisting in the preparation of findings for publication purposes. As a Senior Assistant Psychologist, you will also support the development, delivery, and evaluation of staff training initiatives.

      All work must be performed within the framework of our policies and procedures, and you must understand and implement the organisation's mission, vision, and values.

      About us

      Options for Care provides mental health recovery services in Birmingham. Our primary objective is to empower service users and help them realise their full potential through improvements in their quality of life and a steady progression towards recovery, culminating in successful discharge. We are proud to share our unwavering commitment to our mission, vision, and values.

      Mission

      Realising Potential

      Vision

      We offer best-practice interventions to enable personal recovery and well-being.

      Values

      The individual is at the heart of everything we do.

      We inspire, stimulate and empower people to achieve and grow through compassionate, supportive and protective relationships.

      We deliver and continuously evaluate high-quality service whilst respecting differences, promoting dignity and supporting the privacy of others.

      At Options for Care, we understand the importance of delivering personalised holistic support to our service users. Our dedicated team is committed to providing relationship-centred interventions that are grounded in evidence-based practices. We strongly believe that our approach helps individuals lead fulfilling lives and attain their personal objectives. To ensure that we consistently meet our service users' needs, we use recognised assessment tools to track outcomes and make adjustments as needed. Our goal is to empower our service users to live in the least restrictive setting feasible while maintaining their dignity and independence.

      Date posted

      01 April 2025

      Pay scheme

      Other

      Salary

      Depending on experience

      Contract

      Fixed term

      Duration

      2 years

      Working pattern

      Full-time

      Reference number

      E0277-25-0009

      Job locations

      106 Moseley Road

      Birmingham

      B12 0HG


      Job description

      Job responsibilities

      As a Senior Assistant Psychologist, your role will involve providing support and enhancing clinical psychology services to service users under the guidance of qualified psychologists. This will include undertaking structured assessments and therapeutic interventions, as well as clinically related administration, audit, research, teaching, and service improvement projects. You will be responsible for conducting psychological assessments of adults with complex and enduring mental health difficulties, using various clinical methodologies and working closely with the multidisciplinary team to develop care plans and provide low-intensity psychological interventions. Additionally, you will assist in managing service users' risk and problem behaviours, planning and coordinating therapeutic groups, and attending multi-disciplinary meetings. As an integral member of our team, you will work alongside psychiatrists, mental health nurses, healthcare assistants, occupational therapists and psychologists, and receive support and supervision from qualified clinical psychologists. We expect you to engage in research and service evaluation, develop and co-facilitate training and education sessions and materials.

      To be considered for the role of Senior Assistant Psychologist, you must hold a Psychology degree with a minimum of 2:1 honours, which is recognised by the British Psychological Society. Additionally, you need to have at least 12 months of experience working with individuals who have mental health challenges and/or learning disabilities, as well as physical health issues or cognitive impairments.

      In return, at Options for Care, we recognise the immense value of our team members. Our staff are the foundation of our success and we appreciate their dedication to our clients. We prioritise employee development and are committed to supporting our staff at every stage of their career journey. Our workplace is warm and welcoming, with necessary assistance and supervision to ensure a positive work environment. Our comprehensive staff health benefits package further demonstrates our commitment to the well-being of our staff.

      Job description

      Job responsibilities

      As a Senior Assistant Psychologist, your role will involve providing support and enhancing clinical psychology services to service users under the guidance of qualified psychologists. This will include undertaking structured assessments and therapeutic interventions, as well as clinically related administration, audit, research, teaching, and service improvement projects. You will be responsible for conducting psychological assessments of adults with complex and enduring mental health difficulties, using various clinical methodologies and working closely with the multidisciplinary team to develop care plans and provide low-intensity psychological interventions. Additionally, you will assist in managing service users' risk and problem behaviours, planning and coordinating therapeutic groups, and attending multi-disciplinary meetings. As an integral member of our team, you will work alongside psychiatrists, mental health nurses, healthcare assistants, occupational therapists and psychologists, and receive support and supervision from qualified clinical psychologists. We expect you to engage in research and service evaluation, develop and co-facilitate training and education sessions and materials.

      To be considered for the role of Senior Assistant Psychologist, you must hold a Psychology degree with a minimum of 2:1 honours, which is recognised by the British Psychological Society. Additionally, you need to have at least 12 months of experience working with individuals who have mental health challenges and/or learning disabilities, as well as physical health issues or cognitive impairments.

      In return, at Options for Care, we recognise the immense value of our team members. Our staff are the foundation of our success and we appreciate their dedication to our clients. We prioritise employee development and are committed to supporting our staff at every stage of their career journey. Our workplace is warm and welcoming, with necessary assistance and supervision to ensure a positive work environment. Our comprehensive staff health benefits package further demonstrates our commitment to the well-being of our staff.

      Person Specification

      Qualifications

      Essential

      • To be considered for the role of Senior Assistant Psychologist, you must hold a Psychology degree with a minimum of 2:1 honours, which is recognised by the British Psychological Society.

      Experience

      Essential

      • At least 12 months of experience working with individuals who have mental health challenges and/or learning disabilities, as well as physical health issues or cognitive impairments.
      Person Specification

      Qualifications

      Essential

      • To be considered for the role of Senior Assistant Psychologist, you must hold a Psychology degree with a minimum of 2:1 honours, which is recognised by the British Psychological Society.

      Experience

      Essential

      • At least 12 months of experience working with individuals who have mental health challenges and/or learning disabilities, as well as physical health issues or cognitive impairments.

      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.

      Employer details

      Employer name

      Options for Care

      Address

      106 Moseley Road

      Birmingham

      B12 0HG


      Employer's website

      https://optionsforcare.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

      Employer details

      Employer name

      Options for Care

      Address

      106 Moseley Road

      Birmingham

      B12 0HG


      Employer's website

      https://optionsforcare.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

  • About the company

      National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly-funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, free at the point of use for people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care.