Job overview
We are excited to recruit an Assistant Psychologist (AP) to join our Specialist Parenting Service (SPS) team working with parents who experience a learning disability. SPS sits within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and promotes early intervention approaches to reduce inequalities and contribute to the best outcomes for families in Cornwall.
The AP is an important part of our team, and the role is quite unique, providing a broad range of experiences and a variety of opportunities for a highly motivated person. SPS has a small multi-disciplinary team and works across learning disability, midwifery, children’s, and adult’s services providing consultation, assessment, and intervention. We care about service-user participation and are committed to providing the best possible service and are keen to hear from applicants with a shared passion who will work collaboratively to improve outcomes for children.
The post holder will work under the close supervision of qualified Clinical Psychologists and gain experience of child and adult safeguarding processes and multi-agency working. Whilst the work can be emotive and stressful, we feel we have lots to offer an enthusiastic and experienced AP with regular individual supervision and group reflective supervision as well as supportive colleagues who value good wellbeing at work.
Main duties of the job
Under supervision the post holder will be involved in providing detailed assessments of parents using a range of methods to understand parents’ needs and plan interventions to improve outcomes for children. There is an expectation that you be experienced in all aspects of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (4the soon to be 5th edition) as understanding a parent's learning needs are fundamental to our service delivery.
We use a range of therapeutic approaches to meet the needs of parents and families referred to our service and there will be opportunities to support parenting interventions under supervision. We provide multi-agency training on a regular basis and the AP is involved in all aspects of this.
Working as part of our Early Intervention Project, the AP will be completing initial assessments with expectant mothers and parents with young babies. Part of the role will involve developing and producing Easy Read parenting materials and other visual resources to support parents and professionals so there are many opportunities to work creatively. We use Video Interaction Guidance and the post holder may be involved in delivering this exciting intervention under supervision.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To view a detailed job description and person specification including the main responsibilities of this role please see ‘supporting documents’.
This job is currently only open to people who already work for the NHS in Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly. We are committed to supporting our dedicated staff, so only current employees of the following organisations can apply:
- Cornwall Foundation Trust
- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
- Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board
If you do not currently work for one of these NHS organisations, your application will not be considered at this time.
Person specification
Knowledge and abilities
Essential
- An understanding of common mental health problems and how they may present t
- An understanding of the structure of services providing mental health support
Education / Qualifications and Relevant Experience
Essential
- Psychology Degree accredited by the British Psychological Society. Eligible for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.
- Up-to-date knowledge of psychology. An awareness and understanding of contemporary issues in the field of mental health.
- Experience working with people with mental health problems and/or other disabilities.
Desirable
- Knowledge/experience of learning disability & parent-infant mental health
- Experience of working with people with severe mental illness (e.g, ) and their families/carers
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Assistant Psychologist - Specialist Parenting Service with Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Bodmin, South West, England. It is listed as a Band 5 Psychologist role. The advertised salary is £32,073 - £39,043 Pro rata. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 04 Aug 2026.
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