Assistant Psychologist

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Assistant Psychologist to work within LYPFT’s Acute Inpatient Service. The service provides care for adults of working age experiencing acute mental health crises warranting inpatient admission. It comprises six wards across two sites each staffed by a multidisciplinary team including but not limited to Nurses, Psychiatrists, Occupational Therapists, Psychological Professionals, Physiotherapists and Dietitians.

The successful applicant will join an established team of two qualified Psychologists and an Assistant Psychologist. There is ongoing work to develop and embed formulation driven and trauma informed care within the service. Our intention is to deliver psychologically informed interventions with compassion to help people recover and regain independence. There is a good governance and leadership structure across the wards.  Further recruitment will follow as we are currently expanding the psychological workforce and range of psychological interventions offered by the service.

PLEASE NOTE, THIS VACANCY MAY CLOSE EARLY IF SUFFICIENT APPLICATIONS ARE RECEIVED.

Main duties of the job

Supporting ward multidisciplinary teams with formulation and care planning from admission to discharge from the service.

Delivery and evaluation of ward-based psychologically informed group interventions.

Supporting the audit and evaluation of ongoing service development initiatives.

Scope exists for individual therapeutic work with service users where clinically appropriate and the delivery of staff training.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Reviewing and compiling care documentation, meeting with service users, their families/carers, and others involved in their care. Gathering information to develop biopsychosocial formulations for and with service users and the ward multidisciplinary team to inform care planning.
• Working collaboratively with ward staff to deliver and evaluate psychologically informed group interventions under the supervision of a qualified psychologist.
• Assisting with data collection and writing up of service audit / evaluation projects.
• Attending and contributing to ward multidisciplinary care planning meetings.
• Attending and contributing to ward level clinical governance meetings.
• Delivering one to one therapeutic interventions where clinically appropriate under the supervision of a qualified psychologist

The role predominantly centres on supporting multidisciplinary formulation and care planning, and the delivery and evaluation of psychologically informed group interventions. Additional tasks will be linked to ongoing service improvement initiatives. There will be opportunities to deliver staff training, and the post holder will be offered continuing professional development opportunities and clinical supervision commensurate to the role.

The successful applicant will have previous experience of working as an Assistant Psychologist in mental health or learning disability settings, delivering one to one or group interventions, and/or developing and using formulations with service users and teams. They will be able to develop good rapport with people with complex mental health needs and have enthusiasm for working within an inpatient setting.

The role is for a fixed term of two years.

Applications from people with BAME backgrounds are particularly welcome.

LYPFT supports several Assistant Psychologist posts which provides a rich internal network, including a regular Aspiring Psychological Professionals Forum.  In addition, Leeds continues to be a diverse and exciting city to work in.

You must have a degree eligible to hold Graduate Basis Chartered Membership (GMC) with the BPS to be offered this post.  To maintain anonymity at shortlisting, proof of this will be requested as necessary after application and before interview. If you pass to the stage of shortlisting, you will be contacted by the recruitment team and asked to either forward a confirmation email from the BPS or a letter from your UK university confirming your degree meets the GBC requirements. Please ensure this proof is available as time scales will be short and the interview will be withdrawn if proof is not available.

Interviews will take place in person at the Becklin Centre on Thursday 24th April 2025.