Assistant Psychologist

Job overview

We are seeking to recruit an Assistant Psychologist to join our team. This full-time fixed term post will be based at the Porterbrook Clinic on the same site as the Michael Carlisle Centre in the Nether Edge area of Sheffield. This is an exciting opportunity to work with adults with gender incongruence providing gender affirming, trauma informed care. An interest in working with neurodivergence is essential.

The Sheffield Gender Identity Clinic, also known as the Porterbrook Clinic, is a service for adults who are experiencing gender dysphoria. Our clinic is one of 11 gender identity clinics providing healthcare for adults, commissioned by NHS England. We are a national service and as such, much of our work takes place online via Attend Anywhere NHS platform. Our team is made up of administration staff, medical and nursing staff, and a range of other healthcare professionals, such as psychologists and speech and communication therapists. People who attend our service may be seeking a range of treatment options. We provide support for social transitioning, and medical treatment to decrease gender identity distress. We are proud to provide specialist healthcare to transgender and non-binary people. We are passionate about providing culturally competent, developmentally appropriate and trans-affirmative professional care and management to the people that seek our services.

Main duties of the job

The Assistant Psychologist will support the psychology team and broader service by carrying out psychologically informed work under the supervision of a qualified Clinical Psychologist, including co-facilitating manualised group interventions, 1:1 psychoeducation, assisting with the design and implementation of service development projects (e.g., audits of outcome measures), preparing material for clinical appointments and some clinical admin for the psychology team. The Assistant Psychologist will be an active member of the Multidisciplinary Team.

The Assistant Clinical Psychologist will need to work independently and proactively according to an agreed plan and within the overall framework of the trust's policies and procedures. They would be expected to participate in relevant continuing professional development and attend regular clinical supervision.

We are a national service and as such, some of our appointments are offered via the NHS Attend Anywhere platform. There may be some flexibility to work from home (e.g., one day a week) by agreement after induction is completed.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

To co-facilitate manualised group intervention(s) and provide 1-1 psychoeducation intervention where appropriate, under the supervision of a Clinical Psychologist.

Where required, to attend and contribute to multi-disciplinary meetings and CPD that supports care delivery.

To have some direct contact with clients who experience significant mental health challenges, concurrent neurodivergence and/or may have experienced abuse or other traumatic events, and where the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills are required.

Teaching, training and supervision

To receive regular management and clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines.

To develop skills and competencies that assist in the delivery of current duties.

To contribute to the training and support of other staff in psychological care, including co-facilitating teaching on the Clinical Psychology Doctorate.

Service development

To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required.

To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed.

Research and service evaluation

To assist in the design and implementation of audit and research projects.

To undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes.

To undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to assist the qualified clinical psychologist in evidence-based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

Working Environment

The service base is at the Porterbrook Clinic in the Nether Edge area of Sheffield. There may be some opportunity to work from home (hybrid work) by agreement.

The job role will involve working in situations where there may be distressed or escalated individuals with the risk of verbal or physical threat requiring implementation of risk management protocols.

Please note, this post will be open for 7 days until 24th September so please submit your application at the earliest opportunity if you wish to be considered. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Please only use the contact details below in exceptional circumstances where your query is not addressed in the advert, job description, or person specification. These contact details are intended solely for such queries and should not be used for general enquiries or to discuss your suitability for the role. If you are interested in the position, please submit an application through the advertised recruitment process. We look forward to receiving your application.

Applicant requirements

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.