Band 8a Clinical Psychologist Preceptorship

Job overview

Band 8A Post or Band 7-8A Preceptorship

Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist

Community Learning Disabilities Team

Learning Disabilities Division

• WTE

We would welcome applications from Band 8a Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologists. The post is also open to trainee psychologists who will qualify in Autumn 2026 or band 7 psychologists who are seeking a new specialty.

We are looking for creative, innovative and enthusiastic Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologists to deliver clinical services within our Community Learning Disabilities Team in the Learning Disabilities Division.

You will deliver specialist psychological assessments and therapy, for individuals, groups and families as well as consultation to professionals. We pride ourselves on our compassionate and inclusive ways of working, which seek to reduce the risk of inpatient admission and associated trauma. We aim to improve the quality of life of clients , whilst emphasising the value of relationships and attachments with significant others.

Main duties of the job

Here is some feedback from trainees who have been on placement in the community team:

“the clients, close knit MDT and supportive supervisors make the community LD service a great place to work”

“lots of opportunities for getting involved with other aspects of the service, for example with staff wellbeing or the Service User Group”

“variety of interests within the psychology team which means you get to experience different models and perspectives. For example, there are opportunities to work systemically or from a trauma informed perspective”

We are currently working as a city-wide team and you will be expected to travel throughout Birmingham, with occasional out of area visits. You will be based at Riverside Lodge, our Learning Disabilities MDT base in Small Heath, with the aim of predominantly working with clients in the East of Birmingham. There may be opportunities for remote working within your working week, in balance with the needs of the MDT and our clients.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be joining an established group of friendly, committed, and supportive Psychologists, banded from 8C to 7, as well as Honorary Assistant Psychologists and trainees. We have psychology colleagues in the Intensive Support Team and Community Forensic Team. We utilise an exceptionally broad range of psychological models depending upon client need, including behavioural (primarily PBS), adapted CBT, systemic, narrative, ACT, CAT, attachment, CFT and EMDR. Working within our team would give you exposure to these models and additional training is actively encouraged using our Learning Beyond Registration scheme. We have developed a thriving family therapy/ staff consultation service and have links with local and national LD services.

Our psychologists work closely with colleagues within our leadership team and MDT to strive for care that is trauma informed, compassionate and formulation based. We facilitate rolling group interventions, including Emotion Regulation and Tree of Life groups. We support a small number of clients who are living with complex physical health conditions, pain and co-morbidity, in order to improve their quality of life and reduce health inequalities. As Birmingham is a diverse and multi-cultural community, we are mindful of the additional challenges that clients from marginalised communities may encounter when accessing our services. Our team is actively engaged in research; we are keen to facilitate opportunities for supervising doctoral research as well as smaller scale quality improvement projects.

Our service offers opportunities to develop clinical leadership skills, be involved with clinical projects and pathway development. The Psychology Service offers connection to and support from other psychologists through facilitated reflective practice groups, CPD events, forums and Special Interest Groups. There are strong links with the DClinPsy training course and the MSCi pathway at Birmingham University, as well as Coventry. There are opportunities for service user involvement work through our Service User Group. This challenges us to reflect upon and adapt our working practices and improve our clinical environment.

Key points to note

The relevant Band 8a Job Description and Person Specification is attached to this document .

For a discussion about the above post, you are very welcome to contact one of our senior Community LD psychologists: Dr Lisa Morris Consultant Clinical Psychologist at lisa.morris3@nhs.net or leave a message for Lisa on 0121 466 3900.

For further details / informal visits contact:

Name: Dr Lisa Morris

Job title: Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Email address: lisa.morris3@nhs.net

Telephone number: 0121 466 3900

Additional contact information

Name: Ivy Winters

Job title: Service Manager

Email address: Ivy.Winters@nhs.net

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.