Clinical / Forensic / Counselling Psychologist

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a band 7 psychologist to join our forensic psychology team on a 12 month maternity cover contract. The successful candidate will be based on the male pathway on the assessment and treatment ward (A&T) at our Leeds site. It provides primarily assessment, formulation and treatment for men with complex mental health needs and trauma histories linked to their offending behaviours. The service takes a trauma-informed biopsychosocial approach to understanding service user’s presentations and risks, formulating behaviours as driven by unmet needs, and informing a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to treatment with a focus on recovery. There is also a forensic outreach team that the successful applicant may input to, supporting transitions from the ward to the community.

You would be joining a well established and supportive Psychology team, made up of qualified, assistant and trainee psychologists.

Main duties of the job

To provide specialist psychological services to the staff and service users on the assessment and treatment ward, with the clinical leadership support of senior psychologists in the department. The post holder will be responsible for assessing and treating their own specialist caseload of clients and to maintain associated records. There will be opportunity to develop and deliver enhanced group interventions; joint working with primary nursing teams and allied health professionals to scaffold and model low level psychological interventions. The post holder may provide clinical supervision to assistant psychologists and potentially other clinicians in accordance with service need. The post holder will conduct psychologically informed risk assessments and formulations alongside the MDT and will support staff through appropriate forums e.g. case discussion; team formulations; reflective practice; and contribute to staff training.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We value supporting continued professional development, with a number of our team accessing further accredited training in therapy modalities (including CBT and EMDR) and leadership programmes.

This job is primarily based on-site, although there may be some limited opportunity for remote working.

We are committed to robust professional leadership, equality, diversity and inclusion and supporting staff wellbeing and CPD. Our Psychological Professions Strategy outlines our vision. Psychological Professions Strategy

We welcome applications from people who are due to qualify this year (2026).

Informal enquiries and visits are encouraged before the application closing date.

Please contact Katherine Grindheim ([email protected]) 0113 85 56454

We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for. Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.

All our information is available in accessible formats. Please contact the Recruitment team [email protected]  Attached to this advert is our candidates guide to values-based recruitment and supporting guidance on how to make a successful application.

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Recruitment Team or see the attached candidate guide to reasonable adjustments.

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading.

So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the Candidate Guide to Values Based Recruitment. This document provides you with information to help you apply.