Clinical or Counselling Psychologist - Forensic Services

Job overview

An excellent opportunity has arisen for a HCPC Registered Clinical, Counselling or Forensic Practitioner Psychologist to join the Essex Specialist Community Forensic multidisciplinary team based at Heath Close, Billericay. This is a multi-disciplinary team consisting of highly experienced professionals with a diverse background of working within mental healthcare.  The team offers expertise in working with service users within forensic services and specific skills such as CBT, DBT, Behavioural Family Therapy and specialist risk assessment (eg HCR 20).

The team are an Essex wide service which was set up as part of the NHS New Care Models initiative aiming to transform services for forensic service users across the county.  Our aim is to facilitate and support discharge and repatriation of service users from low and medium secure care back into the community across Essex and to reduce the length of stay in secure settings.  Through this we are working to improve outcomes for this group of individuals through intensive support.

Our model of care is recovery based with a focus on empowerment of individuals to foster their wellbeing, self-esteem and to realise their full potential on the road to independence.

The role sits within the wider Forensic Psychological Services Department which comprises clinical, counselling and forensic psychologists, trainee psychologists, assistant psychologists and psychology undergraduate placement students.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy to those referred to the team. Where appropriate, the post holder will also take a lead in ensuring that family therapy or family interventions are available to those seen within the service.

The post holder will be required to:

• Work across locality and interagency boundaries to meet the needs of a highly complex client group.
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team’s policies and procedures.
• Utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the team/service.
• Offer advice and consultation on clients’ psychological care to non-psychologist/psychotherapist colleagues and to other, non-professional carers.
• Use appropriate evidence based psychological therapies.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for full list of responsibilities for this role.