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Job requirements
Requirements from the employer’s person specification. These describe the role, not your personal match.
Essential
11 listedRequirements the employer expects applicants to meet.
- Skills
Demonstrate excellent interpersonal, communication and active listening skills with service users, carers and staff.
- Skills
Ability to work independently to maintain agreed caseload and activity levels.
- Education
Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS OR appropriate Psychotherapy qualification OR CBT qualification Registration with the Health Professionals Council or other appropriate regulatory body. Relevant specialist training or qualifications. Additional relevant clinical and/or managerial knowledge and skills acquired through formal training, long or short courses, formal supervision (individual and/or group), structured self-study or experience (or a combination of these) to an appropriate level approved by the Lead of Psychological Services and demonstrated by certification, documented supervision logs, management appraisal documentation and/or assessment at interview
- Knowledge
The theory and practice of psychological assessment and therapies in relation to treatment of a range of mental health disorders including EMDR, (tf)CBT, CFT, and other trauma informed therapies.
- Knowledge
Risk assessment practice and procedures.
- Knowledge
The value of service user participation in the delivery and development of services.
- Experience
Assessed experience of working as a qualified Clinical or Counselling psychologist at a specialist level or assessed experience of working as a qualified psychotherapist within NHS
- Experience
Good understanding of other professionals’ theoretical perspectives of this client group.
- Experience
Experience of providing specialist psychological assessment, and treatment of service users utilising at least two main models as appropriate (including EMDR or tfCBT) across the full range of care settings and clinical severity including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient.
- Experience
Experience of providing teaching, training and clinical supervision to junior psychologists and other professions.
- Experience
The application of psychologically informed interventions in different cultural contexts including working with interpreters.
Desirable
5 listedAdditional qualities the employer would prefer.
- Skills
Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Education
Post Qualification Training in EMDR or CBT for trauma.
- Education
Community psychology or narrative therapy training
- Knowledge
Knowledge of the presentation of complex mental health problems arising from maternal trauma and loss.
- Experience
Previous experience of working in maternal mental health or perinatal services
Job overview
Ocean is offering a 0.8 WTE fixed term 12 month maternity cover for a band 7 psychologist or psychotherapist. OCEAN is a psychology-led maternal mental health service combining psychology and specialist midwifery to support women and birthing people who are experiencing moderate-severe mental health difficulties relating to baby loss, birth trauma and parent-infant separation. Ocean is a community based service, offering a range of interventions including one to one psychology, group work and indirect work with maternity services. Ocean is a service that prioritises addressing maternal mental health inequalities and developing inclusive services. Therefore, the successful candidate must be keen to embrace the privileges of working in diverse boroughs and have experience of working with women and birthing people from a range of social, religious, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds to deliver accessible and psychologically informed care.
A significant part of this role will focus on the provision of specialist, co produced, psychological input to women who have experienced loss and trauma on their maternal journeys. In addition to holding their own caseload, the successful candidate will contribute to screening of new referrals into the service, conduct assessments and contribute to group work where appropriate. There will also be opportunities to develop training and partnership working with local community groups, maternity staff, mental health and social services.
Main duties of the job
- Providing psychological assessments to women and birthing people under the care of Ocean MMHS
- Developing and delivering group and one to one interventions as appropriate for the needs of the service
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder is responsible for the provision of highly specialist, co produced, psychological input to women who have experienced loss and trauma through their maternity experience, particularly those vulnerable to poor health outcomes through poverty and other social inequalities, disabilities and physical health conditions and will also manage other psychological therapists. Psychological input includes highly specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions delivered within acute hospital and community settings as required.
The characteristics of the core population receiving direct services are women who have lost a baby through recurrent miscarriage, termination of pregnancy, still birth, neonatal death, and parent-infant separation due to social care proceedings. In addition, the service will provide for women who have experienced birth trauma, whose needs can not be met by Talking Therapies services or perinatal mental health team. The core population will be women who are experiencing emotional distress that requires specialist support and psychological intervention. Work with partners may also be included where indicated by the formulation.
Ocean is based in Vivienne Cohen House in Hackney and offers support to women and birthing people across East London in the boroughs of City & Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets and therefore offer provide clinics across several different hospitals and community bases in East London.
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.
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Ocean Psychologist, Psychotherapist or CBT Therapist with East London NHS Foundation Trust in London, England. It is listed as a Mental health professionals role. The advertised salary is per annum. The contract type is 12 months (Fixed term contract). The application deadline is 13 Sep 2026.
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