Psychology Graduate Internship

Job overview

It is nationally recognised that a significant proportion of psychology graduates want to develop a career in healthcare, but can find it hard to find a way in. The intersectional nature of disadvantage and unpaid volunteer culture has been thought to contribute to disproportionate disadvantage for psychology graduates from ethnic and cultural minorities, who are socio-economically disadvantaged and/or who have caring responsibilities. To help address these issues, additional funding has been secured from NHS England to develop paid opportunities for aspiring Clinical Psychologists.

We are offering a 3-month opportunity as an assistant psychologist for a graduate who is committed to developing a career in NHS psychological professions. This opportunity will take place in the Inspires treatment service at HMP/YOI Swinfen Hall.

Applicants need to ensure that their supporting statement highlights that they are a graduate from an ethnic or cultural minority, are socio-economically disadvantaged or have caring responsibilities in order to meet the requirements set out by the NHS England scheme.

The successful applicant will be subject to standard pre-employment checks, as well as prison vetting. Candidates should be aware that this additional vetting process is more in depth and therefore can take some time, meaning that pre-employment checks may take longer than typical NHS roles.

Please note that applications may close before the deadline, subject to volume of applications.

Main duties of the job

This post is suitable for recent psychology graduates from university courses offering Graduate Basis for Chartered membership of the British Psychological Society, with limited/no NHS experience within Psychology services.  We would like to especially encourage those who have not had opportunities for voluntary experience due to caring responsibilities, inequality or disadvantage to apply.

The role will be based in the Inspires treatment service at HMP/YOI Swinfen Hall, offering psychological and occupational interventions for young men who have histories of trauma and complex presentations.

Your role will involve supporting the following, under supervision of a HCPC registered practitioner psychologist:

• Individual and group psychotherapeutic interventions
• Service evaluation and research
• Delivering training to the treatment service team

Applications are invited from kind, thoughtful candidates with a “can do” attitude to deliver the Trusts Vision and Values and help to improve our service user experience. When applying think about the skills and knowledge you have gained from your degree and life experiences which would help you in delivering relational support and psychological interventions within the Inspires service.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will work within a multi-disciplinary team alongside occupational therapists, creative therapists, prison officers and psychotherapists.

The service utilises a relational approach and a flexible, person-centred model to meet the needs of individual service users. As a psychology graduate intern in the team, you will be given opportunities to support a range of activities available, e.g.: psychological groups, officer-led groups, psychological assessments, formulations and service evaluations. Due to the varying nature of the service and group timetables, and the short-term nature of this role, we cannot state exactly what you may be able to get involved with. However, to give an idea of therapies you may be able to support or learn about, psychological therapies offered within the service include EMDR, Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Narrative therapy (Tree of Life), Mentalisation Based Treatment and creative therapies.

For further information on the advertised role, please refer to the job description located under the Supporting Documents heading. The full person specification can be accessed under the ‘About You’ Section of the document.

Please note this post is subject to security vetting. To be considered for this post you will need to have continuously resided in the UK without any breaks for a minimum of 3 years prior to this application and be able to evidence your years of residency. Please note without sufficient evidence your application may not progress.