Trainee High Intensity Therapist - Aylesbury

Job overview

Do you want to go your career in phycology? Are you interested in training to be a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist?

We have an exciting opportunity to join Buckinghamshire Talking Therapies as a Trainee High Intensity Therapist.

Bucks Talking Therapies supports around 10,000 adults every year to manage their common mental health difficulties, such as anxiety and depression. You will be trained to deliver effective, evidence-based psychological therapies either in person or online via digital platforms either individually or in groups. Our service has over 250 staff including PWPs, High Intensity Therapists, referral coordinators, employment advisors, administrators and managers.

Our Trainee High Intensity Therapists currently working an 80:20 hybrid model, with the majority of work taking place in one of our office bases, clinic locations, and the University of Reading, and one day of working remotely.

We run clinics from a variety of community venues across Buckinghamshire. Our main bases are located centrally in High Wycombe in the south and Aylesbury in the north of the county. We have opportunities in both High Wycombe and Aylesbury.

Main duties of the job

• Evaluate clients for suitability for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and refer those with complex or severe issues to a manager or supervisor for further advice.
• Develop, implement, and evaluate therapy programmes tailored to individual client needs, ensuring effective treatment delivery.
• Complete all requirements related to data collection within the service and maintain coherent records of all clinical activities in line with service protocols.
• Attend and fulfil all training requirements, apply learning in practice, and receive supervision from educational providers and clinical supervisors.
• Attend multi-disciplinary meetings related to client referrals or treatments and work closely with other team members to ensure appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place

The ability to travel independently between sites within the Trust is essential for this role.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We offer you thorough training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) based at the University of Reading (UoR), clinical experience through Bucks Talking Therapies, and a supportive supervisor team at both University and on placement, throughout your training. The training programme is scheduled to start in September 2025 and ideally people will start work with the service in early September to complete induction and other duties. Applicants must be able and willing to travel to Reading regularly for their training year (teaching next year will be blended with more F2F teaching expected).

You will attend the UoR Post Graduate Diploma in Evidence Based Psychological Treatments for two days a week from September 2024. You will receive clinical supervision (CBT) from the UoR and Bucks Talking Therapies BABCP accredited clinicians, as well as managerial supervision in service.

Please note: for those applicants who already hold a psychological therapist qualification (e.g. clinical, counselling or health psychologists or core profession) these posts will be a Band 7 during and post training. Please mention this during your interview if you think you may be eligible to be paid at Band 7 during training.  For all other applicants, the post will be a Band 6 during training, moving to a Band 7 once the training course has been passed and competencies have been achieved.

Following completion of the course, moving to a qualified Band 7 post will be contingent on meeting a number of strict criteria related to the roles and performance of a HI therapist. These will be regularly assessed over the first 6 months post qualification and all these need to be fulfilled to meet the full requirements of a HI Therapist.

PWP’s are eligible to apply when they have completed a minimum of 2 years of employment as a PWP after passing all PWP course requirements at internal exam board. The only exception to this 2 year rule is if a PWP holds a previous core professional qualification recognised by the BABCP.

You will have an understanding and experience of CBT and wish to complete a BABCP accredited training in CBT. The training prepares you to meet BABCP accreditation requirements in order to work in Talking Therapies services. This is an excellent, but demanding course and candidates are expected to complete all its requirements within 12 months of starting the training.

The course you will be completing at the UoR as part of this role is a Level 2 accredited course with BABCP. This means that upon completion trainees will meet criteria to apply for provisional accreditation as a CBT therapist with the BABCP.

To apply, you must meet the criteria for CBT training and also have a BABCP-recognised professional background in mental health or related areas. This means having a recognised Core Profession. ​

If you do not have a Core Profession, you must complete a portfolio of evidence to show that you have equivalent training and experience. This is known as the Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes portfolio (KSA). You can find out more on the KSA portfolio here: https://babcp.com/Accreditation/Provisional-Accreditation/Knowledge-Skills-and-Attitudes

​If your application is successful and you are invited for an interview, you should have completed your KSA.  You will be asked for a copy of you self-statement for KSA criterion 4 in the interview. Please see the BABCP website for guidance and exemplars.

Please also be aware, if you have completed previous Health Education England funded training (e.g. PWP training), you cannot attend High Intensity training until 2 full years after your previous training’s exam boards – we will require proof of this time period prior to interview if you completed PWP or another psychological professions training in 2023.

Please be advised that we will be holding online interviews across 30th April, 1st & 2nd May.