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Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

About

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) provides integrated community and mental health, learning disability and social care services of the highest standard due to our continued commitment to quality and service improvement. We aim to support people of all ages to achieve the very best they can for their health and well being. To ensure that we achieve this goal we look to recruit candidates of a high calibre that share our passion for delivering excellent service user care, research and education.

Contact

Address: Elizabeth House; Fulbourn Hospital; Fulbourn; Cambridge; Cambridgeshire; CB21 5EF
Contact Number: 0800 953 7016

Find out more

Jobs Website

Open

Ref: 310-MASMH-7376168 Vacancy ID: 7376168

Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist - Development post

Accepting applications until: 22-Sep-2025 23:59

Vacancy status: Open

Accepting applications until: 22-Sep-2025 23:59

Location

Site: The Fens Service, HMP Whitemoor
Address: Longhill Road
Town: March
Postcode: PE15 0PR
Major / Minor Region: Cambridgeshire

Contract type & working pattern

Contract: Permanent: Regional Secure Unit Allowance payable of £1293 per annum pro rata
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week

Salary

Salary: £47,810 - £62,682 Per annum, pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Grade: (Band 8a)

Specialty

Main area: Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

To develop psychological formulations of presenting problems; emotional, cognitive and behavioural. In particular to use specialist knowledge in relation to offending behaviour, to develop psychological formulations of the connection between a person’s personality psychopathology and the dangerous offences they have committed. This will require the integration of information from assessments within a coherent framework that draws upon psychological theory and evidence and which incorporates interpersonal, societal, cultural and biological factors.

To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family, carers or group.

To incorporate the results of individual assessments into the formulations and treatment and care plans for the patient(s). To be able to articulate these formulations to other members of the multidisciplinary team including non-clinical staff using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills at a level which is accessible to all.

Within a cognitive interpersonal framework to develop plans for the formal psychological individual treatment and/or management of a patient’s mental health and behavioural problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of these problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.

To formulate, develop and implement plans for neuropsychological assessment informing the psychological treatment and/or management of a patient’s neurocognitive deficits within an appropriate conceptual framework of the patient’s problems. Ensuring methods are efficacious meeting the patient’s needs within the Fens service or in support of appropriate referral to another specialist service.

To provide management, coordination and delivery in conjunction with the clinical director, on the application of virtual reality methods both within assessment and treatment provisions within the Fens service, developing appropriate evaluation methodologies and research protocols for this provision.

To provide neurofeedback services to individual patients working within an approved research protocol and delivering key assessments as designated to support the evaluation of this wellbeing intervention with high risk patients who have a history of acute developmental trauma. Training will be provided if needed.

To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological research and theory, including specialist neurological assessment.

Here at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) we are dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion. We deliver many of the NHS services that are provided outside of hospital and in the community such as physical, mental health and specialist services.

We are a health and social care organisation, offering a wide range of services, including:

Integrated physical and mental health services for adults and older people;
Specialist mental health and learning disability services;
Children and young people’s mental health services;
Children’s community services in Peterborough;
Social care;
Ground-breaking research

We strongly encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people and members of our ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ communities. For further information about our positive equality, diversity and Inclusion work, please visit https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/equalityanddiversity.

CPFT is looking to build upon its pool of temporary workers with Temporary Staffing Services (TSS). You will be asked at interview if you would be willing to register with TSS. This is an excellent opportunity for those looking to take on additional hours that are flexible around your personal circumstances.

Please be advised that in line with the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List, 2020 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust currently are unable to accept applications from overseas candidates whose country of residence is classed as a ‘Red List’ country.

Applicants who require entry into the UK will be required to provide a valid police certificate from the relevant authority from each country (except the UK) where the applicant has been present for 12 months or more, 10 years before the date of visa application, while aged 18 or over.

If you are successful at interview you will be subject to pre-employment checks, including a DBS (if appropriate), references and Occupational Health. To ensure a smooth process please bring all identity documents to your interview. A list of required identity documents will be attached to your interview invitation.

All communications will be sent to you via TRAC Systems. By applying for this post you are agreeing to CPFT transferring the information contained in this application to TRAC. If you are made an offer, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

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.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

Essential criteria

Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS, or a BPS Statement of Equivalence.
Or chartered forensic psychologist
Valid HCPC registration

Desirable criteria

Recognised training in specialist assessment tools (e.g.PCL-R, HCR-20, WAIS-IV or other clinical assessments)

Experience

Essential criteria

Working experience as a trainee/qualified psychologist within a locked/secure environment
Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of clients across a range of care settings.
Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity Skills at maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
Experience of the application of psychological interventions in different contexts

Desirable criteria

Lived experience of mental health
Experience of working within a multicultural framework
Experience of interagency working

Skills & Abilities

Essential criteria

Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention and management.
Skills in developing and/or delivering individual and group work.
Skills in planning and organising caseload management.
Skills in self-management, including time-management.
Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information, including contentious and highly distressing information, to clients, other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS/HMPPS.
Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.

Desirable criteria

Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc.).
High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
Knowledge of the OPDP services, and what working within an OPD service might entail.
Knowledge or experience of using neurofeedback as a wellbeing tool.
Knowledge or experience of using VR as a tool to support wellbeing or psychological interventions.

Knowledge & Understanding

Essential criteria

Good understanding of other professionals’ theoretical perspectives of this client group.
Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance, including regular supervision, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
Knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.

Physical Requirements

Essential criteria

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, enabling formation of networks with professionals within the Trust and from other agencies (HMPPS) to promote effective team working with clients
Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from clients.
Emotionally robust.
Able to contain and work with organisational stress.
Interpersonally calm and able to defuse difficult, volatile situations.
Ability to exercise appropriate levels of self-care and to monitor own state, recognising when it is necessary to take active steps to maintain fitness to practice.
Motivated towards personal and professional development with a strong CPD record.
Able to tolerate ambiguity and to take decisions in situations of incomplete information.

Other

Essential criteria

Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
Able to tolerate prolonged periods of sitting.