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Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
About
We provide NHS care and treatment for people living in south east England. Our mental health services provide care and treatment for people with conditions such as psychosis, depression, anxiety, dementia and personality disorder. Our vision is to provide outstanding care and treatment you can be confident in.
Contact
- Address
- Swandean
- Arundel Road
- Worthing
- West Sussex
- BN13 3EP
- Contact Number
- 01903 843000
Trainee Psychological Counsellor
Closed for applications on: 11-May-2026 00:01
Vacancy status: Closed
Closed for applications on: 11-May-2026 00:01
Key details
Location
- Site
- 177
- Address
- Preston Road
- Town
- Brighton
- Postcode
- BN1 6AG
- Major / Minor Region
- West Sussex
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Fixed term: 1 year (Successful completion of qualification leading to a Band 7)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Salary
- Salary
- £39,959 - £48,117 pa
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (NHS AfC: Band 6)
Specialty
- Main area
- Mental Health
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn’t based on your real experience.
Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we’ll explore your examples further at interview, so it’s important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
Led by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and in partnership with YMCA Downslink and Southdown, Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service provides a community-based range of evidence based therapeutic and clinical interventions to support children, young people and adults with mild to moderate mental health needs. Our service is based in the community and located primarily within SPFT venues and GP Practices. We receive referrals from a number of routes including self-referrals and by General Practitioners, working closely with community and secondary care Mental Health services.
Advert
We are recruiting a Trainee Psychological Counsellor (37.5hrs per week) to join our NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression service in Brighton & Hove.
As an NHS Talking Therapies service (NHS TT) we offer a full range of NHS TT compliant therapies and job roles. As a service we support people presenting with mild to moderate anxiety disorders and depression.
As a Trainee Psychological Counsellor working within the service your main responsibilities will include offering clinical assessments to service users as well as evidence-based interventions for clients presenting with depression.
This is a trainee role for accredited counsellors who do not have a specific qualification in a counselling "Talking Therapies" modality. The role is fixed term for 1 year, during which you will be expected to have completed all the elements of a Counselling for Depression training. This training will be organised for you and paid for by the Wellbeing Service. Maintaining appropriate accreditation and completing the qualification in Counselling for Depression will lead to gaining a Band 7 substantive post within the Brighton and Hove Talking Therapies service.
To apply for this role you will need to meet the essential criteria as per the job description and be accredited with the BACP/UKCP or the HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist.
Working for our organisation
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We provide mental health and learning disability care for children, young people and adults across Sussex and for children and young people in Hampshire.
As a mental health trust Sussex Partnership places a huge focus on the wellbeing of our staff, as well as ensuring our reward packages reflect the immensely important work they do. We can offer you:
If you want to join an innovative and exciting NHS TT service in the vibrant and diverse seaside City of Brighton & Hove, then we would love to hear from you!
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Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This role will include Face to face sessions, remote video and telephone sessions.
As a Trainee Psychological Counsellor, you will be expected to deliver counselling to clients presenting with Depression and work autonomously within the service whilst ensuring you meet the demands and expectations of the training course.
Experience of working within the NHS and Primary Care Mental Health services is desirable.
Please see attached Job description and person specification for further details of the role.
SPFT is committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We particularly welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and from disabled candidates, as these groups are currently underrepresented.
Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced.
SPFT takes its responsibilities for safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk very seriously. We expect all staff and bank workers to share this commitment and complete the relevant safeguarding training for their role.
If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. However, we’ll always do our best to keep you informed as we know how much time and care goes into applying for a role.
In the event of a high number of applications, we may close this vacancy early.
Protect Yourself from Recruitment Fraud
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust does not charge any fees for job applications, recruitment processes, sponsorship arrangements or employment offers.
All vacancies, applications and recruitment communications are managed through the Trust's official careers website and published contact details.
These are the only authorised channels for applying for roles, receiving recruitment communications and verifying job offers.
Further information relating to our vacancies and recruitment process can be found at - https://careers.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/.
Applicant requirements
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Recognised professional training in a psychological therapy as specified in the appendix 2
- Professionally registered as specified in the Appendix
Knowledge/Experience
Essential criteria
- Qualified and accredited in delivery of a specialist psychological therapy (assessment, formulation and treatment), across a range of presenting problems maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Demonstrable competence in the delivery of a psychological therapy and a track record of delivering positive outcomes in this therapy
- Experience of representing psychological therapy within the context of multi-disciplinary care and NHS settings
- Knowledge of guidance and legislation in relation to the client group
- Knowledge of the theory, practice and evidence base of specialist psychological therapy as specified in the appendix, as applied to the client group using this service
- Experience of the application of psychological therapy in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework
- Evidence of commitment to continuing professional development as required by the professional registration/accrediting body specified in the appendix.
- An ability to work drawing on the evidence base for effective interventions beyond a single model of therapy
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Mark Porter
- Job title
- Lead Psychotherapeutic Counsellor
- Email address
- [email protected]
No longer accepting applications
Sorry, this vacancy is no longer accepting applications.
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