Specialist or Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist 7/8a

Haringey GP Federation; Selby; On-site; GBP 47,000 - 51,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent NHS trust in the United Kingdom is seeking a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join their team focused on supporting individuals with learning disabilities. The role includes providing psychological assessments, interventions, and leadership within a collaborative environment. Ideal candidates will have HCPC registration and relevant postgraduate training. Opportunities for career progression and further professional training are also available, making this a fulfilling role in a supportive setting.

Benefits

Professional development opportunities

Access to supervision and peer support

Investment in staff wellbeing programs

Qualifications

• HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Post-graduate training (doctoral level) in clinical/counselling psychology.
• Experience of joint working with statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies.

Responsibilities

• Provide psychological assessments and interventions.
• Offer neuropsychological assessments and reflective practice.
• Participate in the team’s collective leadership group.

Skills

Experience with mental health/learning disability clients

Multi-disciplinary team working

Competence in psychometric tests

Research and audit experience

Experience in CBT and DBT

Education

HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist

Post-graduate training in clinical/counselling psychology

Registration with BPS

Job description

Go back Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist or Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist 7/8a

The closing date is 31 January 2026

Band 8a full time post, with Band 7 - 8a preceptorship opportunities available

This post offers an exciting opportunity for a dynamic psychologist within the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale Community Learning Disability Team, part of the wider North Yorkshire, York & Selby Learning Disability Service.

We are seeking to appoint a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist who is passionate about working with people with learning disabilities. The vacancy is open to an existing Band 8A psychologist or a Band 7 psychologist wishing to progress in their career. We will also consider offering a preceptorship option for a newly or recently qualified clinical or counselling psychologist who may not yet meet the essential criteria; to progress from a band 7 into the band 8a position.

The post offers many exciting developmental and creative opportunities.

The post holder will have a key role in providing psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions to service users, their families, carers, and staff teams. This may be through direct therapeutic support using various adapted psychological approaches or indirect work with a service user's support system using psychologically informed thinking.

An additional element to this role is offering neuropsychological assessments to service users, alongside reflective practice, consultation, and supervision. An interest in working with Trauma Informed Care approaches would be welcomed.

Main duties of the job

Applicants should ideally have experience in working within Learning Disability services and show strong patient-centred values. The successful applicant will be enthusiastic, motivated, and demonstrate a commitment to delivering excellent health care and evidence-based practice. You will be working alongside a supportive team and opportunities to develop special interests and co-work will be encouraged.

In addition, the post holder will have a valued role in the team's collective leadership group, alongside opportunities for research and service development. Our service has strong links with the Doctoral Clinical and Counselling Psychology Programmes at Teesside, Hull, and York St Johns Universities. The post holder will be involved in offering trainee placements and University teaching. There are excellent opportunities for peer support/ supervision, CPD, training, research, and audit within the wider trust and psychological professions network.

We are very keen to support practitioners obtain further professional training with relevance to the service (e.g., EMDR; Flash; CBT; CAT; PBS; Systemic Family Therapy, etc). You will be working in an area of natural beauty across the North Yorkshire coast and North York Moors. Our trust is also invested in staff wellbeing opportunities, which is very much supported by the team.

About us

We are committed to co-creating safe and personalised care that improves the lives of people by involving them as equal partners. The most important way we will get there is by living our values, all of the time.

Psychological Professions staff will be expected to display the Trust values at all times, working as part of the collective leadership team with shared accountability and responsibility for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of patient care is delivered in a patient centred manner. They will also contribute to ensuring the culture of our services is built upon the Trust Values and the trust's strategy - Our Journey To change (OJTC).

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.

Psychologists & Psychological Therapists provide key leadership roles within the Trust. To support this we have developed leadership profiles for each psychology band and the profile card associated with this post is attached on NHS Jobs. You can find more information about the NHS Leadership Academys Healthcare Leadership Model and the profiles at their website. We encourage you to look at these resources as they will play a part in the interview process.

We welcome applications from staff who are currently coming to the end of their training in Clinical or counselling psychology that on successful completion will achieve the required qualification and registration with HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist. Trainee counselling psychologists are eligible to apply for and to be shortlisted for interview and to be offered qualified posts when they are in their 3rd year of the doctoral training and have the following confirmed as completed by the university. This information may be requested prior to interview: a. All clinical competencies. b. 80% of the 450 supervised clinical practice hours (360 hours)

Trainee clinical psychologists are eligible to apply for and to be shortlisted for interview and to be offered qualified posts when they are in their third year of training, as they will have completed their core clinical competencies by this stage of the course.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Post‑graduate training (doctoral level equivalent) in clinical / counselling / forensic psychology (or its equivalent prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Trained in clinical supervision (within agreed timescale)
• Trained in care co‑ordination (within agreed timescale)
• Registration with BPS
• Post‑graduate qualification showing evidence of supervised practice in an evidence‑based psychological therapeutic model

Experience

• Working with mental health/learning disability clients (depending on designated service area)
• Multi‑disciplinary team working
• Experience of joint working with statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies
• Experience of CBT, DBT, Psychodynamics, systematic therapy
• Experience of research and audit

Knowledge and Skills

• Doctoral level knowledge of evidence‑based practice relevant to the role
• Doctoral level knowledge of risk assessment and risk management
• Work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team and undertake care co‑ordination/lead practitioner responsibilities
• Undertake complex multi‑agency working and liaise with multiple systems
• Utilise psychometric tests competently
• Experience of joint working with statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies

Personal Attributes

• Respects and has awareness of the advantages of joint working with other experienced professionals in a multidisciplinary setting
• Able to work flexibly and co‑operatively as part of a team
• Able to use own initiative and make decisions independently
• Self‑aware and committed to professional and personal development. Able to accept and respond positively to feedback from supervision

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust