Job summary
- Main area
- CBT
- Grade
- Band 6
- Contract
- 12 months (Training Contract)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 150-CP2691-PC
- Employer
- Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Bases Across West Sussex
- Town
- West Sussex
- Salary
- £39,959 - £48,117 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- Today at 23:59
Employer heading
Trainee CBT Therapist
Band 6
Job overview
NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies provides talking therapies to patients with mild to moderate mental health problems who reside in West Sussex. We are a well-established and respected service, part of the NHS Talking Therapies provision adhering to NICE Guidance. Each team is comprised of Senior Psychological Therapists, Cognitive Behaviour Therapists, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners, and Counsellors, supported by Administrative and Operational Management Teams.
This is a training role within the NHS Talking Therapies programme, which requires attendance and successful completion of the 1-year PGDip in High Intensity Psychological Therapies. We anticipate that the training will be delivered with the University of Sussex based in Brighton. Please note that this is subject to change, and the confirmed training provider will be shared at interview.
The post-holder will work within NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies providing high intensity interventions whilst undertaking a programme of training specific for this role. This intensive training post will equip the post-holder to provide a psychological therapy service to clients with a range of problems. The post holder will work in the service for part of the week using the newly developed skills whilst attending the training programme.
Adapted training for part-time staff may be available.
Main duties of the job
This post is offered on a fixed term basis, with the opportunity to apply for vacancies within the service on successful completion of the course.
We strongly encourage you to check the job description and the core professional criteria carefully before applying for this post. Unfortunately, we will not be able to answer questions related to your eligibility for the course. We ask that you use the information provided within the job description and through the BABCP website: https://babcp.com/careers/training-in-cbt
If applicable to your profession, please submit completed KSA documents alongside your application. These can be found at Knowledge, Skills & Attitudes – BABCP
Working for our organisation
We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.
Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.
Why work for us?
• Positive 2023 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeing
• Varied environments: community hospitals, patients’ homes, and bases across Sussex
• Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retirement
• Excellent training, development, and research opportunities
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton
• Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks
• Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust
• Beautiful Sussex location near the South Downs and coast
Our values—Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence—guide everything we do.
We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.
This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- Attend and fulfill all the requirements of the training element of the post
- Apply learning from the training programme into clinical practice
- Receive supervision from educational providers in relation to course work to meet the required standards
- To be responsible for working with vulnerable patients experiencing a wide range of mental health problems and high levels of emotional and psychological distress and disturbance.
- To accept referrals via agreed protocols within the service
- To assess clients for suitability for treatment within NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies and specifically for Step 3 Psychological Therapy as required
- As required, to make decisions on suitability of new referrals, adhering to the service referral protocols, and refer unsuitable clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as necessary, with due regard for assessment and management of risk. To undertake risk assessment and take the appropriate action. [possibly breaching patient confidentiality in the interests of the patient or as dictated by legislation]
- To formulate, implement and evaluate therapy programmes for clients
- To engage in a collaborative manner to build resilience and hope focusing on recovery.
- To be alert and respond creatively to change in the patients’ identified needs or psychological/emotional status
- To complete all requirements relating to data collection within the service, including the use of routine outcome measures
You will be part of a high-performing service which provides remote and face-to-face treatments for our patients including video and in-person appointments, with qualified staff being both home and office based.
You will receive excellent clinical supervision. You will also have the opportunity to work with experienced CBT therapists, Counsellors and qualified PWPs, all of whom have a reputation for being friendly and supportive of trainees.
We have training posts available in a variety of locations across West Sussex. You will need to be able and willing to travel to different sites as required in West Sussex.
Please note that you will be expected to pay for any travel you have to make to and from the University, although any travel between your work base and our locations in West Sussex will be covered by NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies expenses.
Successful applicants can be based in various sites across West Sussex. We will ask your preference at interview and will try to accommodate where possible.
We are looking for candidates from a broad range of backgrounds. This enhances trainees' learning, and we are also keen to develop a workforce that represents the diverse society in which we live.
We are a leading NHS Talking Therapies service with a track record of innovation, imagination and excellence. We are a flagship service within our Trust and recognised as one of the best service providers of psychological interventions in the country.
We pride ourselves on the support we offer trainees in the service, from designated trainers and senior staff to the whole team of administrators, managers and clinicians. Your wellbeing is of paramount importance to us and we have various initiatives in the service and in the wider Trust that can help to support you further.
We know from experience that our trainees are always keen to stay within the service upon completion of their course. Once qualified and accredited you will be able to apply for substantive vacancies within the service.
Should you be successful in a substantive role following your training year, you will be fully supported through all areas of the work to continue building your skills through our excellent preceptorship scheme. We offer flexible working, provide an 8am-8pm service and once qualified working one evening per week is required.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- A recorded/registered qualification in one of the following at graduate level in nursing, social work, occupational therapy, art therapy or within a psychological therapy. Please check the BABCP core professions list for specific required qualifications. OR, Evidence using the career framework of training in mental health and experience of working in a stepped care service for anxiety and depression.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable experience of working in mental health services
- Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets
- Ability to manage own caseload and time
- Demonstrates high standards in written communication
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in Primary Care Services
Skills and Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Has received training (either formal or through experience) and carried out risk assessments within scope of practice
- Able to develop good therapeutic relationships with clients
- Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post
- Able to integrate training into practice
- Be committed to the concept of recovery and mental resilience.
- Ability to work under pressure
Applicant requirements
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.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Julie Middlehurst
- Job title
- Deputy Operational Head of Service
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01403 620434
- Additional information
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