Job summary
- Main area
- Psychological Therapist - Maternal Mental Health Service
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 364-A-9135-A
- Employer
- Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Kings Wood Centre
- Town
- Colchester and Coastal Towns
- Salary
- £47,810 - £54,710 per annum pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 24/08/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Psychological Therapist in Maternal Mental Health Service
Band 7
Our Trust cares for more than 100,000 patients at any one time across our community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex and parts of Bedfordshire and Suffolk.
We want you to be part of our journey of transformation, where our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do and to achieve our vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care.
You’ll be part of a Trust where you will be supported to be your authentic self and be the best you can be, where we will help you to grow, develop and thrive.
The Trust is recognised by the University of Essex and is a top provider of apprenticeships for people looking to be an assistant practitioner, senior health care support worker (CAP). Our trailblazing CAP apprenticeship won a national HSJ Award.
We are also recognised as a Veteran Aware Trust and holder of gold accreditation from the Ministry of Defence Employment Recognition Scheme. Our services are highlighted as an exemplar of good practice, producing the best care for more than 3.500 armed forces veterans in the past seven years.
We have been shortlisted and won national awards. We are an inclusive organisation and Level 3 Disability Confident Leader Trust.
We are constantly innovating and looking for new ways to deliver care, such as using technology to enhance patient care and working with partners to launch new services such as the Basildon Mental Health Urgent Care Department, virtual hospitals and falls response cars.
Join us and you’ll do the best work of your life – and make a difference to other people’s lives. What we do together, matters.
Job overview
The Essex Maternal Mental Health Service ( MMHS), By your side launched in October 2023 aims to integrate maternity, reproductive health and psychological therapy for women and birthing parents experiencing mental health difficulties arising from, or directly related to, the maternity experience.
A fully therapeutic service is offered since June 2024 for women and birthing parents accessing the 5 maternity units across Essex.
This service has been providing targeted care and support to those women and birthing parents whose needs are not currently being met in other services, including those who have experienced trauma and loss in the perinatal period and who are not eligible for specialist perinatal mental health services.
By Your Side provides therapeutic service for accessing the 5 maternity units across Essex to women and/or birthing parents who has a moderate to severe mental health response after suffering a perinatal loss, this includes:
- Miscarriage (including recurrent/multiple miscarriages)
- Still birth
- Termination
- Neonatal death (in the UK this is the death of a live-born baby that occurs within 28 days of birth)
The By Your Side clinical team includes clinical psychologists, psychological therapists and specialist maternal mental health midwives. The ability to work flexibly and positively in multidisciplinary teams is therefore essential.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for Psychological therapist (Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/CBT Therapist) at 0.6 WTE on a permanent basis.
Bases are across Colchester and Costal Towns (Tendering, Clacton on Sea, Manningtree, Frinton-on-Sea) for this post, but you may be required to work across services within the geographical area in which the Trust operates. Hybrid working of both face to face and online working is encouraged as well as home visiting when indicated.
They will provide psychological assessment and evidence based psychological therapy to women who experience moderate to severe mental health difficulties following birth trauma, perinatal loss (including early miscarriage, recurrent miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death).
You will work collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary team of specialist maternal mental health midwives to provide a specialist, trauma-informed psychological service.
We are looking to recruit an experienced psychological therapist who has experience of working with people with trauma and/or loss to join our supportive and passionate team.
There will be regular clinical supervision from the Clinical Lead/Principal Practitioner Psychologist.
Working for our organisation
EPUT are looking for motivated staff who shares our Trust values of Care, Learn and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;
- Season Ticket Loans
- NHS discounts for staff
- Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
- Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
- The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
- Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
- Day One Flexible Employer
The Trust supports and actively encourages flexible working for all employees. We offer many options and you are encouraged to ask the recruiting manager what is possible for this role. If appointed, you will have the opportunity to apply for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment
Join our Staff bank
What is Staff Bank?
Our EPUT NHS staff bank is an entity managed by the trust that hires clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals to take on shifts at our trust hospitals and community settings. Here at EPUT we maintain our own bank of specialist staff to ensure that we are able offer safe and effective care at all times.
All our permanent staff are automatically enrolled onto the staff bank however this does not mean you have to work any additional shifts, but the option is there for you if you wish.
If you are joining our Trust in a fixed term role, please indicate on your New Starter Paperwork that you wish to join our staff bank
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The MMHS will form part of the broader community perinatal mental health service offer as well as siting within the EPUT Psychological Service Directorate. You will be part of a larger team of psychologists and psychological therapists specialising in perinatal mental health and you will receive support from the Clinical Lead.
Experience of working with trauma and loss is essential for this role.
Please see attached Job description and specification for details regarding the responsibilities and tasks of this role.
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology (or equivalent) as accredited by the HCPC and BPS
- Or Allied Health Professional with registration to professional bodies such as HCPC , NMC as well as the BABCP Full Accreditation
- Or a practising accredited BABCP CBT Therapist
Desirable criteria
- Significant training in a Trauma informed approaches e.g. EMDR, DBT, CBT for Trauma, MBT
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- • Understanding of the nature of trauma and loss presentations and how they can affect women’s day-to-day life and impact upon recovery
- • Experience or understanding of using an electronic information system
- • Experience of developing psychological therapies delivery, demonstrating evidence based decision making for interventions provided by the service
- • Provide psychological consultation to other professionals both within and external to the service
Desirable criteria
- • Knowledge of psychological and psychotherapeutic therapies and their application when working with perinatal trauma and loss presentations
Skills/experience
Essential criteria
- Experience in advising on care and management of cases on the basis of risk assessment
- Assess and treat own specialist and complex case load in accordance with Trust clinical pathways, NICE guidance and evidence-based psychological practice
- Extensive experience of working with difficult, complex and challenging cases of families requiring skilled and complex interventions.
- Extensive Experience of working within an MDT. Experience of liaising and fostering good working relationships with providers of mental health services. Experience of taking clinical decisions making regarding care planning and risk management
- Experience in the use of assessment tools, therapy and service evaluation tools,
- Post training experience of complex safeguarding issues and training.
- Experience of developing psychological therapies delivery, demonstrating evidence based decision making for interventions provided by the service
- Demonstrate the ability to lead, facilitate and support group work
- Experience of working within a team environment
- Self-motivated with a desire to contribute to the ongoing service development
- Participate in service reviews and research
- Able to demonstrate a level of flexibility, innovation and creativity in the working environment
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in the NHS
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
- Communication and people skills Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal, telephone manner including liaison with outside agencies
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and / or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
- Valid enhanced DBS clearance
- Resilience in dealing with emotive situations as may arise in the course of this role
- Ability to travel independently across a defined geographical area
- Shares the Trust’s Beliefs and models this in their attitude and behaviour:
Additional Qualities
Essential criteria
- • Current Full UK Driving Licence and ability travel across Trust sites
- • Fitness Analysis as appropriate
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Stephanie Lambert
- Job title
- Clinical Lead/Principal Practitioner Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07581055280
- Additional information
Dr Ellen Auty, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Cllinical Lead of Parent Infant Mental Health Service & Head of Perinatal Psychology
[email protected]
Tel 01621 866900; Mobile 07805139660
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