Job summary
- Main area
- Psychological Therapies
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 22.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 311-R431-26
- Employer
- Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Sudden Resource Centre and Birch Hill Hospital
- Town
- Rochdale
- Salary
- £57,528 - £64,750 pa, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 14/10/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist/ /Psychological Therapist
NHS AfC: Band 8a
If you are Kind, Fair, Ingenious and Determined then we want you to come and join our #PennineCarePeople
https://www.penninecare.nhs.uk/values
Job overview
Are you an experienced psychological professional who wants to make a meaningful difference for people with complex mental health needs? We are recruiting to three Band 8a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist/Highly Specialist Psychological Therapist posts within our Specialist Mental Health Teams. These are exciting opportunities to bring your specialist expertise to multidisciplinary teams and contribute to accessible and evidence-based psychological interventions and therapy with specific reference to those specified within the Psychological Therapies for Severe Mental Health Problems paper. The posts are based in HMR, Oldham and Stockport..
Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale (HMR) — 0.6 WTE ( with potential to increase in wte)
We are looking for a colleague with expertise in therapeutic approaches that support people with complex emotional and relational needs.
Oldham — 0.5 WTE
Experience of working with complex trauma is essential, and applicants trained in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) would be particularly welcome.
Stockport — 0.8 WTE
We are looking for a colleague with specialist training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), or a willingness to undertake DBT training.
We will also consider applications from candidates seeking a Band 7-to-8a preceptorship. Where there is a competitive field, preference may be given to applicants who already have the relevant specialist training and experience.
Main duties of the job
About the role and the opportunity
As a Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist or Psychological Therapist, you will provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy for people referred to your Specialist Mental Health Team, in line with local and national guidance, the Psychological Therapies for Severe Mental Health Problems framework and the Trust’s clinical strategy.
As a senior practitioner, you will provide clinical leadership within the multidisciplinary team, support the development of psychological practice and contribute to the effective management of therapy pathways and waiting lists. You may also support Band 7 therapists, Band 6 trainees and Band 5 Mental Health Wellbeing Practitioners.
You will be part of the wider psychological therapies’ pathway in your borough, with access to regular clinical supervision, consultation on complex cases, peer support and continuing professional development. You will work collaboratively with clinical and operational colleagues to promote equitable and timely access to specialist interventions.
Working for our organisation
We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.
Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We’re really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we’re a great place to work.
All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership are encouraged to apply for this post. We would also encourage applications from individuals with a lived experience of mental illness, either individually or as a carer.
If you come and work for us we will offer a range of benefits and opportunities, including:
- Generous annual leave entitlement for Agenda for Change and Medical and Dental staff.
- Flexible working opportunities to support your work/life balance
- Access to Continued Professional Development
- Involvement in improvement and research activities
- Health and Wellbeing activities and access to an excellent staff wellbeing service
- Access to staff discounts across retail, leisure and travel
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
• To provide a qualified specialist psychological therapies service for people referred to the Specialist Mental Health Team (SMHT) in keeping with the recommendations of the local and national guidelines (e.g., Psychological Therapies for Severe Mental Health Problems and Clinical Strategy).
• To be an integral member of the MDT, providing integrated care for service-users and their carers/families. As part of the MDT, support colleagues understanding of mental health difficulties using a trauma-informed lens, to ensure the provision of trauma-informed care and formulation driven care-planning. To work jointly with MDT colleagues to ensure evidence-based outstanding care provision. To
provide consultation and formulation to staff within the SMHT, working as an MDT member, integrated within the SMHT.
• To work alongside the SMHT leadership team to provide clinical leadership to the B7 psychological therapists, B6 trainees and B5 MHWPs.
• To work collaboratively with the SMHT leadership to manage waiting lists for psychological therapies and interventions – including triage, monitoring and allocation - and on waiting list initiatives as the experts in psychological therapies.
• To collaborate with leadership of the SMHT to ensure that there is collective team approach to risk and safeguarding for those who are on psychological therapies caseloads and waiting lists.
• To ensure that evidence-based therapies offered in in SMHTs are in-keeping with the recommendations of the PTSMHP paper. To progress towards becoming accredited practitioners for therapeutic modalities where this is possible.
• To support reflective practice within the CMHT.
• To co-design local therapy pathways aligned with CMHT colleagues and experts by experience.
• To provide leadership to the borough-wide psychological therapies network. To be an active member of this network, ensuring limited unwarranted variation and individual service-users can get their needs met.
• To provide specialist assessment, formulation and interventions for a clinical caseload. The post holder will propose and implement evidence-based practice, utilising research skills for audit, QI and service developments.
Person specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology and registration with the Health Professions Council OR UKCP registered therapist with core professional qualification e.g. RMN; OT; MHSW and Masters or Doctoral level qualification in psychotherapy. OR BABCP/BACP accredited CBT/therapist with additional training in for example EMDR/DBT
- Accreditation (or working towards accreditation) in at least one of the psychological therapy models in the PT-SMHP paper i.e. CBT (for psychosis and bipolar difficulties and/ or personality difficulties), MBT, DBT, CAT or EMDR.
- Training in the supervision of psychological therapists and/or other professionals within the MDT
Desirable criteria
- Post-qualification training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of specialist psychology assessment and treatment across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient 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 including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- MDT working
Desirable criteria
- Experience of teaching training and / or supervision
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
- Knowledge of the practice implications of National guidance and policy, e.g. Nice Guidance, MHA, etc.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities etc.).
- Specialist training in therapeutic approaches relevant to adults who have experienced trauma
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to working age adults and mental health.
- Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to service users, their families and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non professional groups.
- Ability to teach and train others using a variety of complex and multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
- Strong interest and experience of working with service users with severe / complex needs.
Work Related Circumstances
Essential criteria
- Use of a car or access to a means of mobility to travel across the Trust footprint in line with service needs.
- Willing to carry out all duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with the Trust’s Equal Opportunities and Equality and Diversity policies
- Appointments to regulated and controlled activities require an enhanced DBS disclosure.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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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
- Dr Clare Reeves
- Job title
- Principle Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01706 676080
- Additional information
Shireen Gaur
Clinical Lead for Adult Secondary Care Psychological Therapy Services
[email protected]; 0161 716 3555
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