Assistant Psychologist

Job summary

NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies team, part of Sussex Community Foundation Trust (SCFT) are committed to increasing access within the psychological professions. Following a successful bid for funding from Health Education England, we are offering 3, 0.6 FTE paid assistant psychologist positions to aspiring clinical psychologists who are able to recognise and reflect upon personal and societal bias along a range of dimensions and difference. We are committed to increasing diversity within clinical psychology and as such, we welcome applications from people from backgrounds that are currently under-represented in the profession. We realise it can be difficult to embark on careers in psychological professions and we hope that by offering these posts psychology graduates will have the opportunity to gain a wealth of valuable and relevant professional experience. In this role you will learn skills and gain experience which we hope will help support your career progression in the psychological professions. This position supports specific projects across our clinical, training, audit and research activities. Supervision forms a key part of the assistant psychologist role. Regular supervision will be provided and supervisors will have received supervision training. The supervisor will understand and respond appropriately to the assistant psychologist's professional developmental needs.

Main duties of the job

To support and enhance professional psychological practice within the service. To provide support, co-ordination and administration to clinical, training and research functions within the scope appropriate to level of training and competence, and to undertake tasks related to enhancing assessment, intervention and evaluation within the team or care group. To work independently according to a plan agreed and to be reviewed through regular supervision. The Assistant Psychologist will gain experience of the systems and roles within community mental health settings. They will also benefit from regular and supportive supervision in order to learn about applying psychology within these settings. The post holder will gain experience of working within multidisciplinary teams dealing with complex presentations. They will gain direct experience of developing formulations and helping teams to think more psychologically about service users. They will have the opportunity to apply basic psychological therapies in structured individual or group settings. They will further develop evaluation, audit and report writing skills in an applied setting and have the opportunity to see how this contributes towards service development.

About us

As the largest provider of community healthcare services in Sussex, our teams help people to plan for and manage changes to their health, supporting patients and their families to live more independently. We employ over 5,000 full and part time staff, and provide community services to a population of 1.3 million people.

Each year our dedicated clinicians see adult or child patients more than 2.6 million times, caring for people from their earliest moments right up to the final stages of their life.

SCFT teams deliver a range of health and care services to more than 9,000 people every day, working in care homes, clinics, intermediate care units, people's own homes, GP surgeries, schools and other community venues across the region.

Our vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community and achieving the highest level of service is our top priority.We develop and nurture our staff, and recognise that they are our greatest asset.

We give them clear career pathways, support their wellbeing, recognise and value their diversity and provide them with the leadership, skills and knowledge they need to deliver the best care for our patients now and in the future.