Psychologist in training

Job overview
Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust Forensic services specialise in the assessment and treatment of mentally disordered offenders, serving the county of Kent and a population of approximately 1.5 million. This includes the Trevor Gibbens Unit, a 65-bedded Medium Secure in-patient service for mentally disordered offenders, low secure services, Forensic Outreach and Liaison Services (FOLS) for offenders with mental health difficulties, learning disabilities and autism.
You will become a member of the established team which provides psychology services in the medium secure and stepdown inpatient units arranged across 5 wards in Maidstone.
As a Psychologist in training, you will have regular performance review meetings and be expected to have achieved your Qualification within 2 years of commencement in your role.
The ideal candidate will already be working towards becoming a chartered Forensic, Counselling or Clinical Psychologist and be at least on year into studying for this Doctorate Qualification. You will also need to have experience of working with mentally disordered offenders and experience of undertaking research and collation and evaluation of data.
The role will be demanding and varied, including clinical research, evaluation and audit, psychometric assessment, low-key psychological intervention, and risk assessment duties. Supervision and training will be provided.
There are two roles available (1 x 37.5 hours, 1x 30 hours per week).

Main duties of the job

• To provide clinical, research and administrative support to the psychological therapies staff in medium secure services, under their direct guidance and supervision, in order to assist in providing and monitoring the service provision within the Directorate.
• Administer and score appropriate formal psychometric assessment instruments and other forms of assessment and compile reports and care plans as appropriate.
• Facilitate individual and group based offence based intervention and structured groups such as emotion regulation, recovery, substance misuse, and other similar groups as relevant to the needs of the patient population, under direct supervision of a qualified psychologist. In addition, to collect and formulate information from the protocols for use in future treatment planning.
• Involvement in audit and research as required, and activities designed to improve quality within the service. Assist in co-ordinating work experience / shadowing opportunities for external psychology graduates

The service has an excellent multidisciplinary ethos, enjoying good working relationships as demonstrated by the high level of morale among staff. You will also be joining a Trust-wide psychology service that offers a diverse range of specialisms and psychological approaches. CPD and supervision are supported and valued in the Trust.

Working for our organisation
We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated 'Good' by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.
You will be based at the Trevor Gibbens Unit, although you may be required to provide psychology input to other forensic services within the directorate.
The services provide treatment and care for men and women who have offending behaviour histories and mental health needs. The team includes clinical, counselling and forensic psychologists, as well as assistants and trainees. There are close working links within the low secure services in Dartford. The service also works closely with local Probation, Social Services, the Courts and local NHS services.
Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.
Join us - if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description for the full details on the responsibilities and person specification.

Person specification

Training, Qualifications and Registration

Essential criteria

• Minimum of Upper Second-Class degree in Psychology. Expertise within the specialism, experience of working in forensic mental heal settings.
• At least 1 years' experience of working towards obtaining chartership as a Forensic /Counselling / Clinical Psychologist.

Desirable criteria

• MSc in applied psychology desirable.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience in working with people with offending behaviour histories.
• Experience of working within community mental health teams, and / or the Criminal Justice System

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with people with learning disability and/or mental health problems

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to communicate highly complex and sensitive clinical information
• Experience of using structured assessments and developing formulations
• Ability to plan an organise workload effectively
• Experience of undertaking research and audit activities
• Ability to cope with sensitive disclosures from patients / family members, i.e. sexual abuse victimisation and other highly distressing information, and manage potential challenging behaviour

Desirable criteria

• Some knowledge of literature relating to mental health / learning disability/autism and behavioural or cognitive approaches

Important Information:
In cases where we receive a high volume of applications for a post, it may be necessary to bring the closing date forward. Please submit your completed application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Due to the high volume of applications received, it is not possible to respond individually to your application. Should you not hear from us within six weeks of the vacancy closing, please assume that your application has not been successful.

Probation Period. New employees external to the trust are subject to a six-month probationary period.
To deliver an effective service it is essential in some of our roles that you are able to travel between work bases in a timely manner.
Production of false or forged documents/qualifications in order to obtain employment is a criminal offence and will be reported to the Police.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check.
Certain roles are subject to criminal record checks called Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. Therefore, you will be required to submit a completed Disclosure form to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Kent and Medway Mental