Practitioner Psychologist

Location: Based across Liverpool and Knowsley (travel required)

Salary: £45,000 per annum

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Job Type: Permanent/Fixed Term

Shortlisting: 28th November

Interview: TBC

Why this role would be great for you

We are seeking a Practitioner Psychologist or Psychotherapist to join our psychology team at YMCA Together. The team currently comprises of Assistant Psychologists, Clinical Psychologist and CAT Practitioner. We work across the whole of the organisation, supporting our people within Drug and Alcohol, Domestic Abuse, Mental Health and Homelessness services. As part of this team, you would be required to hold a caseload of clients and deliver one-to-one therapy, but to also work more systemically across the organisation through delivering reflective practice groups, consultation and training.

This work across the organisation is particularly exciting, as we adopt a Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) framework to hold the "how" of all our work. We use CAT both as a case management tool with people in service, teams and the organisation and as a direct intervention where needed. We require someone who is willing to hold this model alongside their own practice; being able to creatively draw up their experiences, skills, learnings and preferences to deliver high-quality psychologically informed work. This role will be dynamic and is ideal for someone who can bring themselves, both as a practitioner and as a person, into their work. You do not need to be CAT trained to apply for this role as we would support you in adopting CAT alongside your current ways of working.

What your week may look like

• You will be working in partnership with the psychology team to embed psychologically informed working across the organisation; through reflective practice and psychological consultation, but also by being with and alongside our teams to provide in-the-moment support
• You will deliver evidence based psychological therapies to clients across our services
• Deliver and develop training to enhance psychological mindedness
• Holding reflective practice sessions across the organisation and with external partners
• Supervision of Assistant Psychologists
• Ultimately, you will be given autonomy over your own role and (with guidance and support) you will be able to develop and shape it how you see fit

What can we offer you

Working with YMCA Together comes will a whole host of benefits. We hope that people will find deep personal fulfilment and purpose by working with alongside people in our services. Our teams are compassionate and supportive, fostering a strong sense of community. With opportunities for professional growth, YMCA together offers training to support your role and personal development.

The skills we are looking for

• QUALIFICATIONS
• Doctoral level clinical psychology training accredited by the BPS or its approved equivalent OR
• To have a recognised qualification allowing you to practice as a HCPC registered Psychotherapist
• EXPERIENCE:
• Experience of working with a wide range of people who have experienced complex lives
• Experience supporting staff teams to work in a psychologically informed way
• Experience developing and delivering training
• Experience of supervising colleagues
• Experience of delivering therapy using a variety of models and approaches

• Experience in delivering reflective practice

• KNOWLEDGE

• Knowledge of CAT and how it could be applied within teams and organisations
• Knowledge of how to work within psychologically informed environments

• Knowledge of risk assessment, risk management and safeguarding procedures

• SKILLS

• To be able to communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner
• An ability to build strong relationships with teams and individuals
• To be able to work independently and autonomously, whilst asking for help when needed
• An ability to give and receive feedback in a helpful and constructive way
• Be able to make good use of supervision to support your practice
• To be flexible in your thinking and willing to work adaptably to meet the needs of those we work alongside
• Computer literate, competent in working with Microsoft word, outlook, windows

What is a nice to have

• It would be nice for you to be someone that can land well in our teams. Having an ability to build good, trusting relationships is at the core of our work as a psychology team.
• A willingness to work creatively in your day-to-day work
• Having flexibility to your approach and being able to adapt to what might be required
• A desire to learn about and adopt CAT within your work (if it isn't already)

For more information on this role, or for a confidential conversation about the opportunity, please email

Even if you don't feel that you have all the relevant skills and "nice to haves" we would still like to hear from you and invite you to fill out our application form.

YMCA Together is an equal opportunities employer, values diversity and is strongly committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees and all applicants for employment. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation.