Assistant Psychologist

An opportunity has arisen for a Band 4 (1 wte) Assistant Psychologist to join the Psychology in Schools Team (currently one senior psychotherapist, three clinical psychologists and one Assistant Psychologist) and the Suffolk Under 18 Wellbeing Service. This innovative team is at the forefront of evoking change in the systems around children and young people, to connect, empower, and encourage individuals and communities to be champions of their own mental health.

Local CYFP services are evolving, utilising the THIRVE model as the essence of a transformation which offers an exciting and original approach to mental health support. The Psychology in Schools Team and the U18 Wellbeing Service is supporting this transformation, using their knowledge of community alignment to promote and provide early intervention and strengthen confidence of systems surrounding young people to respond to their need.

Your role with the PST and U18 Wellbeing Service will include supporting with:

- Specialist assessment, formulation and intervention including direct work with young people and their families
- Helping the Service develop it’s digital offer and parent workshop programme
- Delivering training sessions and workshops to staff (education, GP practices), parent and young people on a variety of topics pertinent to CYFP mental health and emotional wellbeing
- Supporting workforce development through consultation and direct work within school settings and GP practices
- Running group intervention programmes for students
- Research and evaluation across the project (including ROMs)

The team holds the ethos of connecting with individuals and support systems by compassionate and, most importantly, human means. Through doing so, we aim to empower professionals and non-professionals alike to provide early intervention using a compassionate approach that we understand as fundamental. By working closely with communities we are able to recognize vulnerabilities in individuals and the wider system, allowing us to be responsive to need and target inequality through a non-judgmental lens that appreciates difficulty, but emphasises strength.

The PST/U18 Wellbeing service is a nurturing environment to work in, although we highly value independent working and autonomy, we also place great emphasis on connection, strong team working and all members of the team having an equally valuable contribution to make. We encourage personal growth and development and although the role allows for flexible working from home, we hope that you would be able to join us on team days so that we can properly get to know you. There is a strong ethos of collaboration and support, which will make this a fulfilling role.

This role also provides the opportunity to work in collaboration with the Mental Health Support Teams; commissioned as a result of the Green Paper: Transforming Children and Young People's Mental Health Provision. As well as other key early intervention and outreach services.

The PST/U18 Wellbeing Service will maintain and further develop relationships with existing mental health services and provide close links with Clinicians working in Suffolk. The role offers a variety of opportunities under the clinical supervision of the PST Clinical Lead and will have a strong ethos of collaboration and support within the early intervention/primary care pathway, which will make this a fulfilling role.

You work will contribute to the wider system thinking about the development of services at the interface of education, health and social care. Making it a unique and exciting opportunity to transform local services for young people and their families.

You will be based in West Suffolk, near Bury St Edmunds. The service covers the whole of Suffolk. There will be some need to travel when necessary. This is a fixed-term post for 9-months (with hope to extend), starting as soon as possible.