Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist(UK Visa Sponsorship)

Job Description

Help Shape Psychologically Informed Mental Health Care

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) is inviting applications from experienced and compassionate psychologists to join our Access to Mental Wellbeing Team as a Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist (Band 8a).

This is a senior role for a clinician who wants to combine direct therapeutic work with leadership, supervision, and service development, ensuring that psychological thinking is central to how care is delivered.

About the Team

The Access to Mental Wellbeing Team works with people experiencing severe and complex mental health problems, supporting recovery through evidence-based psychological approaches and strong multidisciplinary collaboration.

Psychology plays a key leadership role within the team — shaping formulation, intervention, staff support, and service improvement. This post offers the opportunity to influence both individual outcomes and system-level practice.

Your Role

As a Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist, you will:

• Deliver specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and therapy
• Work with individuals experiencing severe mental health problems (SMHP), including psychosis and personality difficulties
• Promote psychologically informed practice across the MDT
• Support colleagues through supervision, consultation, and joint working
• Provide clinical supervision, including to trainee and qualified psychologists
• Contribute to staff wellbeing, reflective practice, and resilience
• Lead and contribute to service development, quality improvement, and innovation
• Offer professional leadership for psychological professions within the locality
• This is a role for someone who is confident working with complexity and motivated to strengthen psychological practice across a whole service.

About TEWV

TEWV is the NHS Mental Health and Learning Disability Trust serving:

• County Durham and Darlington
• Teesside
• North Yorkshire
• York and Selby

Our services span prevention, early intervention, crisis care, and specialist treatment. We work in partnership with service users, carers, communities, local authorities, and voluntary organisations to ensure people feel heard, respected, and supported.

We are committed to innovation, inclusion, and continuous improvement — and to ensuring everyone in our region has access to high-quality mental health care.

Learning, Development & Research

• We offer excellent opportunities for:
• Peer support and high-quality supervision
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
• Teaching and training
• Research, audit, and service evaluation

We have strong academic links with the Hull and Teesside Doctoral Clinical Psychology Programme, and psychologists play a key role in teaching, supervision, and trainee development.

Person Specification (Summary)

Essential Qualifications

• Doctoral-level training in Clinical, Counselling, or Forensic Psychology (or equivalent pre-1996), accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS)
• HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Post-doctoral training in one or more specialist psychological approaches
• Training and experience in clinical supervision, including doctoral trainees
• Training in care coordination
• Evidence of ongoing continuing professional development

Desirable

• Registration with the BPS

Experience & Expertise

Essential

• Substantial experience working as a qualified applied psychologist with people with complex and severe mental health difficulties
• Ability to take full clinical responsibility within a multidisciplinary team
• Experience of teaching, training, and supervision

Doctoral-level knowledge of:

• Evidence-based psychological practice
• Risk assessment and management
• Clinical governance
• Mental health legislation
• Audit and research methodology
• Social inclusion and recovery-focused care

Desirable

• Experience of partnership working across statutory, voluntary, and private sector services

Personal Qualities

You will be:

• Compassionate and confident working with people in distress
• Resilient, reflective, and adaptable
• Comfortable working autonomously while valuing teamwork
• Committed to personal and professional development
• Open to feedback and committed to high-quality supervision

Pre-Employment Checks & Sponsorship

• This role requires a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
• Applications requiring Skilled Worker visa sponsorship are welcome
• Some overseas applicants may need to provide criminal record certificates
• Applicants must hold current UK professional registration
• Careers information for psychologists in the NHS

Employer Details

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
Huntington House
Jockey Lane
York