Consultant Clinical/ Counselling Psychologist

 

Status:         Permanent

Salary:         Band 8c, £75,312 - £87,023 per annum, dependent on experience, plus 5% Scotland Living Allowance (capped at a maximum of £2,056 per annum). 

Hours:          Full-time, 37.5 hours per week. However, applications based on part-time/ job share/ flexible working arrangements are also very welcome and will be actively considered

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About Us:

Combat Stress is the UK’s leading mental health charity for veterans. For over a century we’ve been helping former servicemen and women deal with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. Today we provide specialist treatment and support for veterans from every service and conflict, focusing on those with complex mental health issues related to their military service. We provide services in-person, and via phone and online.

Our services deliver evidenced-based, phased treatments for veterans with complex trauma-related mental health difficulties as a consequence of their military service.

We are currently substantially funded by the Scottish Government to provide care and support for veterans across Scotland regardless of where they live. We are contracted to provide treatment and support on an outpatient, digital and community basis.  

The Combat Stress Team in Scotland covers the whole of Scotland with Hubs based in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. And through partnership working we are able to identify and offer support to veterans across Scotland.

We offer psychological interventions (primarily for Complex-PTSD, but not exclusively) after a single holistic assessment and formulation of needs within an integrated interdisciplinary care pathway. Stabilisation and reintegration phases include access to psychoeducation, art therapy, occupational therapy, psychiatric treatment and substance misuse interventions. 

We also offer programmes of support for veterans’ partners, their families and organisations that work alongside them, such as employers. We also have a highly regarded peer support service, run by veterans for veterans that benefits from excellent clinical governance, and which supports all stages of recovery.

Psychological interventions span the range of evidenced-based therapies for PTSD and C-PTSD, including TF-CBT, NET, EMDR, CPT, CFT for trauma and PE. We benefit from clinical and research collaborations with international experts in the field to trial and deliver innovative and effective interventions for Complex-PTSD.

We have invested significantly in our digital service delivery, with the aspiration of ensuring equity of access and supporting veteran choice. These will continue to be a core part of our services going forward to maintain and increase accessibility to treatment. We are also investing in becoming a trauma-informed and veteran-centric organisation at every level and have an established Veteran Voice group that is embedded in all aspects of strategy and service delivery.

It is an exciting time to be joining Combat Stress. The role of a Consultant Clinical / Counselling Psychologist in Scotland, reflects our commitment to delivering the highest quality services for veterans and to genuinely support collaborative working across the veteran mental health sector.

Benefits of working for Combat Stress as a Consultant Clinical  Counselling  Psychologist

• Lead and deliver specialist clinical services for complex trauma-related mental health problems, particularly Complex-PTSD
• Work with veterans to co-produce and deliver services with a continual focus on quality improvement
• Have access to a senior clinical psychology peer group across the UK who are innovative, collaborative and promote the provision of psychologically informed care across a phasic, interdisciplinary pathway
• Be part of a passionate workforce who are committed to working with veterans
• Contribute to cutting edge translational research and benefit from our formal affiliation to the Centre for Military Mental Health, King’s College London
• Have developmental opportunities in corporate activities that are normally at a distance from clinical service delivery, such as marketing and communications projects, development of digital services and access to media training
• Play a key role in contributing to organisation-wide clinical strategy
• Have funded CPD opportunities beyond those typically available in the NHS

About the role:

• To provide clinical leadership for psychological therapies in Scotland, ensuring the planning and development of a systematic response to service need
• To interpret professional policies, ensuring that the service operates at the highest level of quality and current best practice, leading research and quality improvement projects to this end
• To work with the Head of Operations Scotland and Associate Clinical Director & Head of Psychological Therapies to ensure that clinical services are delivered consistently by psychologists/psychotherapists with a high level of competency and expertise
• To support and advise colleagues on all issues relating to psychological therapies, psychologically informed service provision and trauma-informed care and providing expert clinical consultation and professional guidance to other psychological practitioners
• To develop external relationships with lead clinical/counselling/forensic psychology colleagues in relevant clinical, research and governmental bodies in Scotland to improve cross-service collaborative working relationships and increase awareness of Combat Stress.
• Within each Combat Stress clinical hub a clinician working at consultant level in their profession is assigned ‘Clinical Lead’ to provide strategic clinical leadership to the interdisciplinary team within that region. The postholder of Consultant Psychologist would be supported to submit an expression of interest for the Clinical Lead responsibilities within Scotland and, if successful, appropriate time allocated to this task within their post. More information can be made available on request or at interview.

About you:

We are looking for someone who is keen to take a senior strategic and clinical leadership role in the delivery and development of our services in Scotland. You will be a compassionate leader and outstanding clinician, who is committed to clinical effectiveness, service innovation and to building a truly trauma-informed organisation. You will be able to articulate and promote the unique service offer of Combat Stress in veterans’ pathways of care to strategic partners in Scotland and be excited by collaborative working across all sectors of veteran mental health.

This role is subject to a PVG check.

What we offer:

You will work within a reputable charity that is constantly evolving to meet the needs of our veterans, that has a fantastic cause and a committed follower base.

Benefits:

•          30 days paid holiday plus bank holidays. After 10 years continuous service, this will increase to 33 days paid holiday plus bank holidays

•          Competitive stakeholder pension scheme - contributions matched up to 11% of salary

•          Discount shopping vouchers

•          Cycle to work scheme

•          Access to the Employee Assistance Programme

•          Flexible working

•          Access to Blue Light Card scheme

•          Excellent funded CPD opportunities

Plus many more.

How to apply:

If you are interested in this role we highly recommend that you discuss the opportunity in advance of your application with Dr Naomi Wilson, Associate Clinical Director and Head of Psychological Therapies, please contact naomi.wilson@combatstress.org.uk

To apply, send an up to date CV and covering letter to recruitmentnorth@combatstress.org.uk

Job Description

Person Specification

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Closing date:         17 May 2024

Interview date:         Week commencing 10 June - TBC 

 

Please note, we reserve the right to close this advert early, should we receive a sufficient amount of applicants

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Recruitment Privacy Notice

Combat Stress is the data controller for the information you provide during the recruitment process unless otherwise stated. If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information, please contact us at HR@CombatStress.org.uk.

All of the information you provide during the process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfill legal or statutory requirements if necessary.

We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties for marketing purposes or store any of your information outside of the European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by our data processors whether the information is in electronic or physical format.

We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for. You do not have to provide what we ask for, but it might affect your application if you don’t.

We do not collect more information than we need to fulfill our recruitment process and will not retain it for longer than is necessary.

Applications sent speculatively will be retained for a maximum period of six months, unless you contact us and ask us to delete your application sooner.

To read Combat Stress’ Privacy Policy please see our website www.combatstress.org.uk.