Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist

Clinical/Forensic/Counselling Psychologist

Closing date: 20 April 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen for maternity cover within Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust as part of the ACORN Service at HMP Whatton. This is a specialist treatment service for individuals with personality difficulties and a history of sexual offending. The service is part of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway and is jointly delivered by NHS and Prison partners.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust's Specialist Services Care Unit provides specialist treatment to individuals with personality related difficulties at HMP Whatton and HMP North Sea Camp, in addition to a Therapeutic Community at HMP Gartree (joint NHS/ HMPPS), and also offers OPD services within Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire (community provision). We are keen to work with people who are interested in working across the local OPD pathway provision.

Main duties of the job

The ACORN service is a comprehensive specialist service offering a range of therapeutic interventions on an outreach basis at HMP Whatton to individuals with problematic personality traits which are linked to difficulties with progression or risk. The service offers a suite of therapies including Schema Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (RO-DBT), and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) within tiered phases. Therapies, including socially creative sessions, psychoeducation and both group and 1:1 therapy are provided with an emphasis upon the importance of relationships and the environmental setting.

The successful post holder will work as part of a team approach to the assessment and treatment of individuals referred to the service, initially with a focus on the assessment waiting list, and co delivering psychologically informed groups, alongside offering 1:1 therapy and supervision and consultation to the team and wider prison.

Job responsibilities

We are committed to working in partnership with Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) at HMP Whatton within the ACORN Service delivering the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPD) specialist assessment and treatment service. The post holder will:

• Provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy (step 4 model) by working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the services policies and procedures.
• Deliver a range of therapies on an individual and group basis.
• Provide support, education, training and supervision for staff who are central to the service.
• Be involved in and liaise closely with multidisciplinary clinical teams across HMP Whatton, the OPD Pathway, the care unit and the wider criminal justice system.
• Assist in planning and evaluating the service.
• Utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research to develop services and interventions for clients with complex needs.
• Attend relevant meetings in line with this contract and other meetings such as MAPPA.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. The cost of the DBS application is £26.40 (standard) or £54.40 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first 2 months of employment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. An annual fee of £16 per year applies.

Person Specification Values and Behaviours

• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust Honesty Respect Compassion Teamwork.
• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role.

Physical Requirements

• Able to sit still for long periods in clinical settings or report writing.
• Ability to train in breakaway techniques for personal safety.
• Ability to travel between sites.

Qualifications

• Honors degree in Psychology as accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).
• Doctorate in Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychology. Must be able to demonstrate eligibility for chartered status as a Clinical or Forensic or Counselling Psychologist and be registered with the HCPC as a practitioner Psychologist.
• Specific additional accreditation (i.e. specific therapy accreditation).

Training

• Evidence of post qualification specialist training in a specialist area of forensic/ clinical/ counselling practice.
• Evidence of broader CPD such as risk assessment/ management and case formulation.
• Further specialist training in mental health, personality disorder, risk assessment and management, Schema Therapy/ EMDR/ DBT/ RO-DBT.
• Evidence of completion of supervision training.

Experience

• Relevant experience developing expertise in clinical/forensic/Counselling psychology practice.
• Experience of working effectively in multidisciplinary settings to devise specialist care programs.
• Relevant experience of providing clinical supervision, reflective practice and debriefs.
• Service evaluation and research.
• Teaching and training.
• Clinical Assessment.
• Risk assessment and management.
• Working with individuals with offending and complex trauma histories.
• Working systemically/ within secure or prison settings.
• Experience of using specialist treatments (i.e. EMDR, Schema therapy).
• Project or other service development experience.

Knowledge

• Specialist knowledge of models of assessment, management and treatment for personality difficulties and complex trauma.
• Demonstrates an understanding of a variety of models of formulation and how to convey this to others in an accessible form.
• Knowledge of criminal justice processes and awareness of the constraints of secure services.
• Data analysis.
• Knowledge of relevant professional guidelines and best practice documents, such as NICE, BPS etc.

Skills

• Able to engage constructively with people who are highly anxious, depressed, or hostile. To work intensively with people who present challenges in the complexity of their difficulties and needs (e.g. sexual and violent offending and self harm ing/ suicidal behaviours).
• Skills in complex psychological assessment, intervention and management with special relevance to PD (inclusive of trauma orientated approaches).
• Excellent communication, interpersonal style and teamwork skills.
• High level of ability to plan and organise clinical service provision to meet service demands, and to maintain high quality professional practice.
• Can demonstrate competence in supervision of junior qualified psychology and MDT staff and professional psychology trainees.
• Formulation and analytical skills.
• Teaching and training skills.
• Effective skills in word processing and other clinically relevant computer software.
• Use of psychometric test equipment.
• Staff training skills.
• Presentational skills.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum (pro rate)