Assistant Psychologist / Research Assistant Complex Emotional Needs


Company:	NHS Jobs
Salary:	£28,392 - £31,157
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Gloucester, GL1 1PX
Job type:	Contract
Posting date:	31 Jul 2026
Closing date:	24 Aug 2026

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Summary

The projects delivered by our service are: OATS Open Access Therapeutic Support. A peer-therapy group co-delivered with a voluntary care sector partner. We facilitate this group 3 times a week and have weekly clinical supervision to allow us to skilfully draw on psychological theory to enable the group to be safe, effective and therapeutic. Family and Friends We offer psychoeducation to families within a 12 week peer group and one to one where indicated. FERN Frequent Engagement Response Network, a small sub-team within CEN. This focusses on improving responses to people presenting regularly to 999 services. The FERN team includes a serving police officer, an assistant psychologist and a lived experience practitioner who work together to create person centred, psychologically informed plans that direct responders towards a trauma informed approach in situations of high risk. The FERN team are also involved with supporting blue light responders to improve understanding of trauma and effective de-escalation to avoid restrictive interventions. Training We offer a number of training courses across the integrated care system to help build resilience and compassion within services to people with complex emotional needs. Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE) Much of our work involves supporting care providers to maintain placements for people who may present with high levels of risk and complexity. This involves reflective practice, functional risk analysis, shaping care plans and upskilling and supporting staff. Peer Support Our lived experience team provide one to one support to people receiving care from other teams within GHC as topic based interventions. Working alongside lived experience provides us with a unique perspective that enhances all the work we do within the team. This post is for a full time Assistant Psychologist with a dedicated research focus for 2 days a week. Complex Emotional Needs is an umbrella term, describing intense mental health difficulties that can have a significant impact on many areas of an individuals life. These difficulties often (but not always) arise from traumatic experiences and will affect people in many varied ways. The service is not limited to people with a confirmed diagnosis, although it is aimed at supporting people who are likely to have difficulties coping with overwhelming emotions, low self-esteem and who may experience times of life threatening distress. Importantly, people with complex emotional needs also have strengths and experiences and have a good prognosis for recovery. The successful candidate would be a highly valued member of the multi-disciplinary team which includes a Clinical Psychology Lead for Complex Emotional Needs, Psychiatrist, Senior Specialist Practitioners and Lived Experience Practitioners. We are seeking excellence from the team and the ideal candidate will have a unique understanding of these difficulties from occupational or personal lived experience. Responsibilities To assist in developing client formulations, treatment planning and the delivering of evidence based psychological interventions. To assist in the co-ordination and running of therapeutic groups. To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary meetings To assist in the design and implementation of service development projects within the service as required. To attend meetings in which service developments are planned and discussed. Undertake data collection, analysis, the production of reports and summaries, using IT and statistical programmes. Undertake searches of evidence-based literature and research to inform best practice within the service. To collate and report audit data in order to meet the audit requirements of the service. To assist with the analysis, development, evaluation and monitoring of the teams operational policies and services, through service evaluation and audit. The Trust is required to work in line with the Governments UK Visa and Immigration Rules and Regulations. For more information about sponsorship for certain roles, please visit - https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

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