Assistant Psychologist Perinatal or Ocean Mental Health Service | East London NHS Foundation Trust


Company:	East London NHS Foundation Trust
Salary:	£28,392 - £31,157 Per annum
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	BEDFORD, MK40 2NU
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	7 Aug 2026
Closing date:	6 Sept 2026

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Summary

Assistant Psychologist Perinatal or Ocean Mental Health Service

The Bedfordshire and Luton Perinatal Mental Health (PMHT) and Maternal Mental Health (Ocean) Teams have an exciting opportunity for two enthusiastic and reflective Assistant Psychologists to work with pregnant and postnatal women and birthing people. These are separate but co-located teams based in Bedford, working closely to provide a seamless perinatal mental health pathway for service users.

The Perinatal Mental Health Team works with women and birthing people who have moderate to severe and complex mental health needs during their pregnancy, and up to the baby’s age of 24 months. The multidisciplinary team includes psychiatrists, mental health nurses, psychologists, and nursery nurses who together support parents and their relationship with their baby.

The Ocean Service is a blended psychology and midwifery team, providing trauma-informed care to pregnant and postnatal women with moderate to severe mental health needs who have experienced loss and/or trauma during their fertility or maternity journey.

We are looking for someone who is able to engage positively and sensitively with people with mental health difficulties and their support networks and be able to demonstrate an awareness of experiences and challenges that may face those experiencing mental health difficulties in the perinatal period. The Perinatal Mental Health Team is a multidisciplinary team working with women and birthing people during pregnancy and up to 24 months post-birth. The Ocean service is a blended psychology and midwifery service working with maternal trauma and loss. The Assistant Psychologist will support and enhance the psychological trauma-informed care of clients within the service. They will support structured assessments, the preparation and delivery of psychoeducational groups and manualised individual psychological interventions, under the supervision of a qualified psychologist. There are opportunities to get involved in Quality Improvement and service evaluation. We are looking for a candidate who shares ELFT’s values, is willing to learn and able to form good working relationships. We are actively working on how to become a more culturally sensitive service and address perinatal health inequalities and welcome applicants from Black or Asian ethnicity. The post requires the ability to occasionally travel between sites and offer home visits across Bedfordshire.

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

This advert closes on Sunday 23 Aug 2026

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