Senior Psychologist

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This is an exciting opportunity to join our highly regarded award-winning Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service (SPMHS) which operates over the whole of Sussex.The Specialist Perinatal Mental Service (SPMHS) which sits within Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust now requires a Senior Psychologist in Perinatal Mental Health. Days of the week are negotiable but are likely to include Wednesdays and Thursdays.The post holder will be based in East Sussex and will be expected to travel across Sussex. The post holder will report to the Principal Clinical Psychologist within their team.Interviews for this post will take place on Wednesday 22nd March 2023The Senior Psychologist in the specialist community perinatal mental health service will work with the main community service treatment pathway and will contribute to the bereavement pathway (neonatal loss and still birth).Within the larger community service, the postholder will be responsible for typical and atypical perinatal mental health presentations, alongside formulation of parent-infant mental health. The postholder will need to have an up to date knowledge of adult and infant safeguarding practices and thresholds. A working knowledge of DBT is desirable. The postholder will be responsible for supervising junior psychologists and trainees, as well as contributing to complex case discussions and staff training.Within the Bereavement Pathway, the postholder will be responsible for providing a highly responsive individualised therapy and support for women and their families who have experienced the death of a baby from 24 weeks gestation to one month after birth. A knowledge of trauma informed interventions, compassion-focussed approaches and psychoanalytic formulation would be helpful. The postholder will be responsible for supervision and attending complex case formulation of typical and atypical grief reactions, and the design of couples/family interventions where relevant.The postholder will be given regular supervision and close support from highly skilled professionals within the service as well as opportunities for professional development.The Long-Term Plan for Mental Health sets out national and local ambitions to improve care for people in pregnancy through the first stages of the babies’ life who are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, mental health difficulties.One in five women experience post or ante natal depression, anxiety or in some cases psychosis, during pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth.Perinatal community mental health services provide specialist care for women (and their babies) with moderate to severe mental illness, such as bipolar disorder or severe depression. The long-term benefits of this kind of specialist care offers early help and support to parents and babies to help with a range of perinatal issues including parent infant bonding.The bereavement pathway (BP) is one of the key ’flexible deliverables’ in the LTP and each iteration is designed to meet local needs and wider maternal health pathways, while at the same time, forming a continuity of care in the national design of BP cohorts. Our BP will be focussed on providing high calibre individualised care to women and their families who have experienced neonatal loss or still birth, defined as loss at 24 weeks and after.For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Anna Roberts Job title: Senior Clinical Psychologist Email address: anna.roberts2@spft.nhs.uk Telephone number: 07471 217362