Trainee Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners

Hi, my name is Elena Halton, and I am one of the Team Managers here in the NHS Kirklees Talking Therapies Team. We are excited to welcome applications for Trainee Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (TPWP) to work across Kirklees in the NHS Kirklees Talking Therapies Team (NHS TT). This is an ideal opportunity for candidates who have an interest in working with common mental health problems in an NHS TT setting (Primary Care Mental Health). You will be expected to attend university for one to two days a week (following an introductory week) and carry out a clinical role during the remainder of the week. You will have assignments to complete in your own time in line with the expectations of a post graduate training course. We work agilely within the service so you will attend clinics in Kirklees and you would also need to have a confidential and private workspace at home. You will need to demonstrate an understanding of anxiety and depression and how these can present in primary care., Our team provide NICE compliant psychotherapy incorporating CBT, Counselling and Guided Self Help to clients in primary care across Kirklees. This is an 8-8 service Monday to Friday, and we offer sessions either by Microsoft Teams, telephone or face to face. You will be required to work at least one later shift a week. We hold clinics both in Trust premises as well as in primary care settings across the area to ensure that we are, as much as possible, nearby for the people that use the service. We treat clients with common mental health problems such as depression or anxiety and consistently achieve our recovery target of 50%, for us this is important because it means we are making a difference to peoples lives.,

• You will be expected to take up the first available training place and successfully complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Low Intensity Therapies (IAPT). This is a development post and on successfully completing the course, you will then transfer to a permanent Band 5 Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner post.The extension to your contract is conditional upon you successfully achieving the PG cert in Low Intensity Interventions qualification, as well as providing evidence to your manager that you have applied for registration with the BABCP/BPS. You will be required to maintain continuous individual professional registration. Should you be excluded from the Talking Therapies course or fail in part or fail any of the required module(s), allowing for one re-sit only. You will be served with the appropriate statutory notice to terminate your employment with the Trust.
• To provide information and support to Primary Health Care colleagues to facilitate the provision of evidence based interventions for those experiencing common mental health problems.
• To work to overcome social exclusion by promoting access to mental health services for individuals and groups experiencing discrimination and deprivation.
• To support the development of joint working between primary care, carers, service users, voluntary and self help groups in the local community to address the promotion of good mental health and address issues contributing to mental health problems.
• To support clinical audits and research projects providing data collection, entry and analysis as requested by the service.
• To support links between primary health care and specialist mental health services, appreciating the limits of skills and responsibilities appropriate to primary care and facilitating timely access to specialist services as required.
• To deliver brief interventions and treatments taking into account risk issues on a group or individual basis as appropriate under the supervision of a qualified mental health practitioner.
• To proactively participate in professional development opportunities, training and supervision. Initially this will involve attainment of the Postgraduate Certificate in Primary Care Mental Health.
• To conduct oneself in a manner that will ensure that services are provided on an equitable basis and be sensitive to individual circumstances and beliefs.
To conduct oneself in line with Trust policies and procedures. For full job description, please see attached supporting documents. We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms. Over reliance on AI-generated content in application forms is strongly discouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form. At the time of advertising, this role does not meet the minimum requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. For this reason, we are unable to sponsor anyone for a skilled worker visa for this role.


• Commitment to social inclusion.
• Ability to work in partnership with service users, carers and community organisations.
• Basic work processing and computer skills.
• Ability to take responsibility for own learning and commitment to professional development.
• Commitment to equal opportunities/anti-oppressive practice/valuing diversity.
• Problem solving skills.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Good presentation skills., Two years substantial mental health work experience, including voluntary work., Candidates must hold an undergraduate degree or equivalent level 6 qualification. The course does not require the formal qualification to be in a health or psychology related discipline, however this would be advantageous to potential candidates., Ability to work on own initiative.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.
• A Current driving licence and access to a car during the working day is essential (reasonable adjustments will be considered for any applicants who are unable to drive due to a disability).
• Ability to work flexibly to meet service user and carer need., Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).
  
  We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.
Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do this by providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families and carers. We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we value diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities. Being a foundation Trust means were accountable to our members, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust. Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.

The training post will commence on a Band 4 pay scale and on successful completion of this certificate, in a 12 month period, you will continue your employment in our service as a qualified Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner on a band 5 pay scale. All our trainees receive the recommended amount of clinical supervision and case management supervision in accordance with the national guidance., You will be required to begin the Postgraduate Certificate in October 2026. You will be expected to start in service on 05/10/26. Due to amount of interest in this position the vacancy may close early. All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to have their up-to-date flu vaccination to protect staff and patients.