Band 8a Clinical/Counselling or Forensic Psychologist - Bristol

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Band 8a Clinical, Forensic or Counselling Psychologist to join AWP Secure Services on a fixed-term basis to provide maternity leave cover.

This role will be primarily based within Wickham Low Secure Service, with opportunities to work across our medium and low secure hospitals.

You will also join a diverse and highly skilled Psychological Therapies Service (PTS) which includes Clinical, Forensic and Counselling Psychologists, Art, Drama and Music Psychotherapists, alongside trainee psychologists, assistant psychologists and psychology students.

You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team comprising medical, nursing, occupational therapy, social work and speech and language therapy colleagues, providing senior psychological leadership and contributing to formulation-driven assessment, intervention and care planning.

Secure Inpatient Services consists ofFromeside, an 81-bed medium secure unit, and Wickham, a 30-bed low secure unit, both located on the Blackberry Hill Hospital site in North Bristol. The service includes a specialist women's ward and a ward for men with learning disabilities and/or autism. Our large and friendly psychology team has expertise in violence, sexual offending, firesetting, learning disabilities, autism, personality disorder and psychosis.

Main duties of the job

The role will involve providing direct clinical work, consultation, teaching, staff support, and supervision for assistant psychologists and Band 7 psychologists, as well as working collaboratively with other members of the MDT, including psychiatry, nursing, arts psychotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists. The role will also involve completing specialist assessments, developing complex formulations, and designing and delivering individualised therapeutic interventions, as well as facilitating therapeutic groups and engaging in complex systemic work. There will also be opportunities to engage in service development projects.

The successful post-holder will need to be adaptable and creative, have good communication and team-working skills, and have experience and/or an interest in working with people with significant mental health difficulties, such as psychosis, who present a significant risk to others. There will be regular supervision and support for the role.

Please see the attached Job Description for a full list of duties and responsibilities

About us

We are the lead provider of healthcare for people with serious mental illness, learning disabilities and autism across Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Swindon and Wiltshire, and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

We aim to provide High Quality, Compassionate Care everywhere, every day. This means our services will be safe, clinically effective and provide a positive all round experience for our patients, families and carers. And we believe passionately in treating everyone with kindness, respect and empathy.

Key to this is providing a supportive and safe environment for our 4,000 staff where we all feel welcome and able to do the best we can for those we support. Our staff and teams work incredibly hard delivering services across more than 90 locations, covering 2,200miles, to more than 1.8million people.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Details

Date posted

01 September 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£57,528 to £64,750 a year (pro rata)

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time

Reference number

342-SEC043-0926

Job locations

Blackberry Hill Hospital

Manor Road

Bristol

BS16 1EG

United Kingdom