Clinical Psychologist Mental Health Support Team In Schools

A Vacancy at Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and enthusiasticClinical Psychologist (Band 8a)to join Dorset HealthCare's expandingMental Health Support Teams (MHSTs)working across Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP).

MHSTs are a key part of the national transformation programme for children and young people's mental health, providing early intervention and evidence-based support for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties within educational settings. We work collaboratively with schools, colleges, families and partner agencies to promote emotional wellbeing, improve access to mental health support and strengthen whole-school approaches to mental health.

We are seeking a highly skilled Clinical Psychologist who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people and who can provide strong clinical leadership within our multidisciplinary MHST workforce. The successful candidate will bring specialist psychological expertise, consultation and supervision skills, and a commitment to supporting both workforce development and high-quality clinical practice.

This role offers the opportunity to combine direct clinical work, consultation, supervision, training and service development within a dynamic and innovative service. The post holder will work closely with education settings, MHST colleagues, CAMHS services.

As a senior clinician within the MHST service, you will

• Provide highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation and intervention for children, young people and families experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties.
• Offer psychological consultation, advice and guidance to MHST practitioners, schools, colleges and partner agencies.
• Provide clinical leadership, supervision and support to Team Leads, Counsellors, Senior Clinical Supervisors and other MHST staff.
• Support practitioners in the assessment and management of complexity, uncertainty and risk.
• Deliver training, consultation and reflective practice sessions to MHST staff, education professionals and partner agencies.
• Support schools and colleges in developing and sustaining effective Whole School Approaches to emotional wellbeing and mental health.
• Contribute to workforce development, clinical governance, service evaluation, audit and quality improvement.
• Work collaboratively with the wider CAMHS Clinical Psychology Service and contribute to psychology pathways, professional leadership and service innovation.

At Dorset HealthCare we’re on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We’re a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here – it’s one of the reasons the CQC rated us ‘outstanding’ in 2019. It’s also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you’re looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We’re an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you’ll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don’t know. And you’ll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion and expertise in all we do.

For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

We understand that AI can be a useful tool when completing your application. However, we are seeing an increasing over-reliance of AI tools, which can negatively affect your application as it reduces a candidate’s individuality, and makes it difficult for us to gain a clear and authentic understanding of your experience, skills, and in turn your suitability for the role.

All submissions must be truthful and if you do use AI, it should only be used to enhance your application and not create your supporting statement in its entirety. Your supporting statement should be in your own words and must accurately reflect your personal experience and achievements. Where we have concerns that AI has been used to generate content that misrepresents your experience and suitability for the role, we may withdraw your application.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contactdhc.wideningparticipation@nhs.net.

This advert closes on Thursday 12 Nov 2026