Clinical Psychologist (Wellington Community Mental Health Team)

Nau mai, haere mai ki Te Whatu Ora – Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley District

Location:  Wellington Central Community Mental Health home base

Service:    Local Adult Specialist Mental Health and Addiction Service, Wellington locality

Contract:  Fixed Term until February 2025, Full Time

Salary:  Dependent on experience as per APEX and Te Whatu Ora Psychologists Collective Agreement

Are you ready to make a difference for our local district specialist mental health and addiction services?

Kōrero mō te tūranga – About the role 

As a clinical psychologist your role will be varied, delivering a range of psychotherapies, undertaking comprehensive assessments, formulate treatment plans, provide individual / group therapies, and providing a psychological perspective within the multidisciplinary team.

Psychologists at any stage in their career are very welcome to apply. New graduate or early career psychologists are well supported within the Mental Health, Addiction and Intellectual Disability Service (MHAIDS). The Psychology Transition group is a peer supervision group specifically aimed at psychologists new to MHAIDS. There are also peer supervision and special interest groups (e.g., for neuropsychology, EMDR) that run frequently. MHAIDS routinely provides training in areas of interest to psychologists (e.g., motivational interviewing, risk assessment, Te Tiriti o Waitangi). There are supports in place to help new psychologists find clinical supervisors.

Mō tō mātou rōpū – About our team/service 

We are looking for a person-directed, values-driven clinical psychologist for the Wellington Central Community Mental Health home base within our Local Adult Specialist Mental Health and Addiction Service.

You will work closely with experienced clinicians to deliver safe, effective and integrated specialist mental health and addiction treatment in our local communities. Our service has a strong, dedicated and supportive team culture, and an established Learning and Development Centre to tautoko your career development.  We also pride ourselves on having fun and celebrating ourselves and our professional milestones.

Wellington Central Community Mental Health home base covers the inner city and outer suburbs which offers a diverse population group with a variety of mental health needs. 

The Local Adult Specialist Mental Health and Addiction Service represents a change in the way we deliver services, and it is an exciting time to join us and help shape the way we work.

Our vision is for an integrated mental health and addiction service, with a focus on local delivery across the district.     

Our Local Adult Specialist Mental Health and Addiction Service principles:

• Principle 1: Grounded in Te Tiriti ō Waitangi | Whakapapa ki Te Tiriti ō Waitangi
• Principle 2: Informed by peers and those with lived experience | Ka whakamōhio e nga hoa me te hunga whai wheako ora
• Principle 3: A welcoming, person and whānau-led approach | He huarahi manaaki, tāngata me te whānau
• Principle 4: Timely access to services in the community | Te whai waahi ki nga ratonga i roto i te hapori
• Principle 5: A strengths-based, trauma-informed and recovery focused approach, using advanced therapy and evidence based holistic interventions | Mā te mōhio ka whai whakaaro

The service will follow consistent principles in design and Model of Care, but will have the flexibility to deliver locally appropriate services that will meet the needs of our communities and work in partnership with our local providers. The service seeks to eliminate inequities experienced by Māori, Pacific peoples, disabled people and other groups.

Over the next 12-18 months, we are moving to a locality development model. Each locality contains one or more ‘home bases’, staffed by  clinicians and support staff who provide a range of clinical and non-clinical services, contributing to functions that align with their capabilities, training, and expertise. 

These functions include:

• Primary Care and Community Transitions, focusing on working with local GPs and nurse practitioners to meet the needs of our tāngata whaiora and whānau from service entry to exit;
• First Response, including intake/assessment and providing a rapid response for tāngata whaiora and whānau experiencing acute mental health distress;
• Local Mental Health and Addiction, which consists of long-term case management using a tailored model to the community (e.g., the Flexible Assertive Community Team model/FACT) and other functions specific to the locality/home bases, including Focused Intervention and Advanced Therapies.

Moū – About you

• You will be an experienced, registered clinical psychologist who is passionate about working in a way that is person-directed, trauma-informed, compassionate, and offers help and hope.
• You will work in a way that is holistic, integrated and collaborative, recognising people’s physical health and social needs and in partnership with primary care and non-government (NGO) providers.
• You understand the importance of cultural competence and equity, providing practice that is consistent with the spirit and intent of Te Tiriti ō Waitangi.
• You understand the importance of person-directed care and intentional peer support.
• You are mindful of the needs of our diverse population, for instance, Pacific peoples, refugee and migrant communities, disabled people/tāngata whaikaha, rainbow communities, and those living in rural areas/isolated from health services.
• You will be a registered clinical psychologist with a current Annual Practising Certificate.
• You must have a full and clean Driver's License and the ability to consent and complete NZ or international Police vetting (Vulnerable Children's Act 2015).

E pā ana ki a tatou – About us

You will enjoy a wide range of benefits including:

• Working closer to tāngata whaiora and whānau in their communities, and the ability to build stronger connections both across the mental health and addiction system and in the localities that you work within 
• The ability to work more closely with your colleagues across the district, and across the distinct functions and specialities within the service 
• Working for a service that has a focus on planned interventions (i.e. proactive not reactive approach)
• Opportunities for greater flexibility of both work hours and locations across the district 
• Greater opportunities for career progression and the development of specialisms in key areas of practice 

Here at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley, we embrace diversity and welcome applications from all people, including all gender identities, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, disability and religions. A workforce that is diverse and inclusive means that we are better positioned to understand and serve our community.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley  is a pro-equity health organisation, with a particular focus on Māori, Pacific Peoples, and the Disability Community.

To find out more about us click on the following links: 

Capital and Coast

Hutt Valley

Mental Health, Addiction and Intellectual Disability Service

Me pēhea te tuku tono - How to apply

Click the ‘apply now’ button to send your application directly to us. For further information about this role, please email recruitment@ccdhb.org.nz and indicate the job title and vacancy number in the subject line.

Ma tini, ma mano, ka rapa te whai

By joining together we will succeed