Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (Fixed-term contract)

The Challenge

More than 1 in 4 adults in the UK are living with obesity; a chronic condition that often negatively impacts their physical and mental health, and therefore quality of life. Access to specialist weight management services for the treatment of obesity remains limited and varies geographically due to a lack of funding. Existing services face long waiting lists, resulting in treatment delays which can adversely affect patient outcomes.

Enter Second Nature...

By bringing together the latest behavioural science, psychology, technology, and the talents of our incredible team, our mission is to eradicate obesity and type 2 diabetes for all, and as part of that mission, we are aiming to increase access to effective treatment for people living with obesity.

Second Nature provides specialist weight management services to support people living with obesity. We are looking for a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) to join our psychology and multi-disciplinary teams (MDT). This is an exciting opportunity to be involved in growth of specialist weight management services in a fast-pace, startup environment.

About us:

• We've positively changed the lives of over 250,000 people
• We're rated 'Excellent' by over 7k of our members on Trustpilot
• We're growing extremely quickly & are now a profitable business
• We’re one of the few consumer health brands that are commissioned by the NHS and leading health insurer, Vitality Health
• We're a leading B2C provider of GLP-1 medication-assisted weight loss programmes, and 1 of 5 NICE-approved providers to deliver these services within the NHS in the future
• Our team members stay with us for an average of 4.3 years

You can find out more about working with us here and here.

The role:

We’re looking for a dynamic Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP), who is passionate about making a positive difference to those living with obesity, to grow our current psychology team. You'll be employed on a 9-month fixed-term contract with a view to extend. You will be part of an innovative Specialist Weight Management Service (SWMS) that uses a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach to obesity treatment and technology to optimise patient engagement and outcomes. Our MDT includes doctors, dietitians, psychologists and physical activity specialists, all with special interests in obesity.

This role is 100% remote and you can work from anywhere in the UK! We also offer flexible working hours, meaning that you can fit this around other responsibilities and do the school run, or a workout during the day!

This novel role will include a mix of clinical work and providing operational support to our Lead Psychologist to coordinate the service. We envisage this role will transition to a full-time clinical role at around 4-6 months.

You will provide psychological therapy to people living with obesity to support them to make sustainable lifestyle and dietary changes, in collaboration with the MDT. You'll be using a range of theoretical approaches, such as CBT, DBT and ACT. Whilst it is important to be able to work autonomously, you will receive comprehensive training. You will also have access to clinical supervision and support from the Lead Psychologist or another Practitioner Psychologist in the team.

This post is full time with flexible hours to support some evening work, where required.

What you'll do:

• Assess patients for psychological therapy as part of the weight management service; to independently implement appropriate initial assessment methods.
• Create individual formulations based on initial screening and assessment, drawing on your own clinical expertise within weight management/eating disorders, psychological theory, current research, and relevant guidelines, e.g. NICE.
• Deliver one-to-one and group psychological interventions remotely via video calls to support changes in eating and physical activity behaviours.
• Attend regular MDT meetings to monitor the care of our patients.
• Attend clinical supervision with a Practitioner Psychologist to discuss complex cases.
• Appropriately manage clinical risk (e.g. safeguarding concerns) when it arises during clinical practice.
• Maintain adequate CPD, receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with good practice guidelines and continue to meet BABCP registration requirements.
• Maintain confidentiality of information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act and ensuring that participant confidentiality is protected at all times.
• Creating relevant internal or patient-facing content for the service, as required.

Requirements

You have experience working in a weight management/bariatric/eating disorder setting

• A qualified Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) with a minimum of 1 year experience of working with patients within a weight management, bariatric or eating disorder setting or working with these population groups within a mental health setting.
• A solid understanding of obesity as a condition and the issues many people living with obesity face, including weight stigma.
• Experience related to offering weight management support.
• Able to provide supportive, empathetic patient-centred care to patients who may have complex physical and mental health needs.

You can work autonomously and collaboratively with a doctor-led disciplinary team (MDT) to oversee patient care

• You'll confidently and independently manage a caseload of patients, delivering psychological interventions via video calls and working collaboratively with our MDT.

You have experience of supporting the coordination of a healthcare service

• You have experience in monitoring and supporting patients' journeys through a service in line with an organisation's protocols, including scheduling assessments and appointments, monitoring attendance rates and following up with patients, writing GP letters, and revising protocols.
• You have experience using Excel or Google Sheets (or other similar programmes) to monitor patients' journeys.

You are dynamic and have a strong drive to work in healthcare tech

• Excited by a fast-paced startup environment which requires you to be dynamic and hands on, adapting your role to the needs of the service.
• You're confident in using technology to provide patient care, including to record and review patient notes.
• Excited by digital initiatives that increase access to healthcare.

Education/Qualifications:

• BABCP registration
• Postgraduate Diploma as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner

Benefits

• An exciting job at a health-tech startup. You'll be able to see firsthand the impact we have on improving access to specialist weight management treatment and tackling the obesity epidemic on a daily basis.
• You'll get to work with intelligent, friendly, and highly-motivated individuals who're passionate about what they do
• Flexibility in employment with short-term contracts.
• Flexibility in working hours and autonomy over your workload to support your own wellbeing.