At Cheshire and Wirral Partnership, we welcome people with some level of experience within the psychology profession, whether that is in speech and language or mental health therapy.
You may be thinking of a change in career and have an interest in psychology, but don’t know which route to take.
There are several roles within the psychology profession.
West and Central Cheshire NHS Talking Therapies
The West and Central Cheshire NHS Talking Therapies service employs Cognitive Behavioural Therapists (CBT), Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWP) and counsellors.
The PWPs and CBT therapists provide cognitive behavioural therapy, whilst the counsellors have various counselling approaches such as Interpersonal Psychotherapy and the psychologists use a broad range of therapeutic interventions.
Whilst in the role, the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner can develop their skills and progress.
Newly qualified PWPs are supported by the team to learn and grow within the role and to reinforce their skill sets.
Community Mental Health Team
Our community mental health team in Crewe has a small team of clinical psychologists and one Psychological Therapist.
Support we can offer
We offer apprentice routes and those with a degree into the psychology profession.
Rebecca Hardman is an apprentice Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) for West Cheshire NHS Talking Therapies.
She has been an apprentice with Cheshire and Wirral Partnership since March 2023, and within this time frame has learned invaluable on and off the job training to support her future goals, working with the psychology team at the Countess of Chester hospital.
“I’ve always been passionate about helping people and knew that working within psychology was something that I was keen to pursue.”
Rebecca did not have a degree before starting in this role, but did have a Maths and English GCSE, along with previous experience working within a mental health role, and was able to apply for the position.
“I couldn’t believe the course involved a Level 6 qualification, as well as working within the Talking Therapies team. Without a degree level qualification, but still able to pursue my career goals in this way was something I couldn’t ignore.
“I wanted to work for CWP due to the reputation of the service, as well as the invaluable experience and qualification that was on offer.”
“The role of a PWP can be quite diverse and involves assessing and treating people with common mental health conditions. An assessment can be around 45 minutes, and we ask clients' questions, to understand some of the problems that a patient may be experiencing."
"From this assessment, we can offer treatment options and support the patient to overcome their difficulties through things like group work, guided self-help, computerised CBT, etc.”
Rebecca enjoys a lot about her role, which includes building a rapport with the patients.
“The best part of my job is noticing when a patient is starting to feel better. You build an instant rapport, guiding them from the beginning of their assessment to the end of treatment. I enjoy working alongside a talented team of staff with varying skills, qualifications, and levels of experience and find it reassuring that everyone is more than happy to help”
Rebecca’s message to anyone considering an apprenticeship would be “to embrace the opportunity, be aware that juggling work and studies can be a challenge, but there is so much support available”