Dr Pathe, a member of the health & homelessness team at NHS Lanarkshire, will be based at the charity’s Pathways supported accommodation service in South Lanarkshire.

Pathways is a pioneering service in Scotland designed to offer a Psychologically Informed Environment (PIE) which prioritises the emotional and psychological needs of service users.

The newly-created post is the result of a partnership between Ypeople and NHS Lanarkshire. Alongside her new position at Ypeople, Emily will retain her existing role with NHS Lanarkshire.

Ypeople CEO Joe Connolly said: “Ypeople has pioneered the use of PIE services in Scotland. Our success in adopting a PIE-centred approach at Pathways encouraged us to roll it out across all our services.

“For some time now, our ambition has been to enhance our support by appointing a specialist psychologist so we are extremely pleased that, with the help of our colleagues at NHS Lanarkshire, Emily will be joining our team. Her experience and expertise in this area will be invaluable.”

Dr Emily Pathe added: “Ypeople has done some great work in pioneering the use of PIE in Scotland and I’m looking forward to building on what has already been done to embed it across the organisation.

“One of the main elements of my role will be to focus on reflective practice, looking at how we relate to the people we work with. At Pathways, I’ll be facilitating that approach, setting up reflective practice groups, supporting staff and being on-site to chat through any of the challenges which people are having.

“Working with Ypeople is a really exciting opportunity for me, particularly getting the chance to put my interest in PIE and trauma-informed working into practice with an organisation which has done such groundbreaking work in this area. I also really like the collaborative element of the role with the public sector and third sector coming together as partners to create the position.”

Ypeople delivers a range of support including mentoring, housing advice, services for people whose lives have been affected by homelessness, throughcare services, counselling and after school care to individuals across Scotland and currently operates services in Edinburgh, Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, North and South Lanarkshire, Orkney, Fife and Highland.