Clinical/Counselling Psychologist BABCP accredited

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to providing high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for the care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good'.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

Lewisham NHS Talking Therapies is a dynamic and innovative Primary Care Psychological Therapies Service; one of four IAPT services delivered by South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundation Trust. Lewisham has high social and psychological needs with considerable cultural diversity. The service provides psychological care to an ethnically diverse group of patients and the Trust is working to be an anti-racist organisation. Many patients present with multiple problems including social, housing and employment issues, and a wide range of common mental health issues of varying degrees of severity.

We have links with the IAPT training courses at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, University College London and The University of Exeter. We also work with centres of clinical excellence and research innovation such as the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (CADAT). Our motivated staff have engaged with specialised training thus allowing us to offer EMDR, DIT, IPT and couples counselling for depression. We are involved in initiatives to engage in innovative projects with our community, and we are pleased to hear from applicants who have areas of special interests or skills or a second language. We are a diverse, friendly service that aims to listen to and value our staff and aims to promote opportunities to progress people in terms of their continued professional development when these arise.

Main duties of the job

This is an exciting new post for a qualified Clinical/Counselling Psychologist with BABCP accreditation to work in Lewisham NHS Talking Therapies.

You'll provide a specialist and caring therapeutic service to our clients who are primarily suffering from mild to moderate mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. It also involves providing advice on clients' psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and carers, and supervising junior colleagues.

There will be opportunities to develop areas of interest such as working with long term health conditions, working with clients with learning disabilities, working with perinatal clients, older adults, youth, and black men by contributing to project groups or taking a Champion role.

High quality supervision and CPD are a priority for the team. You will receive regular weekly individual clinical supervision.

You will also have the opportunity to attend monthly Step 3 team clinical training sessions as well as other regular training workshops facilitated by highly respected clinicians in their field.

Working for our organisation

We are committed to learning from the people and the local population we serve, and contribute to Trust-wide initiatives to develop anti-racist practice, promote race equity, improve local service provision and develop a more representative workforce. As a therapist, you would have weekly supervision and have a range of opportunities available to help develop your clinical, leadership and supervision skills as part of your continuing professional development.

The service offers opportunities to train in other NHS TT approved modalities and provides CPDs to support gain and maintain BABCP accreditation. Opportunities are available to attend other IAPT approved modalities such as IPT, DIT, EMDR.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Summary

• To provide a qualified specialist psychological therapy service for anxiety and depression to clients from the NHS Talking Therapies service. This involves providing specialist psychological assessment and therapy, within one or more psychological therapy models specified by the NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression Manual.
• To provide advice and consultation on clients' psychological care to colleagues and to other, non-professional carers. It will involve supervision of other colleagues including trainees.
• The post holder works autonomously within professional guidelines and within the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures. To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the team/service.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling psychology
• Accreditation with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) achieved through training and experience with adults with anxiety and depression or working towards it. Or evidence of having achieved the Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSA) route to BABCP accreditation. Or HCPC Registered Practitioner/Clinical/Counselling Psychologist.

Desirable criteria

• Evidence of post qualification training in clinical supervision
• Evidence of relevant continuing professional development.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients within NHS/Private Mental Health Settings
• Experience of working with a variety of client groups and presenting problems that reflect a range of clinical severity

Desirable criteria

• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
• Experience of specialist psychological therapy assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings relevant to an NHS Talking Therapies service, including outpatient, community, and primary care settings
• Experience of running groups

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Experience at working with one or more NHS Talking Therapies recognised psychological therapies at a specialist level
• High-level knowledge of the theory and practice of one or more NHS Talking Therapies-recognised psychological therapies
• Knowledge of effective care pathway navigation across primary and secondary care psychological therapies services

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of adapting specific NHS Talking Therapies-recognised psychological therapies for anxiety and/or depression in the context of co-morbidity and complexity (e.g. personality disorder, additional disabilities etc).
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, and where relevant their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.

Desirable criteria

• Having a second language
• Skills in running workshops

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

• That all applications for this post will need to be made online
• That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not been successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion, Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Clinical/Counselling Psychologist BABCP Accredited (PDF, 552.3KB)
• SLaM Staff Benefits (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working (PDF, 680.1KB)