Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/CBT Therapist

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 provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our 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

The Perinatal Mental Health Service has a diverse and highly skilled team of perinatal psychological therapists who are committed to providing evidence-based interventions to parents and families that are accessible and acceptable to the diverse South London population. We are recruiting 12 month fixed term cover in Croydon Perinatal Community Mental Health Team. This is available as an internal secondment or as a fixed term post.

Our psychological workforce and the therapeutic modalities that we offer are a key part of delivering the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan. This post focuses primarily on delivery of perinatal psychological therapies for parental mental health problems, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). There is a focus on coproduction, quality, supervision and ongoing audit and evaluation, keeping the experience of service users at the heart.

The successful applicant will join a friendly and supportive psychological therapies service that offers opportunities for research and continuing professional development. We are committed to get the best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. Dependent on the role we offer training and development in different therapeutic modalities relevant to the area. Specialist perinatal psychology clinical and professional supervision will be provided from within the service.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or Accredited Cognitive Behaviour Therapist to provide psychological assessment and intervention to women, birthing people and families in the perinatal period, as well as contribute to the multi-disciplinary team.

We would like to hear from those who have experience delivering psychological therapies in secondary care or within a MDT setting, and are proficient in delivering NICE concordant interventions for depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis and bipolar affective disorder.

You will ideally have experience of working with parents and families within the perinatal period and / or a keen interest to develop knowledge and skills in this area. Specialist perinatal supervision will be provided and you will join a friendly and supportive team of specialist perinatal psychologists and psychological therapists.

Working for our organisation

Perinatal Mental Health Teams (PMHTs) are secondary care mental health teams that specialise in supporting women and birthing people in the perinatal period (pregnancy and the postnatal period) who have severe and complex mental health difficulties.

We assess and treat a range of difficulties including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychosis, personality disorders and eating disorders. The service is designed to provide timely input to women and their families to mitigate the impact of mental health disorder on the child.

We are a multi-disciplinary team including psychiatry, psychology, nursing, occupational therapy, and nursery nursing. The service works closely with maternity/obstetric services as well as other agencies (e.g., health visiting and social services). We have close links with the Mother-Baby Unit (MBU) in-patient unit at the Bethlem Royal Hospital.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the full job description for further information.

This post is open to Clinical Psychologists, Counselling Psychologists and Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists who have the relevant professional registration. Perinatal mental health experience is desirable but not essential. Qualification/accreditation in one or more of the following is very relevant, although not essential: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT).

Please note we welcome applications from clinicians approaching qualification in clinical or counselling psychology or cognitive behaviour therapy.

Person specification

Qualifications & Professional Registration

Essential criteria

• Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training, for example in CBT) that has been accepted by the HCPC or BABCP for purposes of professional registration
• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist or with BABCP as CBT therapist, or due to complete qualification with next 12 months

Desirable criteria

• Relevant specialist training or qualifications in other psychological therapies

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Theoretical knowledge of perinatal mental health and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
• Knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities
• Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis.
• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility specific to perinatal mental health

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs
• Experience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in adult mental health settings
• Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience.
• Experience of developing and carrying out research projects

Desirable criteria

• Pre or post qualification experience of working in a perinatal mental health service or related area
• Pre or post qualification experience working with infants, the parent-infant relationship or with families
• Lived experience of mental health challenges

Skills

Essential criteria

• To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
• To select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources
• To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
• To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers, and for meetings such as CPA and case reviews
• Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data.

Abilities

Essential criteria

• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate

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 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.