Clinical or Counselling Psychologist

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has been commissioned by NHS England to provide masculinising surgical treatment for patients with gender dysphoria. Our vision is for an innovative and patient-centred service, based on the principle that patients must have equal access to surgical services whatever their gender identity with reasonable adjustments to the delivery of care to match the individual's needs and circumstances.

This is a pivotal role with the post holder providing a specialist psychology service to clients with gender dysphoria at TransPlus or on the Gender Affirmation Surgery pathway at CWFT, and to provide specialist psychological therapy to TransPlus project participants around any aspect of their mental or sexual health connected to their diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

The post holder will ensure the interests of the Trust are represented in a professional manner, and is a suitable ambassador at all times.

The successful candidate will be expected to work across all sites but will be primarily based within our 56 Dean Street sexual health service.

Main duties of the job

The role will be to provide a specialist psychology service to clients with gender dysphoria at TransPlus or on the Gender Affirmation Surgery pathway at CWFT. To provide specialist psychological therapy to TransPlus project participants around any aspect of their mental or sexual health connected to their diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The post holder will offer advice and consultation on clients' psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to other, non-professional carers or external agencies. To work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures.

Job responsibilities

Clinical

• To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems and psychological aspects of physical morbidity, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
• To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account queer and trans affirmative models and considering the impact of wider systems on that persons experience of gender dysphoria.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
• To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management, and to support other members of the MDT in risk management.
• To contribute to multi-disciplinary team meetings to communicate and reflect using a psychologically based framework.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
• To act as a named designated professional for clients within the service.

Management, recruitment, policy and service development

• To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of gender services within the trust, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
• To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
• To supervise other professionals, within the framework of the team/services policies and procedures.
• To provide dedicated support to the Gender Affirmation Surgery service to meet the psychological needs of service users, and to provide a psychological perspective to the GAS MDT.

Research and service evaluation

• To initiate high quality research projects including carrying out literature searches, preparing scientific reviews of key areas, designing research studies, preparing and submitting grant applications to potential external funders, preparing, submitting and managing ethics committee submissions and preparing and submitting project registration documents.
• To present the results of research studies to appropriate audiences within the Trust and externally including national and international conferences and meetings as required by the lead nurse and clinical supervisor.
• To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
• To provide research advice to other staff undertaking research.
• To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service as necessary, to help develop service provision.
• To familiarise themselves with, and to comply with, the Trusts requirements on research governance.

Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.

Desirable

• Further training and qualifications in a related area such as research methodology, supervision, working with trauma, or neurodivergence.

Experience
Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of working in a sexual health psychology setting.
• Experience of working with gender diverse patients.
• Experience of working with other health professionals in a medical context.
• Experience of planning and implementing service development.
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Training in supervision.

Desirable

• Experience of providing sexual well-being interventions.

Skills and Knowledge
Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Knowledge of HIV and sexual health.
• Knowledge of the issues affecting the gender diverse population.
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• Knowledge of legislation and guidelines in relation to this client group and healthcare.

Employer details
Employer name
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address
56 Dean Street, London, W1D 6AQ

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

289-TP-018