Highly Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/Psychotherapist

West London NHS Trust; London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 80,000

Job description

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached.

The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

1. A recorded/registered qualification in one of the following: Doctorate in Clinical/Counselling Psychology; Psychotherapy qualification requiring registration.

Desirable criteria

1. Other qualifications relevant to the client group (e.g. ADOS assessment; systemic therapies; dual diagnosis; EMDR).
2. Training in clinical supervision for doctoral, and equivalent, trainees.
3. Evidence of post-doctoral training in CBTp, and/or FIp and/or other relevant approaches.

Experience

Essential criteria

1. Experience of working as a qualified (specialist) psychologist or psychotherapist with clients with psychosis and complex needs.
2. Experience of having facilitated/co-facilitated psychological therapy groups.
3. Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
4. Experience of administration, scoring and written interpretation of psychometric/neuropsychological tests.
5. Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
6. Experience of co-producing and/or co-delivering services with service users and/or 3rd sector partners.
7. Experience of supervising other staff and/or having led service development projects.
8. Significant level of experience in working within multidisciplinary community teams.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

1. Advanced specialist knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of psychology applied to clinical practice.
2. Specialist theoretical and practical knowledge of the assessment and intervention of complex mental health difficulties.
3. Knowledge of relevant legislation and its implications for work in the current setting.

Skills

Essential criteria

1. Excellent engagement and verbal communication skills, including with persons who may be highly distressed, hostile and/or experience barriers in relationships and communication.
2. Able to make complex clinical judgements both alone and with MDT or supervisory consultation, at an appropriate level.
3. Able to plan, prioritise and organise own workload, including clinical, administrative and other aspects.
4. Able to function in highly emotionally distressing circumstances on a frequent basis (e.g. in dealing with service users with serious mental illness, histories of homicide and serious violence, self-harm, sexual abuse).
5. Strong written communication skills.

Other Requirements

Essential criteria

1. Demonstrable enthusiasm for and commitment to working with service users with psychosis and a range of levels of need.
2. Demonstrable enthusiasm for and commitment to leadership and partnership working with MDT colleagues and community and 3rd sector partners.
3. Demonstrable commitment to the skill and career development of other staff members.
4. Must be capable of being guided by precedent, clearly defined policies, procedures and codes of conduct.
5. Able to reflect on own professional practice.
6. Willing to participate actively in CPD in line with BPS guidelines.
7. Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
8. Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
9. Experience of working within a multicultural framework.

Desirable criteria

1. Record of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books.

As an employee of West London NHS Trust, you have a responsibility to maintain a sound understanding of, and a commitment to uphold the National Health Service values and principles set out in the NHS Constitution.

We reserve the right to close adverts prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to West London NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, you will be required to undergo a pre-employment checks which can take between 4-8 weeks. After which your information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system (ESR).

Please ensure you include email addresses for your referees which MUST be at supervisory or managerial capacity covering the last 3 years of employment to date to avoid delay in the recruitment process.

West London NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We encourage the thoughtful use of technology as a demonstration of strong time management and a commitment to innovation. However, we encourage applicants to personalise their recruitment application to showcase their unique skills and experiences.

While AI-generated content can be a helpful tool, relying solely on generic responses instead of highlighting your own strengths and achievements may impact the success of your application. The success of an application will always be assessed against the essential and desirable criteria for the role, so it is important to ensure that your application and any supporting information clearly demonstrate how you meet these requirements.

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

1. JD and PS (PDF, 355.5KB)