Senior Clinical or Counselling Psychologist

Band 8A Highly Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

We are happy to consider interest from newly qualified applicants or those currently working as a Band 7 Psychologist who would be interested in a development post, working towards becoming an 8A psychologist.

We are looking for a highly motivated and innovative Practitioner Psychologist to join a friendly team in our Addictions service: ARCH (Addiction Recovery Community Hillingdon). This is an exciting and rewarding opportunity for a practitioner psychologist who is enthusiastic about working in a multi-disciplinary setting, who is adaptable and enjoys variety and working independently as well as within a team context. You will have excellent clinical skills and ideally possess supervision experience. You will work alongside a range of professionals including psychiatrists, mental health nurses, social workers, drug and alcohol practitioners, experts by experience, criminal justice staff, recovery workers, and group facilitators.

CNWL through its Addictions Directorate provides expert services to a variety of London Boroughs and beyond. Specifically in Hillingdon, the ARCH service is an NHS and third-sector partnership providing comprehensive health care for local people with drug, alcohol, and other addictions.

A significant percentage of addiction clients also present with diagnoses of Trauma, Personality Disorder, and Complex Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and the team is expected to deliver a range of evidence-based interventions as recommended by NICE Guidance including MI, MBT, DBT, CFT, EMDR, and CBT. Other modalities are used dependent on patient need and best practice. The successful applicant will be involved in the provision of therapy and supervise both qualified and trainee psychology staff.

Liaising and developing effective collaborative relationships with other services such as social care and mental health is a key part of the role. The post holder will have some management and clinical supervision responsibilities for assistant and trainee psychologists and other staff as required, and will assist in embedding a psychologically informed environment (PIE) across all levels of working. The post holder will be responsible for screening and assessing referrals, managing wait lists, and providing psychological consultation to colleagues and other services about the mental health and psychological needs of clients. You will be expected to work with clients individually and in groups, and with carers and families as required.

You will have assessment, formulation, therapy, and leadership and supervision skills; and you will have (and/or want to develop) experience, training, and knowledge in working with addictions and associated complex presentations. Although experience of working with people with addictions would be valuable, we recognise that not all applicants will have had this opportunity. Tailored induction and training will be provided to enable you to work effectively with this client group.

You will have good research and audit skills, be familiar with care quality and clinical governance, and be expected to contribute to service development in this way. You will be operationally responsible to the team manager and receive regular clinical supervision, support, and reflective practice from your Professional Lead for Addictions, as well as peer support and guidance from other senior team members.