Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

NHS; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 55,000 - 63,000; Part time

Job summary

A regional health service provider is seeking a Highly Specialist Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join their team in Milton Keynes. This role focuses on delivering specialized psychological assessments and interventions for clients with gambling problems and related health conditions. Candidates should have a doctoral level training in clinical psychology and be HCPC registered. Opportunities for remote working are available. The position offers a salary between £55,690 and £62,682 annually.

Qualifications

• Experience in outpatient, community, and inpatient settings.
• Experience delivering CBT interventions in mental health.
• Experience working with a diverse range of client problems.

Responsibilities

• Implement and coordinate psychological interventions.
• Lead psychological assessments and formulate treatment plans.
• Conduct consultations and provide specialist advice.

Skills

Specialist psychological assessments

High-quality psychological services

Consultation and report writing

Clinical leadership

Evidence-based treatments

Education

Doctoral level training in clinical psychology

HCPC Registration

Job description

Overview

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to have been awarded the contract for the East of England Gambling Service in partnership with Inclusion (Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust).

We are seeking a Highly Specialist Clinical or counselling Psychologist to join our dynamic new team. This is a fantastic opportunity to work in a unique branch of mental health at a time of unprecedented expansion and growth. The post holder will have the chance to make a significant difference to residents in the East of England and to be part of the development of the first NHS gambling service in this region.

The successful candidate will be an energetic and robust individual with sophisticated and sensitive clinical skills, and a proven track record of delivering high quality services in either the NHS, social care or the private sector.

Various working locations and remote working across the East of England.

Main duties

The successful applicant will be responsible for implementing and coordinating a range of psychological interventions, including leading highly specialised psychological assessments, offering consultation and writing reports. They will be a key part of psychological leadership within the team, including involvement in clinical leadership processes, staff supervision and training, and service development. They will liaise closely with colleagues from the clinic and other community services to provide true partnership working and seamless care pathways. The post-holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service\'s policies and procedures.

About us

The working environment will be a specialist NHS Gambling Service staffed by a multi-disciplinary team working with outpatients. Although working as part of an MDT team, the post holder will be required to deliver specialist evidence-based psychological treatments that address the client\'s gambling problems and co-morbid health conditions.

The post-holder will have a working base at Milton Keynes but the role is likely to be largely remote working. There will be an expectation of delivering services in other locations across the East of England region to be agreed once demand is clear.

Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We are proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff. We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

Details

Date posted: 18 September 2025

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 8a

Salary: £55,690 to £62,682 a year pro rata, per annum

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Part-time, Home or remote working

Reference number: 333-D-AD-0558

Job locations: ARC-MK, Milton Keynes, MK6 4JH

Job responsibilities

For further information about the advertised role, please refer to the job description and person specification included in the documents section of this advert.

Clinical:

• To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
• To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients gambling problem and/or mental health problems, 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 and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, 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 both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
• To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
• 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.
• To act as care coordinator, where appropriate, taking responsibility for initiating planning and review of care plans including clients, their carers, referring agents and others involved the network of care.
• 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 work specifically with clients of the East of England Gambling Service contributing to the delivery of individual and group-based psychological treatment programmes (rooted in MI/CBT principles and other evidence-based approaches) in conjunction with other Psychologists in the team.
• To attend clinical meetings including professionals meetings with other agencies and providers and proactively assist in ensuring complex clients are referred to the most appropriate services

Person Specification

Training and Qualifications Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling 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.
• HCPC Registered

Desirable

• Post-graduate training in an evidence-based therapeutic technique of use to the service

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 delivering CBT interventions in a mental health or addictions setting
• 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.
• Having completed a relevant supervisor\'s training and have at least six months\' supervision experience in the NHS
• Experience in managing safeguarding concerns and risk to self/others.

Desirable

• Experience of the application of clinical/counselling psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of attending management meetings and of being senior psychologist in service

Knowledge and Skills Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. gambling harms, behavioural addiction, personality disorder, dual diagnoses, etc).
• Effectively manage a clinical caseload, complete outcomes measures routinely, update clinical records in line with team, service and Trust requirements
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.

Desirable

• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups
• High level skills in working with professional networks and the ability to advocate for and advance the mental health needs of patients
• Ability to chair team meetings, undertake delegated management tasks and support the Consultant Psychologist and Service Manager in general team tasks/development as required
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health

Other Essential

• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multimedia materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• 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.

Desirable

• Experience of working within a multicultural framework

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information please visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants applying for entry clearance into the UK have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here: criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details

Employer name: Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address: ARC-MK, Milton Keynes, MK6 4JH

Employer's website: cnwl.nhs.uk/work