Clinical/Counselling Psychologist or Psychologist Practitioner

NELFT North East London Foundation Trust; Barking; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

A major NHS Foundation Trust in Barking is seeking a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to provide evidence-based psychological services for children and young people. The successful candidate will engage in assessments and therapeutic interventions, working closely with multidisciplinary teams to promote mental health and emotional wellbeing. Competitive salary of £55,690 to £62,682 plus HCAS offered.

Benefits

Comprehensive induction

High Cost Area Supplement

Support for continuing education

Qualifications

• Minimum of a Master's degree in Psychology.
• Experience working with children and adolescents with emotional and mental health difficulties.
• Understanding of NHS priorities and safeguarding procedures.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist clinical psychology input to children and young people.
• Deliver psychological assessments and therapy for neurodevelopmental concerns.
• Consult on client's psychological care autonomously.

Skills

Communication

Clinical supervision

Assessment skills

Therapeutic interventions

Education

Post-graduate training in psychological practice

Registration with professional regulatory body (e.g. HCPC)

Tools

Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel)

Electronic record systems (e.g. Rio)

Job description

NELFT North East London Foundation Trust

Clinical/Counselling Psychologist or Psychologist Practitioner

The closing date is 25 November 2025

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join our dynamic multi-disciplinary team based in Barking and Dagenham.

NELFT is an experienced provider of Mental Health Services for Children and Young People, already providing these services in Essex, Medway and four London boroughs. It is also one of England's largest NHS Foundation Trusts. Our priority is providing the highest standard of care to all of our service users.

We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic, and skilled clinician who is able to maintain clinical curiosity and is keen to engage in reflective practice as well as be an advocate for children, young people and families' needs.

You will be a highly motivated and innovative individual with extensive clinical experience working with children and young people with emotional wellbeing and mental health difficulties.

We have partnered with the University of Cambridge to drive excellence and research in the field of paediatric autism, and this will be an opportunity for the right candidate to foster and develop research and innovation in our emotional and mental health services working closely with our paediatric, autism and wider children services.

We are willing to consider applicants with less than 2 years NHS experience (or equivalent) who wish to apply for this post on a developmental basis.

Main duties of the job

• To provide specialist clinical psychology input to children and young people and their families
• To provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy including specialist assessments for neurodevelopmental concerns (e.g. ASD and ADHD)
• To offer advice and consultation on client's psychological care to colleagues from all disciplines and to individuals external to CAMHS working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures
• To work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of one's psychological practice.
• Routinely measure clinical outcomes and deliver evidence-based clinical interventions in line with the CAMHS programme within B&D
• Promote the mental and emotional health of children, young people and families in the community through clinical interventions in the care pathway
• Undertake initial school based and community-based assessments and deliver a range of early interventions to children and young people with a range of emotional and psychological difficulties where appropriate
• Provide clinical leadership and specialist treatment and assessment within your professional sphere of expertise in the service and will be responsible for the extensive clinical supervision of junior clinicians throughout the CAMHS team.

About us

Our Values 2025 - 2030

Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co‑produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.

• We are kind.
• We are respectful.
• We work together with our communities.

These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.

Starting with NELh3>

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend a number of drop‑in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period.

High Cost Area Supplement - Outer London

This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,714 and a maximum payment of £5,941 - per annum, pro rata for part time).

Job responsibilities

Clinicians who have previous experience within CAMHS settings (particularly with safeguarding, risk, and neurodevelopmental concerns) would be at an advantage.

The post holder will ensure that a high quality, timely, accessible and evidence‑based service is available to all service users who need it throughout the CAMHS team.

The post‑holder will establish and maintain excellent working relationships with wider education, mental health, wellbeing and learning disability support services and ensure adherence to evidence‑based treatments by all clinical staff across the CAMHS team.

The post‑holder will be directly involved in delivering and supervising a range of therapeutic interventions, which may include parent work, group work, school observations of children, short‑term input and specialist behavioural and psychological treatments. They will be responsible for all specialist assessments and treatments within their professional sphere of expertise within CAMHS practice.

Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer to this when completing your application.

We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Please apply as soon as possible as some posts close early to limit the number of applications.

Use of AI

Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.

Certificates of Sponsorship

Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points‑based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High‑Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Successful completion of a post‑graduate training in psychological practice (e.g. clinical/counselling psychologist fully registered with the appropriate professional or regulatory body (e.g. HCPC)
• To be eligible for registration as a full member of the Appropriate professional body (e.g. HCPC)

Experience

• Extensive experience of working with difficult, challenging children/young people requiring skilled and complex interventions
• Extensive experience of working with children and adolescents with co‑morbital difficulties and special needs. (i.e. combination of organic and emotional deficits, such as autistic spectrum disorders and trauma).
• Extensive experience of working therapeutically with parents/carers/familieën of children and young people with complex mental health problems
• Experience of using observation & assessment skills to contribute to assessments
• Experience of carrying out generic assessment with other colleagues in the multi‑disciplinary team
• Experience of initiating, organising and planning inter‑agency meetings aimed at setting in place a treatment package tailored to the individual needs of a child/young person
• Experience of providing professional teaching and training for other professionals working with the client
• Experience of providing clinical interventions in different cultural contexts

Knowledge

• An awareness of NHS priorities and issues
• Good working knowledge of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access Electronic diary, email and office management systems
• Maintain confidentiality/data protection
• Excellent knowledge of emotional, developmental, mental health problems and life span issues.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to children and adolescents and safeguarding procedures and policies
• Knowledge of NHS, Social Care and Education structures, national policies and frameworks, evidence based practice including NICE guidelines.
• Knowledge of risk management and ability to monitor and assess risk and act accordingly to ensure safety.
• Knowledge of electronic record systems, i.e. Rio

Skills

• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively highly complex and sensitive matters to patients, which give rise to psychological distress
• Highly developed ability to integrate complex clinical information into a coherent formulation
• Specialist skill in the ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside CAMHS.
• Ability to tolerate anxiety without recourse to premature action whilst appreciating the role of the supervisor.
• Capacity to work alone, involving colleagues and manager as relevant
• Capacity to write clear records and observe policies, procedures and guidelines.
• Ability to use outcome monitoring across all clinical work.
• Ability to undertake quality improvement projects and audits

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.

NELFT North East London Foundation Trust

£55,690 to £62,682 a year plus HCAS per annum (pro rata)