Clinical / Counselling Psychologist - Specialist Post

NHS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 51,000 - 59,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in the UK seeks a dedicated Psychologist for their Adult Mental Health team. The role involves providing psychological services in acute settings and developing care plans for service users. The successful candidate will engage in research and training, contributing to a holistic approach to mental health care. Opportunities for professional development, including EMDR training, are provided.

Qualifications

• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist.
• Experience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with complex needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of Trauma-Informed Approaches in adult mental health services.
• Provide consultation, co-working, teaching, and supervision.

Skills

Communication

Psychological Assessment

Research Methodology

Cultural Sensitivity

Education

Professional Doctorate in Applied Psychology

MSc plus PG Diploma

Job description

Job summary

Harrow Adult Mental Health is looking for a highly motivated and passionate Psychologist to join our psychological therapies team. This specialist post is offered within the acute pathway, and sits across the Inpatient Psychology Team and Mental Health Emergency Assessment Centre (MHEAC). The Inpatient Psychology Team provides psychology services to two Adult Acute Mental Health Inpatient Wards (Eastlake & Ferneley) based at Mental Health Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow.

The Acute Psychology Pathway provides integrated and high quality psychologically-informed care to service users with acute mental health presentations; including psychosis, complex emotional needs and PTSD. The successful candidate will play a key role in the urgent assessment of service users presenting to acute services, and the development of creative, multi-disciplinary care plans to support these service users outside of hospital. They will be involved in the provision of psychological intervention that follows service users from acute to community services, under our continuity pathway.

Harrow is committed to the continued development of our staff. In line with this, the post-holder will be funded to complete EMDR training in 2025/26.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will also be expected to take a leading role in the ongoing development of Harrow's Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIA) model for the adult mental health services. This approach has been established in Harrow acute services over the last six years, recently published (Nikopaschos et al. 2023) and now also influencing National Policy (see NHSE Guidelines for Acute Inpatient Mental Health Care for Adults and Older Adults, 2023).

The Harrow Inpatient Psychology Team and Mental Health Emergency Centre work closely together with Home Treatment Team (HTT) and Community Mental Health Hub as a cohesive system, which provides holistic intervention to adults with mental health difficulties in Harrow.

The post-holder will be expected to work as a senior member of the multi-professional team, including the provision of consultation, co-working, teaching, training, supervision and research as well as developing specific training to enhance the systematic provision of psychological interventions offered to service users by all members of the team within a 'stepped-care' framework.

Specialist supervision is offered in EMDR, DBT, NET, CBT, Open Dialogue, CAT, systemic and psychodynamic models.

About us

CNWL provides NHS services throughout a person's life, in physical and mental health and everything in between, at GPs and hospitals to the community and in their own home.

The majority of our services are provided in the community, which means treating people in their homes or from clinics close to home. In this sense we are a very modern part of the NHS, something the new Long Term Plan wants to see more of, with better integration and coordination of care, delivered as close to home as possible

Where community care is not possible we offer a number of facilities to treat people in hospital or residential environments. We also provide healthcare in prisons in London and the surrounding areas.

Partnerships are central to what we do here - with patients and their families, with staff and with other organisations, especially commissioners and providers but also with local authorities, GPs, universities and the voluntary sector. We envisage more in the years to come.

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.

Details Date posted

16 May 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£51,883 to £58,544 a year per annum incl. HCAS

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

333-J-HA-0643

Job locations

Northwick Park Hospital, Mental Health Centre, HA1 3UJ, Harrow

Watford Road

Harrow

HA1 3UJ

Job description Job responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specifications for the details.

The post-holder will also be expected to take a leading role in the ongoing development of Harrow's Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIA) model for the adult mental health services. This approach has been established in Harrow acute services over the last six years, recently published (Nikopaschos et al. 2023) and now also influencing National Policy (see NHSE Guidelines for Acute Inpatient Mental Health Care for Adults and Older Adults, 2023).

Job description Job responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specifications for the details.

The post-holder will also be expected to take a leading role in the ongoing development of Harrow's Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIA) model for the adult mental health services. This approach has been established in Harrow acute services over the last six years, recently published (Nikopaschos et al. 2023) and now also influencing National Policy (see NHSE Guidelines for Acute Inpatient Mental Health Care for Adults and Older Adults, 2023).

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• oEntry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration.
• oRegistered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

• oFurther training and or qualifications in other fields of applied psychology

Experience Essential

• oExperience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs
• oExperience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature
• oExperience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience
• oExperience of developing and carrying out research projects

Desirable

• oExperience of working with adults in crisis services or acute states of distress, in Inpatient settings, PICU or forensic setting.
• oExperience of teaching, training and/ or supervision
• oExperience of working as a qualified psychologist under supervision

Knowledge Essential

• oTheoretical knowledge of psychological presentations and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
• oKnowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics
• oKnowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities
• oDoctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis
• oKnowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care
• oTo deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences
• oTo select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources

Skills Essential

• oTo communicate skillfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information
• oTo plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers, and for meetings such as CPA and case reviews
• oTo plan allocation of tasks to assistant psychologists
• oTo be skilled in the administration of psychometric and neuropsychological tests, including those that require complex manipulation of test materials
• oWell-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data

Person Specification Qualifications Essential

• oEntry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration.
• oRegistered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

• oFurther training and or qualifications in other fields of applied psychology

Experience Essential

• oExperience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs
• oExperience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature
• oExperience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience
• oExperience of developing and carrying out research projects

Desirable

• oExperience of working with adults in crisis services or acute states of distress, in Inpatient settings, PICU or forensic setting.
• oExperience of teaching, training and/ or supervision
• oExperience of working as a qualified psychologist under supervision

Knowledge Essential

• oTheoretical knowledge of psychological presentations and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
• oKnowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics
• oKnowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities
• oDoctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis
• oKnowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care
• oTo deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences
• oTo select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources

Skills Essential

• oTo communicate skillfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information
• oTo plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers, and for meetings such as CPA and case reviews
• oTo plan allocation of tasks to assistant psychologists
• oTo be skilled in the administration of psychometric and neuropsychological tests, including those that require complex manipulation of test materials
• oWell-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data

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 visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

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 (Opens in a new tab).

Additional information 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 visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

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 (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details Employer name

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Northwick Park Hospital, Mental Health Centre, HA1 3UJ, Harrow

Watford Road

Harrow

HA1 3UJ

Employer's website

https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/work (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details Employer name

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Northwick Park Hospital, Mental Health Centre, HA1 3UJ, Harrow

Watford Road

Harrow

HA1 3UJ

Employer's website

https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/work (Opens in a new tab)