Highly Specialist Clinical Forensic Psychologist

West London NHS Trust; London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust in London seeks a qualified clinical psychologist specializing in forensic practice. You will be responsible for managing complex cases, providing expert evaluation, and treatment in challenging clinical environments. Effective communication and interpersonal skills are essential, along with a commitment to the NHS values.

Qualifications

• Minimum one year as a qualified (specialist) psychologist in a forensic clinical setting.
• Post-doctoral training in psychological therapy techniques is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Provide treatment and support to patients in forensic settings.
• Assess and evaluate complex clinical situations and treatment options.
• Maintain high confidentiality and professionalism under stressful circumstances.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Research design knowledge

Crisis management

Education

Good honours degree in Psychology

Post-graduate doctorate in clinical psychology

Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council

Tools

SPSS

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

Skills

Essential criteria

• Able to provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive or highly contentious information, where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills such as would be required when communicating in a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere
• Able to make judgements involving highly complex facts or situations, which require the evaluation of a range of options (e.g. the assessment of specialist clinical conditions and the determination of treatment options), Where expert opinions may differ
• Able to plan, prioritise and organise own service user caseload, treatment programmes (individual or group) involving other staff, and other aspects of the work such as research activity
• Keyboard skills
• Post-graduate level knowledge of research design and methodology
• Able to maintain intense concentration frequently and for prolonged periods with unpredictable patients (e.g. in the assessment and treatment of mentally disordered offender patients)
• Able to function in potentially traumatic circumstances and in highly emotionally distressing circumstances on a frequent basis (e.g. in dealing with patients with serious mental illness, histories of homicide and serious violence, self-harm, sexual abuse)
• Able to provide services in environments with patients who are disturbed and sometimes violent and where the awareness of the risk of assault must always be maintained
• Able to "hold" the stress of patients compulsorily detained in a secure hospital
• Able to respond adaptably to rapidly changing service demands

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of SPSS

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Good honours degree (2:i minimum) in Psychology. Eligibility for graduate membership of BPS.
• Post-graduate doctorate in clinical / forensic / counselling psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or those in lateral transfer) as accredited by the BPS.
• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council

Desirable criteria

• Other related academic qualifications
• Training in clinical supervision for Doctoral, and equivalent, trainees
• Evidence of post-doctoral training in psychological therapy techniques

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working as a qualified (specialist) psychologist for a minimum of one year in a forensic clinical setting or equivalent (or some experience of working clinically in a forensic service or similar if applying for a Band 7 preceptorship)

Desirable criteria

• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience of having facilitated/co-facilitated psychological therapy groups
• Experience of working clinically with female service users in secure settings
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of administration, scoring and written interpretation of formal personality tools and/or neuropsychological assessments

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Advanced specialist knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of psychology applied to forensic clinical practice
• Completion of at least 1 year's supervised practice in specialist forensic clinical practice (or approximately 6 months for Band 7)
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and its implications for work with mentally disordered offenders

Desirable criteria

• Specialist knowledge of the assessment and treatment of trauma.
• Specialist theoretical and practical knowledge of the assessment and treatment of personality disorder and mental illness.

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

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

• Candidate Pack (DOCX, 684.6KB)