Mental Health Homelessness Senior Psychologist/Psychotherapist

Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust; Canterbury; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading mental health service provider in Canterbury is seeking a Senior Psychologist specializing in homelessness care. The role involves conducting psychological assessments and therapy for vulnerable adults, requiring a strong clinical background and a valid UK driving licence. The successful candidate will engage in risk assessments, collaborative interventions, and ensure high standards of care. Join a team that is passionate about mental health and committed to improving well-being across the community.

Benefits

Supportive team environment

Career development opportunities

Commitment to diversity and inclusion

Qualifications

• Full, valid UK driving licence and access to a vehicle.
• Ability to practice as a psychologist/psychotherapist with senior level experience.
• Strong skills in direct and indirect psychological interventions.

Responsibilities

• Participate in clinical supervision and negotiate training with the Head of Speciality.
• Ensure proper data collection on clinical work activities.
• Implement psychologically informed treatment plans based on evidence-based practice.
• Conduct risk assessments and manage psychological aspects of client care.

Skills

Psychological therapeutic interventions

High quality assessment and therapeutic skills

Consultative and advisory abilities

Education

Registered psychologist/psychotherapist

Tools

Clinical record-keeping

Job description

Overview

A Vacancy at Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust.

Please note, at this stage, the role is open only to internal staff (including NHSP and Agency staff currently on placement within our organisation) and staff substantively employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). Any individual who is at risk of redundancy will be given priority, provided they meet the essential criteria.

We are seeking a highly motivated Mental Health Homelessness Senior Psychologist/Psychotherapist. The post holder will be part of the Kent and Medway Homelessness Service, which provides screening and assessment of physical and mental health to homeless and vulnerably housed adults in the East Kent area.

The service is based on an outreach model and is delivered through a range of outreach activities and venues and links with other key health, social and voluntary agencies.

The post holder must hold a full, valid UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated ‘Good’ by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year. Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It’s why we’re passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

Join us - if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together.

Responsibilities

• To participate in regular clinical supervision receiving professional support appropriate to the newly qualified grade and to negotiate further specialist supervision, development and training with the Head of Speciality including training in advanced supervision skills.
• To work within the Code of Ethics and the relevant professional practice guidelines of the relevant recognised professional body and the professional guidance framework of the Trust.
• To work within the framework of the policies and procedures of the Trust.
• To be responsible for the relevant data collection on work activities, as required, and to maintain a high standard of clinical record keeping.
• To participate fully in supporting the activities of the Psychological Therapies Services within the Trust, including attending relevant meetings.
• Be responsible for ensuring a regular process of review is in place to detect incidents that indicate adverse quality of care, and triangulate
• To formulate and implement plans of brief psychologically informed treatment or management of client’s mental health problems based on a multi-factorial psychological understanding and current evidence-based best practice.
• To undertake a range of psychological therapeutic interventions, drawing on a range of psychological models and employing a range of modalities (individual, family and group) adapted and tailored to the needs of the individual and the context and the ongoing evaluation of the outcomes of the intervention.
• To be responsible for providing a specialist psychological perspective in the assessment of service users and their families and contribute specialist psychological advice and support regarding referral decisions for mental health intervention.
• To contribute highly specialist psychological advice to the multi-disciplinary formulation of appropriate therapeutic approaches or intervention plans, and to be involved in, or oversee specialist psychological aspects of their implementation in collaboration with other staff.
• To undertake psychologically based risk assessment and risk management for relevant clients and provide advice on the psychological aspects of risk to the Mental Health Homelessness Serviceservice.
• To consult with and provide specialist psychological guidance to carers and families of service users.
• To take substantial professional responsibility and exercise autonomous professional judgement with regard to their professional practice.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Full, valid UK driving licence and access to a car/vehicle for business purposes (unless exempt due to Equality Act 2010).
• Be registered with the relevant professional body and able to practice as a psychologist/psychotherapist with the appropriate senior level of experience as applicable to the role.
• Ability to undertake high quality direct (assessment and therapeutic) and indirect (consultative, advisory and evaluative) specialist psychology interventions.

Additional Information

Please refer to the attached job description for the full details on the responsibilities and person specification.

We are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.

This advert closes on Friday 12 Dec 2025