Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

NHS; City Of London; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in London seeks a Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to provide specialist psychological services in a multidisciplinary team. The successful candidate will ensure the delivery of psychological assessments and interventions, while also taking a leadership role in crisis pathway operations. This fixed-term position emphasizes the need for substantial experience in acute mental health settings, alongside training and supervisory responsibilities.

Qualifications

• Substantial experience as a qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist.
• Research experience in complex mental health.
• Experience in training and supervising staff.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist psychological input to the Core 24 Psychiatric Liaison Service.
• Conduct systematic clinical psychological assessments and interventions.
• Train and supervise colleagues in psychological practices.

Skills

Psychological therapies

Communication skills

Research skills

Experience in therapy modalities

Supervision skills

Education

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

HCPC registration

Clinical supervision training

Breakaway Training

Tools

Basic IT packages

PowerPoint

Excel

Job description

Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

There is an exciting role for a Principal/Counselling Psychologist in Newham Psychiatric Liaison Service (PLS). The Principal Psychologist will deliver specialist psychological input and be part of the operational leadership of wider crisis pathway. The PLS provides specialist multidisciplinary assessment and signposting for people presenting with complex mental health difficulties attending at Accident and Emergency and in the acute hospital setting.

The principal psychologist will work as a senior member of the services to provide direct psychological input forservice users alongside training, support, supervision and formulation with colleagues to promote psychologically-informed conceptualisation andintervention across the system, including colleagues in A&E and the acute hospital.

This role is being offered 0.8 WTE for a fixed term/secondment of 12 months.

Main duties of the job

This post is responsible for ensuring the systematic provision of specialist psychological input to theCore 24 Psychiatric Liaison Service (PLS). The PLS service provides specialist multidisciplinaryassessment and management and signposting for people presenting with complex mental healthdifficulties attending at Accident and Emergency and in the acute hospital setting.The post holder will utilise research skills for audit, policy, research and quality improvement, andcontribute strongly to strategic service development for PLS.

Key Roles of the Job:1. Specialist psychological input to the Core 24 Psychiatric Liaison Service (PLS)2. Direct clinical work as part of the MDT- work as a senior member of the services to provide systematic specialist clinical psychological assessment, formulation, brief interventions, consultation and care planning as part of the multidisciplinary team.3. Indirect work (training, supervision and formulation) with colleagues.4. Being part of operational leadership of PLS and wider crisis pathway

About us

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job responsibilities

Principal/Counselling Psychologist: please see attached job description and person specification for further details on this post.

Person Specification

Education/ Qualification/ Training

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalence (statement of equivalence (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996)) and able to demonstrate eligibility for BPS CPsychol (Chartered Psychologist)
• HCPC registration
• Clinical supervision training for doctoral psychology trainees
• Breakaway Training
• Additional relevant clinical and/or managerial knowledge and skills acquired through formal training, long or short courses, formal supervision (individual and/or group), structured self-study or experience (or a combination of these) to an appropriate level approved by the Head of Psychology and demonstrated by certification, documented supervision logs, management appraisal documentation and/or assessment at interview.
• Further training in a neuropsychology Relevant specialist training or qualifications. Management training

Experience

• Substantial experience of working as a qualified Clinical or counselling Psychologist including substantial post-qualification experience within an acute/severe mental health setting. Well-developed experience of work with people with severe, complex and chronic mental health and physical health problems.
• Work within at least two therapy modalities
• Research experience
• Experience of teaching, training and supervising professional and clinical practice of qualified and unqualified staff
• Experience of liaison and joint work with other statutory agencies, including crisis management. Well-developed experience of work with people with severe, complex and chronic mental health problems
• Experience of working in Health psychology services, or neuropsychology services or older adults
• Experience of developing and delivering specialist training programmes.
• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi- disciplinary care Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.

Knowledge and Skills

• Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies with adult clients with psychosis and complex mental health needs.
• Communication & Relationship skills: Able to provide & receive highly complex, sensitive or contentious information in a highly emotive and sometimes hostile atmosphere, in a range of relationships and settings. Able to use highly specialist skills of empathy to overcome barriers to understanding and acceptance.
• Analytical & judgemental skills: Able to draw upon a broad theoretical knowledge base in the analysis of highly complex facts or situations to arrive at appropriate formulations. Able to compare and select from a range of treatment options, based on formulation.
• Planning and organisational skills: Able to plan, organise and prioritise own workload.
• Physical skills: Basic keyboard skills. Information resources: Able to record and report on as required clinical information. Competent in use of basic IT packages - word processing, e-mail and internet.
• Research & Guidance: Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis. Up to date knowledge of psychological research and national guidance relevant to patient group Knowledge of legislation and its implications for clinical practice with this client group.
• Cultural awareness: Aware of the potential impact of discrimination & disadvantage on mental health. Able to provide a cultural competent service.
• Flexibility: Able to be flexible and adapt approach according to need. Able to innovate on the basis of theoretical knowledge
• Information resources: Competent use of other IT packages e.g. PowerPoint, Excel and Access.
• Able to innovate on the basis of theoretical knowledge

Other

• Ability to travel independently across sites as required
• Ability to speak a local community language

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.

£64,455 to £74,896 a yearper annum pro rata Inc HCA