Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist or CB Psychotherapist

South West London and St Georges Mental Health Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 44,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A mental health organization in Greater London seeks a Clinical / Counselling Psychologist or CBT Therapist for the National OCD/BDD Service. This role includes delivering high-intensity therapy, conducting detailed assessments, and mentoring other therapists. The selected candidate will work autonomously within a multidisciplinary team to support patients facing severe OCD and BDD. A Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or an equivalent is required. This position offers opportunities for career development and flexible working arrangements.

Benefits

Career development opportunities

Flexible working arrangements

Positive working environment

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in providing high intensity CBT for severe OCD/BDD.
• Ability to provide clinical supervision and training to other therapists.
• Strong understanding of mental health assessments and evidence-based interventions.

Responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive assessments for adult patients with OCD/BDD.
• Formulate and implement treatment plans based on evidence-based frameworks.
• Conduct risk assessments and provide advice on psychological aspects.

Skills

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Patient assessment

Risk assessment

Clinical supervision

Education

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent

Job description

A Vacancy at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

We are seeking a passionate and dedicated Clinical / Counselling Psychologist or CBT Therapist to join our highly respected National OCD/BDD Service at Springfield Hospital. This is a unique opportunity to work at the forefront of specialist care for individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

The National OCD/BDD Inpatient Service at Springfield University Hospital, operated by South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, provides intensive, specialist care for adults experiencing severe and treatment-resistant Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). As part of a nationally commissioned specialist consortium, the service plays a vital role in supporting individuals across the UK who have not responded to conventional treatments.

Located on Seacole Ward, a 14-bed mixed-gender facility for adults aged 18 and over (with no upper age limit), the unit offers a structured, evidence-based six-month treatment programme. This programme is delivered by a highly skilled multidisciplinary team, including specialist nursing staff, and is designed to address OCD and BDD alongside complex comorbidities—ensuring a holistic and person-centred approach to recovery.

To provide a specialist cognitive behavioural assessment and therapy service to patients referred to the National Service for OCD/BDD. This will include offering advice and consultation on patients' psychological care to other healthcare workers throughout the UK. The post holder will be expected to work within recognised professional guidelines and the overall framework of the Trust's policies and procedures. The post holder is expected to contribute to the training of cognitive behavioural psychotherapists in delivering effective, evidence-based specialist psychological interventions and to utilise their research and training skills for effective audit and service development within the service. An important part of the role will be to offer clinical and professional supervision to cognitive behavioural psychotherapists in the National OCD BDD Service. Finally, jointly with the Consultant Psychiatrist Lead for the service and the team manager the post-holder will lead on strategic service changes and improvements to processes and practice as required.

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti-racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co‑produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Key Responsibilities

• To provide a comprehensive specialist assessment and high intensity therapeutic service for adult patients with OCD/BDD. These patients will be referred nationally by other secondary and tertiary services, and most interventions will be based on evidence based cognitive behaviour therapy principles, working within the context of the agreed policies and procedures of the specialist services.
• To identify the nature, severity and complexity of adult patients' mental health problems, and to advise both patients and their referrers on appropriate management of those problems, enabling referral to other highly specialist services and/or non‑statutory services where appropriate.
• To formulate and implement plans for the intensive CBT treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client's problems, and employing methods of intervention that are based upon evidence of treatment efficacy.
• To make appropriate use of specialist assessments of patients' mental health, including structured and semi‑structured interviews, questionnaires, rating scales and guided inquiry methods.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other clinicians in Secondary and Primary Care on psychological aspects of risk assessment, including the risk of self‑harm.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, couple or family.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the efficiency of all aspects of the service, including assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are within the service remit.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during their treatment within the national service.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are within the service remit.

This advert closes on Sunday 14 Dec 2025