Principal Practitioner Psychologist or Psychotherapist

Maudsley Learning; London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 81,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading NHS trust seeks a Principal Practitioner Psychologist or Psychotherapist to provide critical mental health services for rough sleepers in London. The role involves leading psychological therapy efforts, working within a supportive multidisciplinary team, aiming to improve outcomes for marginalized individuals faced with severe mental health issues. This position offers a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact while being part of an innovative and specialized mental health service.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Professional development opportunities

Supportive team environment

Qualifications

• Recognised qualification in core mental health professions or equivalent experience.
• Post-qualification training in a specialised area of psychological practice.
• Evidence of experience in clinical specialist roles.

Responsibilities

• Lead psychology service for people with severe mental health problems who are rough sleeping.
• Develop and coordinate systematic provision of psychological therapy.
• Provide clinical supervision and consultation for team members.

Skills

Psychological therapy

Multi-disciplinary teamwork

Consultation

Education

Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology

Post-graduate qualification in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy

Job description

Principal Practitioner Psychologist or Psychotherapist

NHS AfC: Band 8b

Main area Psychiatry Grade NHS AfC: Band 8b Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week Job ref 334-CLI-7084318-A

Site 190 Kennington Lane Town Southwark Salary £70,387 - £80,465 per annum incl. of HCAs pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 17/06/2025 23:59

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role.We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to work within the South Thames Assessment Resource and Treatment Homeless Outreach Team (START). START is a multi-award winning service that has provided specialist mental health care to people who are rough sleeping in South London for over 30 years.

The successful post holder will join our Lambeth and Southwark teams as Principal Practitioner Psychologist or Psychotherapist (8b). These are small specialist multi-disciplinary teams, which also include psychiatric nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, administrators, psychiatrists, trainee psychologists and GP trainees. We provide an Assertive Outreach service to some of the most marginalised people in the local community. There is a supportive atmosphere to the team, where psychological therapies are a valued and an integral part of the service.

We expect the successful applicant to be highly motivated to work in this service area and be passionate about using psychological therapy approaches to improve outcomes for people affected by homelessness. We welcome applicants with lived experience of mental health difficulties.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will lead a psychology and psychotherapy service to adults who are rough sleeping (or have a recent history of rough sleeping) in the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, who have ‘severe and enduring’ mental health problems and find it difficult to engage with mainstream mental health services. Many people the team assess and work with will have additional needs, including alcohol/substance use, learning disability/acquired brain injury/social communication difficulties, and seeking asylum/complications with immigration.

We work closely with local homeless charities and third sector organisations, providing consultation, training, direct joint assessment, and ongoing care. The role involves a lot of creative outreach, carefully building relationships with people who are understandably wary of professionals.

Usual working hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm – some flexibility to work out of hours on occasion will be expected.

Working for our organisation

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.

SLaM employ around 5000 staff and serve a local population of 1.1 million people. We have more than 230 services including inpatient wards, outpatient and community services. Currently, provide inpatient care for approximately 5,300 people each year and treat more than 45,000 patients in the community in Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark.

By coming to work at SLaM, you will gain experience of being part of an organisation with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care. You will have access to professional development and learning opportunities, and have the chance to work alongside people who are world leaders in their field. SLaM delivered more than 14,000 training experiences in 2014; providing an extensive range of learning opportunities for staff at all levels.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

· To develop, co-ordinate and ensure the systematic provision of a psychological therapy service for the START (Homeless Outreach Team) and personally provide highly specialist clinical input.

· To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.

· To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate, functioning as a lead specialist for the START (Homeless Outreach) Team.

· To ensure that systems are in place and working effectively for the clinical and professional supervision and support of other psychological practitioners.

· To promote service evaluation, audit, research and policy development.

· To work as an autonomous professional within registration body guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by principles and policies or procedures of the service, taking responsibility for interpreting policies within defined parameters.

· To agree outcomes/results with clinical/professional lead and to decide how they are best achieved.

· To support the coordination of staff support within their area, working closely with Corporate Psychology and Psychotherapy to support colleagues and ensure all staff in SLaM have access to evidence based support. To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate.

Person specification

Qualifications

• To have undertaken a recognised qualification in one of the core mental health professions, e.g. psychiatric nursing, clinical psychology, medicine, social work and occupational therapy OR to have equivalent relevant experience and demonstrable competence to work in the mental health field in the NHS. Entry-level qualification in applied psychological therapy/mental health/social welfare profession or equivalent and demonstrable practice in this field (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level/supervised practice/additional training) that has been accepted for the purposes of professional registration.
• For Psychologists: · Entry-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. (A/I) (for a job requiring specific professional qualification(s), change this point to specify the required qualification(s): Clinical psychologist: Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent; Counselling psychologist: MSc and PG Diploma in Counselling Psychology; Forensic psychologist: MSc in Forensic Psychology plus completion of the British Psychological Society’s Qualification in Forensic Psychology Stage 2) For Family / Systemic Psychotherapists: Post-graduate qualification in relevant mental health/social welfare profession and demonstrable practice in this field (A/I) PLUS Masters level qualification in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy or equivalent qualification, accredited by UKCP For Psychotherapists: Entry-level qualification in Psychotherapy that has been accepted by the UKCP/BABCP (specify which, according to nature of post) for purposes of professional registration.
• Additional training beyond entry-level qualification in a specialised area of psychological practice (specify options required by the post) through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses and/an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice–based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by a registered body and/or an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma or higher.

Experience

• Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in services for people with psychosis and other complex mental health difficulties, including co-morbid substance misuse.
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature including, but limited to, psychosis and substance misuse.
• Experience of supervising assistants and trainees having completed the relevant training.
• Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities.
• Experience of providing teaching and training to psychological practitioners or other professional groups.

Knowledge

• Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment – CBT for psychosis and the application of CBT to work with patients with other complex mental health difficulties and co-morbid substance misuse.
• Advanced knowledge of the theory of psychological therapy and it’s therapeutic application.
• To select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources.
• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.
• To deliver psychological/psychotherapeutic therapy across cultural and other differences

Skills

• Administration of psychometric and neuropsychological tests, including those that require complex manipulation of test materials.
• Consultation skills to work with the multi-professional team or other professional groups and sensitively managing, a number of people’s needs simultaneously within the context of therapeutic work/consultation.
• Advanced skills in working with a number of clients and systems together, managing the highly complex emotional relationships within and between the component parts of the systems in ways, which maximise the potential for therapeutic outcomes
• Advanced skills in professional supervision; including skills for offering live supervision of multi-disciplinary colleagues.

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

• That all applications for this post will need to be made online
• That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe’

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.