Senior Clinical Counselling Psychologist/Senior Psy Therapist

NHS; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS trust is seeking a Senior Clinical Counselling Psychologist to join their Therapies pathway in Milton Keynes. This role involves providing specialist psychological assessments and interventions, supervising staff, and developing treatment plans for complex emotional needs. Candidates must have doctoral-level training and MBT qualifications, and will be part of a dedicated team focused on patient-centered care.

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology required.
• Must have Anna Freud basic and practitioner MBT training.
• Registered qualification in health or allied health professions necessary.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist MBT psychological/therapeutic assessments.
• Lead on developing and delivering psychological interventions.
• Supervise colleagues and manage complex cases.

Skills

Psychological assessment

Therapeutic interventions

Risk assessment

Collaboration

Supervision

Education

Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology

Anna Freud basic and practitioner MBT training

Registered qualification in health or allied health professions

Job description

Go back Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Senior Clinical Counselling Psychologist/Senior Psy Therapist

The closing date is 30 May 2025

This role would be based within the Therapies pathway within the Hub. Therapies offer interventions in a stepped care approach for a wide range of needs, broadly summarised as mood problems, trauma, psychosis, and complex emotional needs (clients who may have attracted a diagnosis of personality disorder). We have a very established team working specifically with clients who present with complex emotional needs. This includes the delivery of MBT verbal, MBT art, and DBT.

This post is fundamental in supporting the MBT programme within our Therapies team. The role includes supervising MBT staff, managing waiting lists, supporting service development and being an experienced practitioner in this area, leading those who are newer to this model. Either verbal or art-based skills are valued. You would be supported by a team who values reflectivity, taking on challenges and placing the service user at the centre of care.

Please note, this post needs the clinician to have both basic and practitioner MBT training.

Main duties of the job

To provide specialist psychology/therapeutic MBT input to the service users referred to the team.

The post holder will work collaboratively with the leads for the pathways within the Mental Health Hub and other areas of the mental health service across Milton Keynes.

The post holder will lead on developing and delivering the brief and longer-term psychological interventions for service users.

A key part of the role will be evaluation and audit of the effectiveness of the team in reducing hospital admission and length of stay.

The post holder will be expected to be involved in the supervision of colleagues, where appropriate.

The post holder will be expected to develop the structures and skills necessary for all mental health workers to 'think psychologically' as a core philosophy of treatment delivery.

About us

We're passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patients own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people. Were always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee were hoping to find our future leaders and well support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career. With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.

Job responsibilities

To provide specialist MBT psychological/therapeutic assessments of service-users referred to the Therapies pathway upon appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources.

Toexercise autonomous professional responsibility for the formulation and implementation of plans for the formal psychological treatment and or management of a clients problems based upon an appropriate conceptual understanding of the service-users problems in the context of the family and wider system.

To act as a senior clinician within the team and to work with the more complex cases referred for specialist treatment.

To undertake risk assessment and risk management for allservice-users in attendance within the service, including the protective and risk factors present in the network of significant relationships.

To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions, specific to NICE Guidance for individuals and groups, adjusting and refining the formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuro-psychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies development psychology as accredited by the BPS.
• Anna Freud basic and practitioner MBT training
• A registered qualification in any of the health or allied health professions e.g. nurse, social worker, OT, therapist
• Current HCPC/NMC registeration

Other

• Valid drivers licence and the ability to drive to different bases.

Experience

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and formulation of complex mental health presentations including Trauma presentations
• Experience of working psychologically with people who have complex mental health problems, including trauma and personality disorder.
• Current experience of working in an NHS community mental health settings in secondary and tertiary care
• Experience of teaching, training and supervision.
• Experience of skills in group work.
• Experience of work with care-givers/families.
• Maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology or psychotherapy in different cultural contexts
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
• Experience in the use of risk assessment and the management of risk and crisis.
• Experience of working in MDT settings in particular the demonstrated ability to work jointly in assessment interventions with multidisciplinary team members.

Knowledge and Skills

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessment and intervention for people with mental health presentations

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.

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Milton Keynes Community Mental Health Hub, Stantonbury Health Centre

Milton Keynes Community Mental Health Hub, Stantonbury Health Centre