Senior High Intensity Therapist

NHS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 61,000 - 69,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading health service provider in Greater London is seeking a Senior Cognitive Behavioural Therapist to work in Ealing. The role involves providing psychological therapy, supervising staff, and engaging with various community initiatives. Ideal candidates will have a doctoral level qualification in clinical psychology or a related field, experience working with diverse populations, and a passion for improving mental health accessibility. Salary ranges from £61,631 to £68,623 per annum, including additional allowances.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Supervision and training support

Contribution to community initiatives

Qualifications

• Recorded/registered doctoral qualification in clinical psychology or counselling psychology.
• Experience supervising low-intensity therapists and working with diverse populations.

Responsibilities

• Provide supervision and support to other therapists.
• Engage with community to destigmatize mental health treatments.
• Conduct assessments and carry out clinical responsibilities for patient care.

Skills

Expertise in CBT modalities

Supervision skills

Effective communication

Education

Doctoral level qualification in clinical or counselling psychology

Post graduate diploma in psychological therapy

Job description

A full time Senior Cognitive Behavioural Therapist / Counselling Psychologist / Clinical Psychologist post has arisen in Ealing NHS Talking Therapies.

Ealing Talking Therapies is a dynamic and innovative service that is passionate about improving access to psychological therapies for the population it serves. The borough of Ealing comprises a diverse community. As a pathfinder site, we have achieved great success making psychological therapies culturally appropriate and accessible to the BME community. We operate from modern, purpose built premises and benefit from a large team of Assistant Psychologists, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWP), Counselling/Clinical Psychologists, and counsellors, many of whom have been with the service since the start.

We are currently involved in numerous exciting initiatives to engage hard to reach groups, such as people with long term health conditions and perinatal difficulties. This involves group therapy, outreach work, community engagement and creative workshops embedded in the community, de-stigmatising mental health. We are proud to be offering all of the Talking Therapies modalities: Eye-Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Behavioural Couples Therapy (BCT) and Couples Therapy, Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), and Counselling for Depression (CfD). Applicants trained in an additional modality are strongly encouraged to apply.

Main duties of the job

Supervision is an essential part of our success and high recovery rates. We have a number of different systems in place to develop your clinical skills. As well as weekly, individual supervision sessions we have a duty system available at all times to discuss any urgent issues. In addition there are daily assessments 'debrief' sessions to ensure that any new assessments are discussed immediately and decisions are made quickly to help move our service users along the most appropriate care pathway. The strong support combined with supervision from highly experienced supervisors makes Ealing Talking Therapies the ideal place to undertake your role as a qualified step 3 therapist.

There is a need to be able to work flexibly, based in different locations across Ealing and Southall. In order to provide a service which is accessible to our clients, all staff are required to provide one evening shift. We are particularly keen to hear from applicants who have a special interest in services for older adults, long term health conditions, the BME population and group work. A second language would be advantageous. The post holder would be expected to contribute to the development of the Talking Therapies service and provide supervision to other members of staff working in the service, mainly CBT therapists.

About us

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.

Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ over 5,000 staff, of whom 59% are BME. Our turnover for 2024-25 is over £500m.

The Trust is rated as 'Good' overallby the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as 'Outstanding'.

The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.

Job responsibilities

The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached

The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• A recorded/registered doctoral level qualification in clinical (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996)/ or counselling psychology/ a recorded/registered qualification in one of the following - nursing, social work, occupational therapy, arts therapy or a psychological therapy - plus further post graduate level diploma qualification training in a psychological therapy which may be CBT or another Talking Therapies appropriate evidence based therapy (i.e. IPT) to at least equivalent of a post graduate diploma and/or Qualification from High Intensity Talking Therapies Course (Post Graduate CBT Diploma) or Accredited as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist by the British Association of Cognitive & Behavioural Psychotherapies (BABCP) or nearing completion of accreditation process. Where relevant, professional registration with the appropriate Health Professions Council (HPC). Evidence of CPD as recommended by HPC/BPS/relevant professional regulatory body
• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology

Experience

• Experience of specialist Experience of supervising low- psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care / care psychology and/ or Talking Therapies service
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse. Formal specialist training in supervision of qualified psychologists/ psychological therapists and trainees
• Experience of training and supervising qualified and prequalification psychologists, and/or high intensity/ CBT therapists.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of patient groups across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, inpatient and residential care. Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for patients' psychological care and treatment, both as a clinician, supervisor and team co-ordinator. Experience of work in a multicultural setting, including working with interpreters.
• Experience of supervising low- intensity therapists
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts
• Experience of teaching pre-qualification psychological therapists and other NHS staff. Experience of representing psychology within the context of multidisciplinary care

Knowledge

• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Well-developed knowledge of evidence base for delivering high-intensity and low intensity interventions
• Knowledge of key NHS policy developments for psychological therapies and services generally and for Talking Therapies high/ low-intensity CBT in particular. Knowledge of legislation in relation to the specialism and mental health generally
• Working knowledge of the practices and approaches of other key disciplines, professions and agencies involved in the care and management network, including medical, employment, social, educational and criminal justice systems
• Well-developed knowledge of the theory and practice of CBT. Knowledge of service development issues including mental health and primary care mental health/ Talking Therapies

Skills

• Highly-developed skills in the effective communication of a range of settings within and outside the NHS . Highly-developed communication skills at overcoming barriers to understanding and acceptance
• Skills for facilitating communication in interventions with families and staff teams

Other Requirements

• Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours. Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and able to hold the stress of others Ability to effectively manage frequent exposure to highly distressing/ emotional circumstances
• Ability to manage effectively verbal aggression and abuse from patients, carers etc, and the risk of physical aggression. Ability to work creatively, cooperatively, reliably and consistently as an independent practitioner, as a manager and supervisor, and in multi-disciplinary and team settings. Demonstrably respectful. approach to patients, carers, colleagues, other professionals and professional contacts. Willingness to negotiate and ability to handle confrontation effectively and professionally

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.

£61,631 to £68,623 a yearper annum inclusive of HCAS (Outer)