Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Therapist

West London NHS Trust; London; On-site; GBP 61,000 - 69,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading NHS provider in London is seeking a Specialist Clinical Psychologist for part-time work in acute mental health services. The role involves providing psychological therapy, assessment, and team supervision within a supportive environment focused on trauma-informed care. Candidates should possess doctoral-level training and relevant experience in mental health settings, with a commitment to service improvement.

Qualifications

• Experience in mental health settings delivering specialist psychological assessment.
• Training in psychological therapies relevant to severe mental health difficulties.
• Post qualification experience working across a range of mental health settings.

Responsibilities

• Providing comprehensive psychological therapies to the acute ward.
• Collaborating with the multi-disciplinary team for safe, trauma-informed care.
• Supervising clinical psychology trainees and contributing to service development.

Skills

Clinical Assessment

Psychological Intervention

Supervision

Cultural Competency

Education

Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology

Professional registration with Health and Care Professions Council

Job description

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Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Therapist

Band 8a

Main area Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist/Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Practitioner Grade Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours 22.5 hours per week (Part time - 22.5 hours per week) Job ref 222-H&F-AMHS-315

Site H and F Mental Health Unit Town London Salary £61,927 - £68,676 per annum pro rata inclusive of 20% HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 12/06/2025 23:59

West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.

We also provide some specialist services that are commissioned regionally, such as our medium secure services; and nationally, such as the Cassel Hospital for people with complex and severe personality disorder and our high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.

Job overview

Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist/Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Practitioner

(Band 8a 0.6 22.5 hours/week)

Acute Mental Health Services, based at Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health Unit

We are looking for an experienced psychological professional, with enthusiasm for working in acute mental health services. The post offers a unique opportunity to work on a male ward that is part of Culture of Care, a national quality improvement programme centred in safe, trauma informed, therapeutic and equity focused patient care.

The post-holder will work collaboratively with the ward’s multi-disciplinary team, providing assessment, formulation and brief interventions to service users and their families. Reflective practice, team formulation, consultation and post incident support are an integral part of the psychological therapies service. They will also supervise clinical psychology trainees and Masters students.

The post holder will join a welcoming psychological therapies team, and we encourage applications from experienced therapists who may have not worked in acute mental health services but who have enthusiasm for and interest in developing a career in these unique services and settings.

Main duties of the job

Providing a full and comprehensive psychological therapies service to the acute ward, including assessments, formulation and brief interventions for service users and their families.

Be an integrated member of the multi-disciplinary team to ensure the approach to care is safe, formulation driven and trauma informed.

Developing the multi-disciplinary team’s psychological understanding through teaching, team formulation, consultation and supervision.

Contribute to the implementation of RAID, a psychological approach to working with behaviours that challenge, through facilitation of training and embedding this into MDT practice. This is part of our service priorities on reducing restrictive practice through implementing our Positive and Caring Environments strategy.

To be proactively involved in the quality improvement programme for Culture of Care.

Opportunity for service development and research.

Working for our organisation

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.

Detailed job description and main 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

TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS

• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology or its equivalent, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS and/or Accredited CBT therapist with the BABCP and/or UKCP Registered / BACP (accred.) psychotherapist with a Level 7 psychotherapy qualification
• Professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council or UKCP / BACP.
• Training in clinical supervision for doctoral, and equivalent, trainees
• Evidence of post-qualifying training in psychological therapies relevant to severe and enduring mental health difficulties including for example DBT/ CBT-P/ EMDR / SCM / Systemic Practice.
• Training in the supervision of psychological therapies.

EXPERIENCE

• Post qualification experience of working in mental health settings delivering specialist psychological assessment, formulation and interventions across a range of settings including community, primary care, inpatient, crisis services
• Experience of working with a wide range of client groups across the whole life course presenting with a range of psychological difficulties.
• Post qualification experience and/or training in working with adults affected by psychological trauma
• Experience of providing clinical supervision to assistant/trainee or qualified psychologists/psychological therapists, and/or other professionals.
• EExperience of the application of psychology / psychotherapy in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
• Experience of working in acute mental health services (inpatient wards, HTT, crisis intervention services, psychiatric liaison).
• Experience of having facilitated/co-facilitated psychological therapy groups.
• Experience of facilitating reflective practice to teams
• Experience of providing clinical supervision to qualified therapists and non-psychology colleagues
• Experience of service development/change leadership.
• Experience of working with interpreters

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, formulation, intervention and management.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to service users, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Post-graduate knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology / psychotherapy.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS / BABCP / UKCP / BACP.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific psychological problems (e.g. personality difficulties and dual diagnosis).
• Knowledge and awareness of the trauma informed approach.
• Knowledge of racial and other diversity issues and factors impacting access to mental health care and the use of restrictive practices
• Advanced specialist knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of psychology / psychotherapy applied to clinical practice.
• Able to provide and receive sensitive information with empathy and transparency
• Able to make appropriate clinical judgements in complex situations.
• Skills in administering psychological tests and standardised assessments
• Knowledge of quality improvement methodology
• Knowledge of the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act.
• Knowledge of the NHS Leadership Framework and Positive Leadership Models
• Knowledge of Culture of Care.
• Knowledge of RAID.

Physical Effort

• Able to sit for extended periods of time while demonstrating active listening skills.
• Able to maintain light physical effort for short periods.

Mental Effort

• Ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism in the face of exposure to highly emotive material and behaviour that challenges
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations including working with people affected by trauma.
• Ability to work independently and under pressure. Adaptable and able to work flexibly to respond to the service needs/priorities.

OTHER

• Knowledge of and commitment to the professional code of conduct of the BPS / BABCP / UKCP / BACP.
• Capable of being guided by policies, procedures and codes of conduct.
• Able to reflect on and learn from own professional practice.
• Willing to participate actively in CPD in line with professional body guidance
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance to support and maintain clinical practice.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of multi-media materials.
• Record of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books

As an employee of West London NHS Trust, you have a responsibility to maintain a sound understanding of, and a commitment to uphold the National Health Service values and principles set out in the NHS Constitution.

We reserve the right to close adverts prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to West London NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, you will be required to undergo a pre-employment checks which can take between 4-8 weeks . After which your information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system (ESR ).

Please ensure you include email addresses for your referees which MUST be at supervisory or managerial capacity covering the last 3 years of employment to date to avoid delay in the recruitment process.

West London NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We encourage the thoughtful use of technology as a demonstration of strong time management and a commitment to innovation. However, we encourage applicants to personalise their recruitment application to showcase their unique skills and experiences.

While AI-generated content can be a helpful tool, relying solely on generic responses instead of highlighting your own strengths and achievements may impact the success of your application. The success of an application will always be assessed against the essential and desirable criteria for the role, so it is important to ensure that your application and any supporting information clearly demonstrate how you meet these requirements.

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.

At West London NHS Trust, we want you to support you to build a career you can be proud of and this starts before your first day with us. Our people live our values every day as they deliver, manage and work to improve our services to patients, carers, families and other professionals.

We’re committed to making our recruitment process clear and efficient. It’s in everyone’s interest that we get the very best people on board as soon as we can.