Specialist Psychologist in Gender

NHS; Remote; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in the UK is seeking a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist for its innovative Adult Gender Identity Service. This role involves delivering psychological assessments, therapeutic interventions and supporting a diverse team. Candidates should possess doctoral-level training in psychology and be registered with the Health Professions Council. Join a dedicated team committed to improving access to gender-affirming healthcare and make a significant impact in the lives of individuals navigating gender identity and mental health.

Benefits

Ongoing CPD and supervision

Opportunities to shape national service development

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology accredited by the BPS.
• Registration with Health Professions Council as Practitioner Psychologist.
• Assessed experience of working as a qualified psychologist at a specialist level.

Responsibilities

• Deliver specialist psychological assessments and therapeutic interventions.
• Supervise and support team members delivering psychologically informed care.
• Contribute to service development, audit and research.

Skills

Communication skills

Clinical supervision

Psychological assessment

Therapeutic interventions

Education

Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology

Registration with Health Professions Council

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Job summary

Are you passionate about inclusive, person‑centred care? Do you want to be part of a pioneering service supporting trans and gender‑diverse adults across Cheshire and Merseyside?

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is thrilled to offer an exciting opportunity for a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join Transcend, our innovative Adult Gender Identity Service. This is a unique chance to contribute to a growing, specialist service that is shaping the future of gender healthcare in the NHS.

About Transcend

Transcend supports individuals to explore their gender identity and any associated psychological needs through comprehensive assessments, direct therapeutic interventions, and collaborative care planning. We work holistically, recognising the intersection of gender identity with mental health, neurodiversity, trauma, and social wellbeing.

Our team is committed to delivering compassionate, evidence‑based care within an equality and human rights framework, and we are proud to be part of a national effort to improve access to gender‑affirming healthcare.

Why Join Us?

• Be part of a pioneering service supporting gender‑diverse adults
• Work in a team that values compassion, inclusion and innovation
• Access ongoing CPD, supervision and opportunities to shape national service development
• Make a real difference in the lives of individuals navigating gender identity and mental health

What You'll Be Doing

• Deliver specialist psychological assessments, formulations, and interventions for service users across all sectors of care
• Provide individual and group–based psychological therapies drawing on a range of models and approaches
• Supervise and support other team members delivering psychologically informed care
• Contribute to service development, audit and research, including the use of outcome measures and data to inform best practice
• Exercise autonomous clinical responsibility for assessment, treatment and discharge planning
• Support the development of policy and practice within the service
• Supervise trainee psychologists from Clinical and/or Counselling Psychology training programmes

Job responsibilities

Clinical

• Provide specialist psychological assessments of service users referred to the team, integrating complex data from tests, self‑report measures, rating scales, observations and interviews with service users, families and other professionals.
• Formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a service user's psychological problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework.
• Implement a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models.
• Evaluate, monitor progress and make skilled decisions about treatment options, taking into account theoretical and therapeutic models and complex factors.
• Exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of service users whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
• Exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment and treatment of service users whose problems are managed by psychologically based enhanced care plans.
• Provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to service users' formulation, diagnosis and treatment plans.
• Ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding and care of service users.
• Undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual service users and provide general and specialist advice on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• Communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, conveying complex information about assessment, formulation and treatment plans where there may be conflicting views, high emotion and significant barriers to understanding and change.
• Provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team.

Teaching, Training and Supervision

• Receive regular clinical professional supervision from a senior clinical psychologist and, where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
• Provide clinical placements for trainee clinical and/or counselling psychologists, ensuring that trainees acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience.
• Provide post‑qualification training (CPD) and clinical professional supervision to qualified clinical psychologists and other psychological services staff.
• Provide advice, consultation and training and clinical supervision to other members of the team for their provision of psychologically based interventions.
• Provide pre‑ and post‑qualification teaching of clinical/counselling psychologists and/or other psychological services staff as appropriate.
• Maintain and develop skills in the area of professional pre‑ and post‑graduate training and clinical supervision.
• Provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the service user group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.

Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development

• Manage the workloads of Assistants, Trainees and recently qualified psychological services staff, where appropriate, within the framework of the Clinical Business Units and teams/services service policies and procedures.
• Support senior clinicians in the development of a high‑quality, responsive and accessible service including advising both service and professional management on psychological and/or organisational matters.
• Exercise delegated responsibility for managing the psychological resources available to a team.
• Exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the team.
• Participate as appropriate in staff recruitment, both in the short‑listing process and as a member of interview panels, for assistants, trainees and recently qualified psychological services staff.
• Act up for line manager as appropriate.
• Make full use of IT packages available within the work area, for example, Microsoft Office, email, internet and statistical packages.

Service Governance

• Support the psychology lead, as a senior clinician, in the evaluation, monitoring and development of the team's operational policies.
• Utilise theory, evidence‑based literature and research to support evidence‑based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
• Undertake appropriate research as agreed with Operational and Professional managers and provide research advice to team colleagues undertaking research.
• Initiate project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within and across the service.
• Undertake a defined role in local Service Governance structures as agreed.

General

• Ensure the development, maintenance and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice through active participation in CPD training and development programmes.
• Ensure the development and articulation of best practice in psychology within the team and contribute across the service.
• Maintain and promulgate the highest standards of clinical record keeping, report writing and professional self‑governance in accordance with professional codes of practice.
• Maintain up‑to‑date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to the specific client group and mental health.
• Perform other duties of a similar kind appropriate to the grade, which may be required by their operational manager after consultation.

Person Specification – Qualifications

Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology accredited by the BPS or its approved equivalent.
• Registration with Health Professions Council as Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

• Post‑doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice.
• Post‑graduate training and learning in the specific area of specialist knowledge and expertise (or working toward).

Person Specification – Knowledge/Experience

Essential

• Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical/counselling psychologist at a specialist level for a significant period.
• Significant experience of representing psychology within the context of multi‑disciplinary care.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multi‑disciplinary care plan.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
• Expertise in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, formulation, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Understanding of the philosophy and principles of care underpinning gender healthcare.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex, multivariate data analysis.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Formal training and experience in delivering clinical supervision to qualified and non‑qualified psychologists.
• Knowledge of IT systems including word processing, email and local electronic patient information systems.
• Attended Quality Improvement training.
• Engagement in audit, service development and/or reflective practice highlighting areas of practice that have changed as a result of this process.

Desirable

• Experience of assessing and treating clients across the full range of care settings.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of working in the designated service area.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in gender healthcare and in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g., personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities).
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.

Person Specification – Skills

• Well developed and effective communication skills, oral and written, to communicate complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, families, carers and professional colleagues.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non‑professional groups.
• Ability to self‑reflect, use clinical supervision appropriately and consider complex organisational and team dynamics.
• Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to distressing situations.
• Ability to identify and employ clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi‑media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability and willingness to travel across the Trust.

Person Specification – Values

• Continuous Improvement
• Accountability
• Respectfulness
• Enthusiasm
• Support
• High professional standards
• Responsive to service users
• Engaging leadership style
• Strong customer service belief
• Transparency and honesty
• Discreet
• Change oriented

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 to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.

Employer details

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

151 Dale St, Liverpool, L2 2AH

Employer's website

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/