Job summary
Employer heading
Highly Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
Band 8a
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
Exciting new opportunity for Clinical/Counselling Psychologists in the MINT teams in Ealing, West London NHS Trust
We are seeking a Band 8a Clinical or Counselling psychologist to work in one of our new Mental Health Integrated Network (MINT) teams. These teams are innovative and cover both primary and secondary care adult mental health provision. The post involves providing psychological assessments and treatment to adults with a wide range of problems, including Personality Difficulties, Complex Trauma, Psychosis and other mood disorders. It also involves broader liaison and joint working with services including IAPT and external agencies to deliver on supporting psychological needs in a variety of ways.
The post-holder will hold a lead role in ensuring that all members of multidisciplinary teams have access to a psychologically informed way of thinking and formulation about different client groups. This includes having a lead role in ensuring the delivery of psychological treatments alongside providing consultation, facilitating joint work and contributing to the dissemination of psychological research and theory.
Furthermore, they will offer clinical supervision and line management to less senior members of the psychology team.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will have oversight of the psychology team, which works closely with three MDTs in Ealing. S/he would be expected to contribute to the development and delivery of treatment pathways within these teams, and to support the teams more generally in formulating and caring for service users.
The psychology team aims to offer a range of evidence-based treatments for the aforementioned disorders, including EMDR, DBT, and CBT for psychosis. Training in all these therapies is made available, delivered by expert external providers, and supported with the necessary specialist supervision.
This post is a leadership post within the wider MINT psychology team, covering the three MINT teams in Ealing. The psychology team includes clinical and counselling psychologists, CBT therapists, and clinical associate psychologists, as well as students and trainees. We work together in delivering evidence based group therapies and fostering space for reflective practice. You will also develop close working relationships with other local psychologists in related services.
As already mentioned, there is an excellent CPD programme. Training is available in therapies such as EMDR and DBT, which can lead to accreditation in these therapies. We can also support training in other models to support your personal and professional development where it will enhance the service we are able to offer to our service users.
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’ overall by 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
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Post-graduate doctorate in clinical or counselling psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or those in lateral transfer) as accredited by the BPS.
- Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
- Training in clinical supervision for doctoral, and equivalent, trainees
Desirable criteria
- Other related academic and post-graduate qualifications
- Evidence of post-doctoral training in psychological therapy techniques (i.e. EMDR, CBT for psychosis, DBT)
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working as a qualified (specialist) psychologist in a relevant clinical setting
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
- Experience of having facilitated/co-facilitated psychological therapy groups
Desirable criteria
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of administration, scoring and written interpretation of psychometric / neuropsychological tests
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Advanced specialist knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of psychology applied to clinical practice
- Completion of supervised practice in specialist clinical practice
- Specialist theoretical and practical knowledge of the assessment and treatment of complex mental health problems
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of relevant legislation and its implications for work in relevant setting
Skills
Essential criteria
- Able to provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive or highly contentious information, where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills such as would be required when communicating in a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere.
- Able to make judgements involving highly complex facts or situations, which require the evaluation of a range of options (e.g. the assessment of specialist clinical conditions and the determination of treatment options), Where expert opinions may differ
- Able to plan, prioritise and organise own service user caseload, treatment programmes (individual or group) involving other staff, and other aspects of the work such as research activity
- Able to use database, word processing and test administration/scoring software
- Able to sit for lengthy periods of time while demonstrating active listening skills
- Able to maintain intense concentration frequently and for prolonged periods
- Able to function in highly emotionally distressing circumstances on a frequent basis (e.g. in dealing with service users with serious mental illness, histories of homicide and serious violence, self-harm, sexual abuse)
Desirable criteria
- Working knowledge of SPSS
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of the professional code of conduct of the BPS
- Must be capable of being guided by precedent, clearly defined policies, procedures and codes of conduct
- Able to reflect on own professional practice
- Willing to participate actively in CPD in line with BPS guidelines
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain 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 suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework
- Record of having published in either peer reviewed or academic or professional journals and/or books
Applicant requirements
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Dimitra Lorentzatou
- Job title
- Psychology Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
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