Clinical / Counselling Psychologist or Allied Health Professional

This is an exciting opportunity for a HCPC registered Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or an Allied Health professional with experience in MBT to join the Newham Mentalisation Based Therapy Service. The post is a fixed term, 0.8 band 7 post covering maternity leave. The service offers a full MBT program to individuals with Complex Emotional Needs. Candidates with past experience in working therapeutically with individuals with complex mental health needs are welcome to apply. Past experience in MBT treatment is preferable. This post is an exciting opportunity for individuals look to develop their clinical experience in a small and supportive team environment. In addition to offering clinical interventions, you may be involved in other service development initiatives including consultation to other services, improving the offer to families and young people, and outreach work to community teams within the borough. MBT in Newham is a team based approach. We would like to hear from candidates who value working as part of a reflective, in-person team. Service Users are discussed regularly and the team collaborates closely around care planning. We would welcome applications from people who are reflective and can consider the therapeutic relationship and the impact the work has on them.

Main duties of the job

To provide a clinical service to patients open to the Newham Mentalisation Based Therapy Service and to provide expert support and advice to other members of the team. The role will require the post holder to: Undertake psychological assessment of patients referred to the Mentalisation Based Therapy Service and provide specialist reports to referrers and patients Formulate and implement appropriate treatment plans and provide specialist Mentalisation-Based therapy to patients under the care of the service To offer individual and group interventions to individuals with Complex Emotional Needs. To engage with both individual and group supervision, reflective practice further professional development in Mentalisation Based Therapy, Please note, a requirement of this role is to work on Fridays. The post is also a fixed term contract, from November 2026 to November 2027. The contract will end in November 2027. As such, if recruitment into the role is beyond November 2026, the contract will still complete in November 2027.

• Doctorate in Clinical / Counselling Psychology or equivalence (statement of equivalence and able to demonstrate eligibility for BPS CPsychol (Chartered Psychologist) or allied professional with experience in MBT
• HCPC registration or equivalent (for Allied Health Professionals), Training in MBT
• Further training in a therapeutic modality relevant to personality disorder, Experience in working with patients with complex personality presentations (i.e. 'Personality Disorder') and/or risk of self-harm.
• Experience of delivering therapeutic interventions to individuals with Complex Emotional Needs.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team offering support to adults with severe and enduring mental health problems.
• Experience of group work., Experience of delivering training/consultation and providing clinical supervision.
• Work within at least two therapeutic modalities.
• Experience of the application of psychology/therapy in different cultural contexts, Skills in psychological assessment, intervention and management, including the use of theoretical models to develop formulations upon which to base choice of treatment.
• Skills in the effective communication of technical and/or clinically sensitive information to a wide variety of recipients in a range of settings within and outside the NHS, including the ability to produce comprehensive and coherent letters, reports and associated documentation.
• Skills in the assessment of risk for patients with mental health problems and specifically for patients with complex Emotional Needs
• Capacity to work calmly and thoughtfully when working with traumatic psychological issues, demonstrating an awareness of the sensitivity and unpredictability of patients with complex needs, and a capacity to tolerate the strong emotions evoked by such work
• Knowledge and understanding of diagnosis of Personality Disorder.
• Evidence of CPD
• Competence in advanced IT packages including keyboard skills.
• Ability to provide a culturally-competent and non-stigmatising service including an awareness of the potential impact of discrimination and disadvantage on mental health.
• Knowledge of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult - to - treat groups (e.g. complex needs, self harm, personality disorder/psychosis, dual diagnosis, persons with additional disabilities etc)., Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Some knowledge and understanding of psychoanalytic models and developmental processes associated with Personality Disorder (eg: Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP), Mentalization-based Treatment (MBT)., Ability to manage effectively verbal aggression and abuse from service users, carers etc, and the risk of physical aggression.
• Demonstrably respectful approach to service users, carers, colleagues, other professionals and professional contacts. Willingness to negotiate and ability to handle confrontation effectively and professional
• Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.