Senior Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/ CBT Therapist in City of London

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With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more – whatever stage of your career you’re at, there’s always a place for you at CNWL.

Senior Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/ CBT Therapist

NHS AfC: Band 8a

Main area Psychologist Grade NHS AfC: Band 8a Contract 12 months (Fixed Term) Hours

• Part time
• Flexible working
• Home or remote working
• Compressed hours

22.5 hours per week Job ref 333-G-ED-0458

Site Health @ the Stowe Town London Salary £61,927 - £68,676 Pro rata per annum incl. Inner HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 03/11/2025 23:59

CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London’s population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.

Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We’re proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. For more information on these and other benefits of working for us, see our Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing page.

Become part of our team. We care for you as much as you care for others.

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work within the CNWL eating disorders service. We are offering a fixed term part time Senior Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/ CBT Therapist post within the Vincent Square Eating Disorder Service.

Main duties of the job

This position involves providing specialist therapies to clients across all sectors of care, although the majority of the work will be with outpatients.

This includes the provision of highly specialist psychological assessment and therapy, whilst also offering advice and consultation on clients’ psychological care to colleagues and to other non‑professional carers. The post holder will be responsible for line management and clinical supervision to attached supervisees while working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the teams’ policies and procedures. In addition, the post will require skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the team and service. The post holder will work as part of a multi‑disciplinary team providing assessment and treatment to adults with eating disorders.

Working for our organisation

The post holder will be based at the Vincent Square Eating Disorder Service and will provide clinical and other services across the inpatient, day patient and outpatient programmes. Depending on service need, you may be expected to work flexibly across sites (Paddington, Chelsea and Harrow‑on‑the Hill clinics). Service provision within this scope may at times involve travelling to different sites within the catchment area.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical:

• To provide specialist assessments of clients referred to the team, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources (including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self‑report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations, and semi‑structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care).
• To diagnose patients’ eating and related psychiatric problems.
• To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems. To employ methods based upon evidence of efficacy across inpatient, day patient and outpatient settings.
• To be responsible for implementing psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups. This occurs within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual.
• To integrate (with the psychological formulation) an understanding of the medical aspects of the eating disorders and associated medical conditions.
• To liaise with other clinicians involved in the patient’s care, in order that appropriate physical checks and interventions are carried out to ensure the patient’s physical safety.
• To understand the role of relevant physical treatments (e.g. nutrition, pharmacology).
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
• To provide specialist advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
• To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team.
• To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients, and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni and multi‑disciplinary care.
• To act as care coordinator, where appropriate, taking responsibility for initiating planning and review of care plans under enhanced CPA including clients, their carers, referring agents and others involved the network of care.
• To lead on psychological thinking and psychological treatment provision in our inpatient ward and day programme.

Teaching, training, and supervision

• To receive regular clinical and operational supervision from the team’s Lead Psychologist and where appropriate, other senior professional colleagues.
• To attend Staff Group with other colleagues in the service.
• To develop skills in the area of professional post‑graduate teaching, training and supervision
• To provide line management to attached band 7 therapists.
• To provide clinical supervision to band 7’s and other MDT staff’s psychological work, as appropriate.
• To provide clinical placements for appropriate trainees, ensuring that they acquire the necessary skills, competencies and experience to contribute effectively to good mental health care and to contribute to the assessment and evaluation of such competencies.
• To provide professional and clinical supervision of trainees and assistants.
• To contribute to the pre‑ and post‑qualification teaching of other professionals, as required by the head of specialty.
• To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.

Management, recruitment, policy and service development

• To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies and services, through the deployment of professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
• To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
• To manage the workloads of those you line manage and supervise, within the framework of the team/service’s policies and procedures.
• To be involved, as appropriate, in the shortlisting and interviewing of candidates for posts in the multidisciplinary team.
• As negotiated and within time constraints, the post holder will be expected to attend relevant clinical meetings of local adult mental health services for individual patients.
• To attend and contribute to the regular professional meetings of the Adult Psychology Specialty and other Departmental meetings.

Research and service evaluation

• To utilise theory, evidence‑based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
• To undertake appropriate service development research and provide research advice to other staff and clinical trainees undertaking research.
• To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.
• To familiarise themselves with, and to comply with, the Trust’s requirements on research governance.

IT responsibilities (other than those used for research)

• The post holder will input and maintain, appropriate computer and manual clinical records and statistical data and provide this to the Service Manager/Head of Speciality when necessary.
• The post holder will engage in relevant computer and IT training as required.
• The post holder will be responsible for ensuring that those clinicians who they are responsible for/ supervise engage in relevant computer and IT training as required, and will input and maintain, appropriate computer and manual clinical records and statistical data.

General

• To contribute to the development and maintenance of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes, in consultation with the post holder’s professional and service managers.
• To contribute to the development and articulation of evidence‑based and evidence‑generating clinical practice in psychology across the service, by continuing to develop the skills of a reflexive and reflective scientist practitioner. To take part in regular professional supervision and appraisal, and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of psychological treatment of eating disorders and related disciplines.
• To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self‑governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the relevant professional body and with Trust policies and procedures.
• To maintain up‑to‑date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.

Person specification

TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS

• An upper second class honours degree or higher in psychology or an equivalent subject relevant to mental health.
• D. Clin. Psych in clinical psychology/counselling psychology OR CBT therapist- Must be fully accredited with the BABCP
• Accredited level training in an applied clinical field that includes models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology. This must be accredited by the relevant professional body
• Training in additional therapy models such as cognitive analytic therapy, EMDR, dialectical behaviour therapy
• Pre‑qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology

EXPERIENCE

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and evidence‑based treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings.
• Substantial post‑qualification experience of working within a relevant therapeutic framework, with patients who present with problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity. This should include specialist training/experience.
• Substantial supervised post‑qualification experience of delivering evidence‑based therapy for the eating disorders and common comorbid conditions.
• Provision of supervision (peer, individual or group) to trainees and assistants working in a mental health setting.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
• Experience of the application of therapy in different cultural contexts.
• Supervised experience of delivering other treatments for the eating disorders, including cognitive analytic therapy, motivational work and/or dialectical behavioural therapy methods.
• Provision of supervision to clinicians and trainees working with the eating disorders.
• Experience working with individuals who have personality disorders.
• Experience in working on an eating disorder inpatient ward.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Knowledge of the theoretical and evidence base for understanding, formulating and treating the eating disorders and comorbid personality pathology.
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• 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.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non‑professional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of mental health.
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least one other specialised psychological therapy.
• Training in supervision of trainees and assistants.
• Evidence of continuing professional development, as recommended by the relevant professional body.
• Maintaining a high degree of professionalism and commitment to ongoing therapy in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of therapy in specific difficult‑to‑treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Publication and presentation of clinical research in the field of the eating disorders or associated areas of mental health.
• Knowledge of theory and practice of personality disorders treatment and therapy

Other

• 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.
• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

• Due to the high response levels we receive for some vacancies, we may expire any of them prior to the advertised closing date and advise you to submit your application as soon as possible.
• Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Before submitting your application and to avoid disappointment please check that you are eligible under the UKVI points based system
• Our Agenda for Change employment contracts are subject to a contractual 13 week probationary period.
• If you are offered a job, information will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

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.