Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist

Important Sponsorship Information for this post: We are unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post.

Training information for this post: Successful applicants must attend a 5-day Dialectical Behavioural Therapy Foundational Training W/C 23rd November 2026 or 15th March 2027, unless the applicant has already been in receipt of the foundational or intensive DBT training.

The Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Service provides assessment, treatment; training and consultation in relation to young people aged 12 to 18 who present with persistent self-harm and suicidal behaviour, which maybe in the context of an emerging Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Many of the young people seen will present with complex needs including high risk behaviours. All young people seen will have a comprehensive assessment to inform decision making and planning for the future. Each team member will have a small caseload, but the team will support each other via consultation meetings and supervision. Within the DBT service each clinician will play an active role in all aspects of the service, including assessment, treatment (individual therapy, skills group, phone coaching) teaching, training, research, and service development.

Main duties of the job

Please see detailed job description and main responsibilities section for further detail of the main duties of the job.

Working for our organisation

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We Listen
• We Care

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To provide specialist DBT to the service users of the Oxleas CAMHS DBT Service, including specialist assessment and intervention for young people referred to the service. To contribute to service evaluation, policy development, audit, evaluation, and research in the area of self-harm and BPD. To provide clinical supervision, teaching and consultation as appropriate.
• To use and maintain skilled standards of professional clinical practice in the treatment modalities required by the children and young people with emerging BPD and be a resource to the whole service in maintaining the skills of others.
• The post holder will manage their own caseload and provide specialist DBT interventions for young people. They will be responsible for the provision of skills training groups for young people and parents/carers.
• The post holder will be responsible for supporting staff within the team to achieve positive clinical outcomes for young people and their families. These outcomes will be evidenced by research and performance indicators such as activity data, targets, and quality measures.
• They will work in partnership with schools, social services departments, as well as local and national services to support integrated practice and service delivery.
• To contribute to training, research and audit and interpret complex data to develop own and others understanding of child and adolescent mental health disorders, in particular emerging BPD in young people.
• To contribute to service development across teams and within Oxleas.

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS
• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council
• Completion of further post-doctoral post-qualification specialist training including training in supervision of trainee clinical psychologists
• DBT training – Foundation or Intensive Level training with the DBT British Isles Training
• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology

Experience

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity
• Completion of at least two years post-doctoral post-qualification supervised clinical experience with adolescents with complex mental health difficulties and/or young people with a first episode psychosis
• Experience of delivering DBT
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts

Skills

• 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
• 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 clinical fields of psychology
• Ability to use CYP IAPT outcome measures and integrate these meaningfully into therapy
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies, including DBT
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health

If you have declared you are part of the armed forces community, you may be asked to provide evidence during the recruitment process. If you misrepresent this information, your offer may be withdrawn. For Armed Forces specific support, see our webpage: https://oxleas.nhs.uk/armed-forces-community/

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it's essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information. AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process.

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.

Name Dr Rebecca South Job title Consultant Psychologist and Clinical Lead Email address rebecca.south@nhs.net Telephone number 0203 260 5211