Specialist Clinical Psychologist

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.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Specialist Clinical Psychologist to join a highly-regarded MHST in Ealing. We are looking for a passionate practitioner, who is keen to support an innovative early intervention team that provide direct interventions for mild-to-moderate low mood, anxiety and behaviours that challenge, into schools; as well as wider whole school approach interventions, such as group work, workshops, wellbeing assemblies and classroom interventions. Our team has grown significantly over the last two years, and we place a lot of emphasis on wellbeing and creating an environment where people want to stay and develop. We have a lot of positive feedback from staff about the team, and continue to value their contributions and feedback to further support the development of the team. Locally and nationally, the team is well-regarded.

Main duties of the job:

• Lead on and directly provide comprehensive assessment, risk management and interventions for children and young people experiencing emotional and mental health difficulties.
• Offer one to one and group interventions.
• Offer Clinical Supervision to team members, which may include Assistant Psychologists, Trainee Clinical Psychologists, and trainees or staff in other psychological professions e.g. CBT trainees, and wellbeing practitioners.
• Work with school staff and cultures to develop school environments that are more conducive to supporting better emotional health and wellbeing.
• Work with parents/carers to raise awareness of the mental and emotional wellbeing needs of children and young people and strategies to protect and promote these.
• Take part in meaningful service development and improvement projects for the team.
• Join the West London CAMHS psychology team as a representative of your profession.

If you are interested in working with schools and want to help shape new models of evidence-based support for children and young people, this job could be for you!

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK. Our 3,982 staff care for people in hospital and in the community, helping them to recover and go on to lead full and productive lives. We aim to be the best organisation of our kind in the country. We provide care and treatment for more than 800,000 people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, delivering services in the community (at home, in GP surgeries and care homes), hospital, specialist clinics and forensic (secure) units. Together, we’re committed to promoting hope and wellbeing, working with patients, service users, carers, families and partners across the communities we serve. We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental health concerns.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• 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 British Psychological Society, or equivalent if trained overseas.
• Eligible to work as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical/ Counselling) as approved by the Health Care Professions Council.
• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
• Post-doctoral/graduate training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice with children and young people.
• Clinical training as part of a CYP IAPT collaborative in a recognised evidenced based approach i.e. CBT, Parenting Skills or other.

Experience:

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of children, adolescents and their families across a range of care settings, (e.g. outpatient, community, primary care, inpatient 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 including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of working with children, adolescents and their families.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision/reflective practice.
• Experience of working with evidence-based approaches to low mood, anxiety and behaviour problems.
• Experience of working with other agencies.
• Experience of the application of clinical/counselling psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Experience of assessment and intervention around Neurodiversity.

Knowledge:

• 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 practised within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the HCPC.
• Knowledge and skills in specialist neuropsychological assessment and treatment with children and young people with neuro-developmental difficulties.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. children with challenging behaviour, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.

Skills:

• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• 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.

Other Requirements:

• Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
• As an employee of West London NHS Trust, you have a responsibility to maintain a sound understanding of, and a commitment to uphold the National Health Service values and principles set out in the NHS Constitution.
• We reserve the right to close adverts prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications.
• By applying for this post you are agreeing to West London NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system.
• If you are offered a job, you will be required to undergo pre-employment checks which can take between 4-8 weeks.
• After which your information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system (ESR).
• Please ensure you include email addresses for your referees which MUST be at supervisory or managerial capacity covering the last 3 years of employment to date to avoid delay in the recruitment process.
• West London NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
• We encourage the thoughtful use of technology as a demonstration of strong time management and a commitment to innovation.
• However, we encourage applicants to personalise their recruitment application to showcase their unique skills and experiences.
• While AI-generated content can be a helpful tool, relying solely on generic responses instead of highlighting your own strengths and achievements may impact the success of your application.
• The success of an application will always be assessed against the essential and desirable criteria for the role, so it is important to ensure that your application and any supporting information clearly demonstrate how you meet these requirements.