Highly Specialist Clinical Counselling Psychologist
An exciting opportunity has arisen for motivated and creative individuals, who are looking to develop specialist skills in an innovative and expanding service:
Band 8a Highly Specialist Clinical / Counselling Psychologist in the Tri-Borough Perinatal Service
This is an innovative award-winning service delivering new models of specialist care within the West London NHS Trust. Perinatal Mental Health services have received significant new funding from NHS England, with the largest expansion of posts being within psychological therapies. This is in recognition of the choices and preference for psychological interventions of women accessing perinatal mental health services. It is due to this large expansion that we are looking to fill the current posts.
The role will be based in Hounslow with the need to flexibly attend meetings at the other team locations across the Trust.
This would be an ideal opportunity for an excellent clinician who has experience at Band 7 or 8a previously to work in a new area and to gain exposure/enhance their knowledge and skills with the support of a highly specialised team which will help the post holder to develop their own specialist skills in Perinatal Mental Health.
We will support successful candidates to develop a bespoke training programme to facilitate their development within the post.
Main duties of the job
1. Provide assessments of patients referred to the Perinatal Service based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources.
2. Provide a comprehensive psychological therapy service to patients within the perinatal service who may have a wide range of psychological needs, including evidence-based treatments for trauma (Trauma focused CBT or EMDR).
3. Provide evidence-based interventions to women, couples, and families, considering the specific needs of families who are pregnant or have a young baby.
4. Evaluate and make decisions about treatment options considering both the evidence base, theoretical and therapeutic models, and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes which have shaped the individual, family, or group.
5. Be responsible for implementing a range of time-limited psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families, and groups, both individually and in synthesis, grounded in the principles and techniques of a range of theoretical approaches.
6. Provide specialist expertise, advice, guidance, and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to women's formulation, diagnosis, and treatment plan.
7. Provide supervision to more junior psychology colleagues, including assistant and trainee psychologists.
About us
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.
Job 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.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Post-graduate doctoral level training (or its equivalent) in Clinical Psychology OR Counselling Psychology
* Eligibility for Chartered Status by the British Psychological Society
* HCPC registered or, for those outside the UK, eligible and will be registered by the time of taking up post.
* Post-doctoral training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
* Training in trauma focused interventions
* Training in couples interventions
* Advanced keyboard skills and computer literacy
Experience
* Relevant post qualification experience in Clinical or Counselling Psychology
* Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of patients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care, and inpatient settings
* Experience of working with a wide variety of patient groups, 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 people with mental health problems
* Experience of facilitating therapeutic groups
* Demonstrate further specialist training/experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a specialist clinical/counselling psychologist over a minimum of 18 months, or an alternative agreed by the Head of Psychology and Psychological Therapies Services
* Experience of teaching, training, and/or supervision
* Experience of the application of clinical/counselling psychology in different cultural contexts.
* Experience of working with parent-infant attachment focused interventions e.g., video interaction guidance.
* Experience of using structured techniques for promotion of health behaviour change such as motivational interviewing
* Experience of running structured psycho-educational group-based interventions
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 patients, 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 clinical fields of psychology
* Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS
* Formal training in supervision of other psychologists
* Knowledge of NHS primary and secondary care structures
* Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health
* High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
* 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)
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
£59,490 to £66,239 a year per annum inclusive
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