Principal Clinical / Counselling Psychologist or CBT

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We provide a full range of local mental health services to the Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth London boroughs, as well as specialist forensic mental health services, including specialised services such as national deaf adults and CAMHS inpatients and OCD.

We are committed to providing high quality integrated health and social care for local people with mental health problems in South West London and more specialist mental health services for people throughout the UK. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' however we aim to be 'outstanding'.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values; being consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is "making life better together".

When you join us, you'll be part of something special - an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

We are looking to recruit a clinical / counselling psychologist or CBT therapist to lead the psychology team within our Neuropsychiatry Service. The Neuropsychiatry Service, based at St George's Hospital is a regional outpatient service that provides assessment and treatment for adults over the age of 18 with neurological illness or head injuries who have associated psychiatric problems.

The service offers assessment and treatment for patients with:

• Psychiatric and psychological consequences of neurological conditions, e.g. stroke, head injury, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis or movement disorders.
• Functional neurological disorders, including somatoform and dissociative or conversion disorders, e.g. functional non-epileptic attacks, non-organic movement disorders.
• Organic psychiatric illness, e.g. early onset dementia, schizophreniform disorders with organic brain changes.
• "Grey zone" disorders which straddle neurology and psychiatry, difficult to diagnose or various rare syndromes.

Main duties of the job

The post holder's main role will be to take a lead role in the strategic planning and delivery of psychological interventions within the Neuropsychiatry Service, to provide clinical supervision and training to members of the psychology team, and to offer specialist psychological therapy (CBT, incl. trauma-focused CBT, and EMDR) to patients referred to the service. The service currently offers both individual and group psychological treatments. The current post would be suitable for someone looking to develop professional management and leadership skills as well as highly specialist clinical skills in the specialist area of neuropsychiatry.

Working for our organisation

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' - we aspire to be 'outstanding'.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Unless expressly stated in the job advert the role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.

We are committed to supporting the Armed Forces Community and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

We provide reasonable adjustments to the interview process for any candidates with a disability.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Working within a highly specialised Neuropsychiatry Service, to provide highly developed specialist psychological assessments of clients based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological (and where appropriate to the professional, 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 formulate 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 and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy. To be responsible for implementing a range of highly specialist psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, reflecting the current evidence-base for the treatment and management of functional neurological disorder and other neurological conditions with associated mental health difficulties, 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, family or group.

To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the psychological treatment of relevant clients, ensuring appropriate assessment, formulation and interventions, communicating with the referral agent and others involved with the care on a regular basis.

To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals and external agencies contributing directly to clients' formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.

To ensure that all members of the clinical team have access to a psychologically based framework for the understanding and care of clients of the service, through the provision of advice and consultation and the dissemination of psychological knowledge, research and theory.

To undertake risk assessment and risk management for relevant individual clients and to provide both general and specialist advice for psychologists, psychotherapists other professionals and external agencies on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in job applications

If you have used AI to support the preparation of your application, please briefly indicate how it was used within your supporting statement or application form.

Please remember, your application is your opportunity to tell us about your skills, experience and motivation for the role. We encourage applicants to complete their application and supporting statement in their own words wherever possible. We recognise that AI tools can be helpful in supporting accessibility, and for improving spelling, grammar and structure.

Applications that rely heavily on AI-generated content can become generic and fail to accurately reflect an applicant's individual experience. Applications that clearly demonstrate your own voice, reflections and experiences are often the most effective and help us better understand your suitability for the role.

Please be aware that information provided in your application and supporting statement may be explored further during the selection process. It is important that all applications accurately represent your own knowledge, skills and experience.

Person specification

Training & Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Qualification in a core post-graduate mental health profession and registered with a professional body as an accredited practitioner of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) with the British Association of Behavioural Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) with the British Association of Behavioural Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) OR:
• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology, including models of psychopathology / clinical psychometrics, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, as accredited by the BPS. Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) under the appropriate domain specific title PLUS:
• Evidence of regular post qualification development Evidence of continuing professional development formal training in supervision of other cognitive behaviour therapists and/or related clinicians

Desirable criteria

• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice, preferably CBT or EMDR
• Formal training in supervision of other psychologists / psychological therapists

Experience

Essential criteria

• Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical/counselling psychologist for a significant period with experience of working at a highly specialist level with clients within the service area (neurodevelopmental services)
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care, in-patient and residential care settings severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems.
• Experience of delivering evidence-based psychological therapies to service users in secondary care settings
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of supervised provision of evidence-based interventions for people with neurological disorders • Experience of supervised provision of CBT and/or EMDR
• Experience of professional management of qualified and pre-qualified psychologists or CBT therapists
• Experience of multi-professional management of teams or services within the designated specialty

Knowledge & Skills

Essential criteria

• Highly developed knowledge of models of psychopathology, and two or more distinct
• Knowledge of legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the client group and mental health
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of academic psychology
• Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies such as CBT and EMDR

At South West London St Georges Mental Health Trust we are committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Committed Employer, and welcome applications from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We are Members of Stonewall Diversity Champions and Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.

As part of the Trust's commitment to Equalities and Diversity, the Trust supports the establishment of Staff Networks groups to promote diversity in the workplace:

• BME (Evolve) Staff Network
• Christian Staff Network
• DiverseAbility
• Deaf Staff Network
• Mental Health Staff Forum
• Women's Staff Network
• LGBTQIA+

We are committed to supporting the Armed Forces Community and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

We provide reasonable adjustments to the interview process for any candidates with a disability.

Please note:

• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That your employment is offered subject to successful completion of a Probationary Period depending on your Band (except medical roles)
• That we are a smoke-free Trust
• South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including job applications, sponsorship arrangements, or employment offers. The contact details published on our official website are the Trust's authorised contact channels and should be used for all recruitment communications, job applications, and verification of employment offers.

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