CBT Therapist or Clinical/Counselling Psychologist & Step 3 Lead

Job overview

We are looking for an experienced Clinical / Counselling Psychologist or BABCP-accredited CBT Therapist with substantial CBT experience to offer clinical leadership and supervision to qualified Clinical and Counselling Psychologists, CBT Therapists, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs), and to lead on clinical audits and performance reports for the team. Experience and training in one of the non-CBT based treatment modalities, especially Behavioural Couples Therapy (BCT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) or Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) will be an advantage.

Wandsworth Talking Therapies offers evidence-based psychological treatments (e.g., CBT, IPT, DIT) to people with common mental health problems (i.e., depression, anxiety disorders and eating disorders) within a stepped-care model. The service professionally managed by a Consultant Psychologist and operationally managed by a Service Manager. The clinical team includes qualified Clinical and Counselling Psychologists, High Intensity CBT Practitioners, and Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners who provide evidence-based psychological interventions in line with NICE guidance.

This role would be well suited to an existing CBT therapist with experience working in high intensity teams in Talking Therapies and looking for a career progression opportunity; candidates new to the role will benefit from structured support to enable them to develop into the role and good peer support structures.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will be responsible for the clinical supervision and monitoring of clinicians’ caseloads and will work closely with other members of the service’s Senior Management Team (SMT) to ensure that clinical services delivered are of the highest quality and meet national targets. Together with SMT colleagues, they will work to improve patient access at Step 1-3 by ensuring that key service guidelines are consistently being followed (e.g., DNA policy, session limits), and treatment waiting times are being kept to a minimum. In terms of their background, the post-holder must have experience of working within a Talking Therapies service, be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the Talking Therapies programme, and be able to motivate others.

As part of their clinical work the post-holder will offer psychological assessments and individual treatment at Step 3. Regular clinical and line management supervision will be provided by the Clinical Lead and Wandsworth Talking Therapies Service Manager.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To provide comprehensive specialist assessments and high intensity therapeutic services for adult patients for common mental health problems referred to the service based on sound, evidence-based CBT principles, working within the context of the agreed policies and procedures of the service.
• To identify the nature, severity and complexity of patients’ mental health problems, and to advise patients on appropriate management of those problems, enabling referral to secondary care specialist psychiatric services and/or highly specialist services and/or other non-statutory services where appropriate.
• To formulate and implement plans for the psychological treatment and/or management of patients’ mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the patients’ problems, and employing methods of intervention that are based upon evidence of treatment efficacy.
• To make appropriate use of specialist assessments of patients’ mental health, including structured and semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, rating scales and guided inquiry methods.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients and to provide advice on psychological aspects of risk assessment, including the risk of self-harm.
• To contribute to the development of new and existing group CBT programmes for patients with anxiety disorders and/or depression and their carers.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and complex environmental factors (such as historical and developmental processes) that may have shaped the individual.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the efficiency of the Step 2 and 3 service, including assessment, treatment and discharge of patients whose problems are within the service remit.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of patients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of their treatment within the Wandsworth Talking Therapies service.
• To exercise autonomous professional judgement and take responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of patients whose problems are within the service’s remit.
• To adhere to an agreed activity contract relating to the number of clinical contacts offered per week in order to minimise waiting times and ensure treatment delivery remains accessible and convenient.
• To work closely with other members of the team ensuring appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place to support a stepped care approach.