Clinical Psychologist/Counselling Psychologist

Job overview

We are looking for an enthusiastic clinical  or counselling psychologist to work in our Community Mental Health Hub as part of an integrated multi-disciplinary service designed to deliver a transformed model of care.

The team works with clients with complex mental health problems including, complex emotional needs, psychosis, bipolar affective disorder, anxiety disorders, recurrent depression and complex PTSD. The post holder will be expected to provide specialist psychological assessment and effective evidence-based interventions.

We are interested in candidates with training and experience in models such as CBT, CBTp, FI, MBT, CAT, DBT, EMDR and ACT.  We would like to encourage candidates who are interested in taking up DBT diploma training  to apply for this post.

The post holder will have a  commitment to the recovery model, team working, and service user and carer involvement. Experience of working with diversity in a multicultural setting is vital. Strong team working skills are required.

The service offers the opportunity to develop skills in psychosocial interventions for complex difficulties in an MDT setting. You will be part of a supportive group of colleagues, with good supervision structures and access to opportunities within the wider trust for development of special interests. The service is supportive of continuing professional development and has close links with  regional Clinical Psychology Training Courses.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will work in north Kensington and Chelsea Mental Health Hub. The Hub offers a range of interventions for clients presenting with a range of complex emotional and social difficulties. The Hub provides care for those clients whose needs cannot be adequately met within a briefer treatment framework.

The post-holder will provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy for clients with complex mental health problems. They will also provide aspects of the psychosocial group programme in the Hub. The psychologist will be expected to offer advice, training, and consultation to other members of the team and non-professional carers.

The post-holder will attend weekly team meetings and case discussion forums. They will have an active role in managing referrals and planning clinical care. They will contribute to the ongoing development of effective recovery-oriented treatment models. They will also play an active role in initiatives to unsure optimal use of psychological therapy resources ensure that these are widely accessible and offered in a timely manner. The post-holder will support the team in assessing the psychological and social needs of patients referred to the service, ensuring that psychological needs and factors are given due consideration in the care planning process.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To offer specialist psychological assessment and intervention to patients attending the service
• To provide specialist advice, guidance, and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis, and treatment plan.
• To formulate and implement 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.
• To be responsible for implementing psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups.
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual.
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
• To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients, and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of treatment.