Highly Specialist Clinical / Counselling Psychologist

Job overview

We are looking for an enthusiastic and compassionate clinical/counselling psychologist to join the MDT within a well-established Leeds Gender Identity Service (Leeds GIS). We are committed to robust professional leadership, equality, diversity and inclusion and supporting staff wellbeing and CPD. Our Psychological Professions Strategy outlines our vision.

The service provides a supportive environment and brings together a wide range of experience into a highly specialised MDT which aims to address the needs of patients presenting with difficulties arising from gender dysphoria/incongruence. The team includes consultant clinical psychologists, mental and physical health nurses, speech and language therapists, a consultant psychiatrist, specialty doctors, consultant endocrinologists, GPs, gender outreach workers and doctoral level trainee clinical/counselling psychologists.

The role will be fully supported by Clinical Psychology within the team. Experience of working with a gender diverse population is preferred, in particular those who have completed specific training in gender identity practice e.g. PGCert or PGDip in Gender Identity Healthcare Practice or those with lived experience. Applicants without direct gender-identity related experience will be considered and supported to complete training central to gender identity healthcare practice.

Main duties of the job

The candidate will be providing services to service users in Leeds GIS as a highly specialist clinical/counselling psychologist.  To fulfil this role within the Leeds GIS, there is a requirement from the highly specialist psychologist to be able to provide independent assessment, diagnosis, formulation and treatment recommendations for gender affirming hormones.

In addition to this, the candidate will be expected to provide extended assessment and short-term therapy. The role offers the chance to utilise leadership skills in terms of providing supervision, consultation and facilitating formulation sessions for the multi-disciplinary team (MDT). The successful candidate may be asked to contribute to projects that are in line with service development priorities.

The role offers the chance to utilise skills in terms of providing supervision to trainees, consultation and facilitating formulation sessions for the multi-disciplinary team (MDT). The successful candidate may be asked to contribute to projects that are in line with service development priorities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Leeds GIS staff were surveyed in  2024 for a Learning, Culture, and Leadership (LCL) Framework Assessment. Results revealed particularly high ratings from staff of their experience of leadership, communication, teamwork and continuous learning within the team, although all conditions for quality were rated highly.  The role would be well-suited to a candidate who values team working highly.

We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for. Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.

All our information is available in accessible formats. Please contact the Recruitment team [email protected]

Attached to this advert is our candidates guide to values-based recruitment and supporting guidance on how to make a successful application.

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Recruitment Team or see the attached candidate guide to reasonable adjustments.

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading.

So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the Candidate Guide to Values Based Recruitment. This document provides you with information to help you apply.