South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust logo

Highly Specialist Psychologist/ Psychotherapist

This job is closed to applications

Location
Salary
£66,274 - £73,496 per annum inclusive of HCAS (outer)
Profession
Psychologist
Grade
Band 8
Deadline
22 Jul 2026
Contract Type
Fixed term: 12 months (Fixed for 12 months)
Posted Date
08 Jul 2026
Medical Protection — the side of locally employed doctors from £83

Job overview

The Trauma Team in the Southwark PCMHT Psychology and Psychotherapy Team are looking for a passionate socially aware, experienced Adult Psychotherapist/Psychologist  to join a dynamic  team for a 12 months fixed term post.  As part of the Trauma Team you will be working with a stepped care model within the Trauma pathway. The team bases are the Maudsley Hospital in Denmark Hill, the Munro Centre near London Bridge, and local health centres.

The post holder will have the opportunity to contribute to the delivery of the Trauma pathway within the stepped care model. The Trauma team offers a range of interventions for patients:  EMDR, Trauma Focus CBT and NET.  There will be opportunities in the team to think with or help colleagues develop other models in response to the needs of our community.

The PCMHT P&P team offers a range of specialist psychological therapies . These include CBT, Schema, Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT), psychodynamic ,  a refugee-specific horticultural therapy project,  systemic therapies, and group treatments such as Trauma Tree of Life and a Black Men's Group.

We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations.  Excellent clinical supervision is provided by senior therapists. You will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience. We offer ongoing training and development in Trauma focused work.

Main duties of the job

  • Delivering Trauma Focus interventions
  • Where asked, supervision of trainees or other staff in Trauma Focused interventions
  • Assessments, formulation and writing assessment reports and communicating with referrers
  • A commitment to challenging institutional racism and all forms of discrimination
  • Experience of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults

Desirable skills would include:

  • Experience in running psychoeducational or therapeutic groups
  • Experience in delivering therapy for patients who have experienced social discrimination or being under-represented in services.

We benefit from good working relationships between our psychological therapists and our colleagues in the wider PCMHT team. Excellent clinical supervision is provided by senior therapists to help you develop your skills.

The Trust encourages and welcomes applications from people with lived experience of mental health challenges. We see this as valuable and recognise the positive impact this experience can have on the work we do.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

KR 1       Clinical and Client Care

  • To provide highly specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for clients in the Trauma Pathway in the Southwark Primary Care Mental Health Teams
  • To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions with patients, or carers or families of referred clients when required.
  • To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.

KR 2       Contributing to team or service clinical functioning

  • To contribute to the effective working of the team or service and to a psychologically informed framework for the service.
  • To contribute to the team or service’s delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
  • To be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services.
  • To advise other members of the service on specialist psychological care of clients.
  • To liaise with referrers, GPs and other professionals concerned with clients in order to develop and review care plans.
  • To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

KR 3       Policy and service development

  • To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
  • To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
  • To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.

KR 4       Care or management of resources

  • To take care of, and use carefully, the Trust’s equipment and physical resources.
  • To ensure that the post-holder has sufficient resources by estimating future needs and requesting or ordering supplies as needed.

KR 5       Management and supervision

  • To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of more junior psychologists with support from a more senior psychologist.
  • To supervise trainee applied psychologists within own area of specialism.
  • To contribute to the appraisal of more junior psychologists, as appropriate.
  • To contribute to the recruitment of more junior psychologists, as appropriate.
  • To provide supervision for the psychological work of other multi-disciplinary staff as appropriate.

KR 6       Teaching and Training

  • To undertake occasional teaching and training of pre and post- qualification psychologists and specialised training to other professions as appropriate.
  • To contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within the community psychosis pathway by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychology and psychosis and by implementing knowledge gained in practice.
  • To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

KR 7       Record-keeping and Information Governance

  • To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
  • To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.

KR 8       Research and development

  • To initiate, undertake, support and supervise regular complex service evaluation and audits.
  • To initiate and carry out appropriate research
  • To provide expertise in a specialist research area which will contribute to the development of the psychosis pathway.
  • To initiate and implement the development of outcome measurement and assessment and assist other staff in the implementation of same.

KR 9       Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

  • To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychologist/psychotherapist according to BPC/ UKCP/ BACP/ HCPC and Trust guidelines.
  • To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with BPS/BPC/ UKCP/ BACP/ HCPC  and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the HCPC ‘Standards for Continuing Professional Development’.
  • To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
  • To comply with the HCPC ‘Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics’ and ‘Standards of Proficiency’, and ensure professional development in line with these.
  • To adhere to the BPS/BPC/ UKCP/ BACP/ HCPC ’s Professional Practice Guidelines and Trust policies and procedures.

KR10      General

  • To travel to home visits, community placements, psychology meetings as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
  • To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour amongst the client group, and follow trust policies relating to its management.
  • To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations such as challenging behaviour, abuse etc and to support others involved in such situations.
  • To work flexibly within the overall Job Plan.

Person specification

Skills

Essential

  • • To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
  • • Experience in running psychoeducational or therapeutic groups
  • • Experience in delivering therapy for patients who have experienced social discrimination or being under-represented in services.

Desirable

  • Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data. (A/I/R)

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessments and interventions for people with psychosis and their families (A/I/R)
  • Knowledge of theory and practice of work with Trauma

Experience

Essential

  • • Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in NHS services(A/I)
  • • Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with trauma. (A/I)
  • • Experience of supervising assistant and trainee psychologists having completed the relevant training. (A/I)
  • • Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. (A/I)

Qualifications

Essential

  • • A specific Psychological Profession qualification and accreditation as set out below: For Psychologists: · Entry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration as a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist. (A/I) For Psychotherapists: Entry-level applied clinical qualification in Psychotherapy that has been accepted by the APC/BPC/UKCP/BACP for purposes of professional registration and accreditation. (A/I) For Family / Systemic Psychotherapists: qualification in relevant mental health/social welfare profession or significant demonstrable practice in this field (A/I) Plus Masters level qualification in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy or equivalent qualification, accredited by UKCP (A/I)
  • • Registered with professional body as appropriate to discipline HCPC/APC/BPC/UKCP/BACP/BABCP/ADMP-UK. (A/I)
  • • Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the professional body. (A/I)
  • • Additional training in trauma specific modality eg EMDR, NET, or equivalent , assessed by an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma. (A/I/R)

Desirable

  • • More than one training in trauma specific modality eg EMDR, NET, or equivalent , assessed by an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma. (A/I/R)

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Applying for this NHS job

This advert is for Highly Specialist Psychologist/ Psychotherapist with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in London, London, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Psychologist role. The advertised salary is £66,274 - £73,496 per annum inclusive of HCAS (outer). The contract type is Fixed term: 12 months (Fixed for 12 months). The application deadline is 22 Jul 2026.

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