Senior Clinical/ Counselling Psychologist

Job overview

Join our Gender Identity Service as a Senior Clinical/Counselling Psychologist.

We are looking for a dedicated and compassionate Senior Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join our multidisciplinary Gender Identity Service at NHFT. You’ll play a key role in delivering specialist psychological assessment, formulation and intervention for transgender and gender diverse adults. You will be working within NHS England guidelines to support individuals throughout their transition pathway. As part of an Outstanding-rated Trust, you’ll contribute to high‑quality, person‑centred care while collaborating closely with colleagues across psychology, psychiatry, speech and language therapy, nursing and peer support.

This role offers the opportunity to develop advanced clinical skills, contribute to service development and research, supervise trainees and assistants, and help shape an evolving national service. If you’re motivated by meaningful, values‑driven work and want to make a real difference in people’s lives, we’d love to hear from you.

We are able to support a band 7 preceptorship to the right candidate with the expectation that within 12-months you move up into the band 8a.

Main duties of the job

Provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations and evidence‑based interventions for adults accessing the Gender Identity Service.

Develop and implement psychologically informed treatment plans, drawing on multiple therapeutic models and complex clinical information.

Offer consultation, advice and guidance to multidisciplinary colleagues, contributing to shared formulations, risk assessments and care planning.

Work autonomously, holding clinical responsibility for assessment, treatment and discharge within a multidisciplinary pathway.

Deliver supervision to Trainee and Assistant Psychologists and support the wider team’s psychological practice.

Contribute to service development, including audit, research, and quality improvement.

Participate in ongoing professional development, maintain high standards of clinical record‑keeping and uphold relevant legislation, guidelines and professional codes.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This post would suit someone who is wishing to develop their skills and knowledge of working with transgender and gender diverse clients who are experiencing gender-related distress to the Gender Specialist standard.

As part of this role there would be an expectation of completing the 'Professional Certificate for Gender Identity Healthcare Professionals' developed by NHS England and the Royal College of Physicians, alongside other CPD relevant to working with gender, sex and relationship diversity, and neurodiversity.

Experience of working with LGBTQ+ communities, neurodivergence and trauma would be advantageous however training and support will be given.

Behaviours and Values

Essential •    A reflective practitioner

• Strong prioritisation and problem-solving skills
• Able to demonstrate empathy with clients and to cope with emotionally disturbing situations and case histories
• Demonstrable and excellent communication skills – written, verbal and presentation
• Approachable to the MDT and stakeholders that we work in collaboration with
• Self-motivated and conscientious
• Strong professional demeanour

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology as accredited by the BPS with HCPC registration.
• Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice*
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development as recommended by the BPS.
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care and treatment within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan*
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course, including presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity.
• Able to maintain a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed care and anti-oppressive practice
• Demonstrate further specialist training/experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a Clinical Psychologist over a minimum of 12 months*

*Or ability to obtain these are part of a band 7 preceptorship

Desirable

• Formal training in the supervision of other psychologists
• Post-doctoral training working gender, sex and relationship diversity
• Completion of the 'Professional Certificate for Gender Identity Healthcare Professionals'

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management, with frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, such as orally and in writing, sharing complex and highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS.
• Basic IT and keyboard skills
• Able to attend the clinic in person 3-days per week, or as agreed with the Principal Psychologist.

Desirable

• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Experience delivering group interventions.
• Experience of patient involvement and co-production activities.
• Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts.
• Knowledge of the psychological and healthcare needs of transgender and gender diverse clients such as from experience of working with client’s experiencing gender dysphoria, and/or or completion of doctoral research within this area.
• Knowledge and experience of working with neurodivergent clients such those who are autistic or have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
• Further training in working with neurodivergent clients e.g., assessment and/or intervention.
• Awareness of the Levy report (2025) and its recommendations.
• Good understanding of quality improvement practices and their application within NHS settings.
• Knowledge of relevant standards and guidelines for working with gender diverse clients, including the NHS England Interim Protocol, BPS guidelines, Royal College of Psychiatrists guidelines and the World Professional Association of Transgender Health Standards of Care.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to this client group, e.g. Gender Recognition Act (2004).