East London NHS Foundation Trust

HCPC registered Highly Specialist Clinical or Counselling Psychologist

Information:

This job is now closed

Job summary

TheNewham Community Integrated Psychological Services comprises a range of psychological services including modality teams ina vibrant psychotherapies service. This post is split across the Integrative and Psychodynamic Teams, which offer a range of individual and group interventions. The successful candidate will also work closely with colleagues from other teams in the service, including the arts therapies, cognitive-behavioural and systemic psychotherapies teams.

The post holder will be an HCPC registered Clinical or Counselling Psychologist with experience of working psychodynamically. They will be responsible for the provision of psychological input to service users in secondary mental health services and the community, particularly those vulnerable to poor health outcomes through poverty and social inequalities, disabilities and physical health conditions. They will supervise other psychological therapists and trainees.

They will be responsible for offering assessments and delivering individual and group therapy to service users with severe and enduring difficulties, in particular Complex Emotional Needs and Complex Trauma. They will be flexible to see service users from a range of potential locations, including 409 High Street as well as community settings. They will provide reflective practice and highly specialist consultation to teams and contribute to service development initiatives and broader level programs and interventions promoting population health.

Main duties of the job

To hold a caseload of both individual and group work, to deliver both Integrative psychotherapy and Psychodynamic psychotherapy or other psychodynamically-informed interventions (eg. MBT, DIT etc.). To provide supervision where appropriate to other psychological therapists and therapists in training. To deliver consultation and training and to liaise, where necessary, with the wider network of care across the borough in both primary and secondary care. To conduct assessments for a wide range of therapies in the service, including systemic, CBT, Psychodynamic, Integrative and Arts therapies. To attend meetings in the service and interface with systems and teams across the borough. To maintain high standards of record keeping and governance. To work effectively with diversity and intersectionality. To engage and work effectively with service users presenting with severe and enduring psychological difficulties, including complex emotional needs, complex trauma and/or psychosis. To manage risk and complexity and to communicate effectively with colleagues and other agencies.

About us

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Details

Date posted

25 March 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£59,490 to £66,239 a year per annum Inc HCAs

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

363-NEW7073690

Job locations

Newham Specialist Psychotherapy Service

409 High Street, Stratford

London

E15 4QZ


Job description

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Patient Care

  • Provide expertise and psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other multidisciplinary professionals in the NHS, interagency and service user networks contributing directly to service users formulation, diagnosis and service planning. Ensure that multidisciplinary and community colleagues have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding the care of service users including the Recovery Approach.
  • Take delegated responsibility for developing working relationships with relevant statutory, voluntary and community groups and organisations to enhance care provision. Provide expert consultation about the psychological care of the service user group to external staff and organisations.

Clinical

  • To assess Service Users, prepare a psychotherapy care plan and deliver specialist therapy to individuals and to groups of service users.
  • To support other clinicians in the delivery of individual and group psychotherapy.
  • To hold your own caseload and respond to Service User crises as appropriate.
  • To undertake developed risk assessment and management for individual patients and/ or groups as appropriate; to provide highly specialist advice on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management holding in mind the relevant legal frameworks.
  • To provide developed co-produced highly specialist psychological assessments, based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources (including psychological tests, measures/rating scales including Recovery Measures and Quality of Life measures, direct and indirect observation and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and involved others.)
  • To formulate developed plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of mental health problems across a range of care settings, at population, systemic and individual levels, based upon a theoretical knowledge base to analyse, interpret and compare complex information in order to design specialist programmes of treatment for individuals, groups, families, care systems and populations tailored to individual need.
  • Be responsible for providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive, distressing and emotional information in relation to health issues where there are often barriers to acceptance.
  • To spend sustained amounts of time with service users who may be aggressive and hostile, who may have poor communication skills and self-care and special physical and/or mental needs.
  • To Be mindful of the needs of individuals and families from a wide range of racial, cultural, sexual, religious and social backgrounds and, with service users and colleagues, co-produce innovative ways of communicating and working across language and cultural barriers.
  • To communicate across language and cultural barriers, including working for sustained periods of time by communicating with service users, carers or groups through professional interpreters or advocates.

Administration

  • Be responsible for recording, monitoring and reporting on clinical work and communicating complex clinical information to a variety of recipients, e.g. service users, families and carers, other professionals, formal panels and statutory and voluntary organisations, orally, in writing making use of Trust provided Electronic Health Record and data analytics systems.
  • Make full use of available teleconferencing, video calling and electronic diary scheduling facilities.
  • Use information technology in line with Trust and NHS information governance requirements, and maintain up to date knowledge of systems and governance requirements.
  • Collate and report on information across service area using Trust Information systems to a high standard

Management

  • Exercise delegated line management and clinical supervision responsibility for other psychologists, psychological therapists, trainees and assistants in the service as agreed with team manager.
  • Be responsible for using a theoretical knowledge base and specialist clinical skills to ensure the maintenance and development of the psychological skills of others (assistant, trainee and other psychologists, members of other staff groups) via the development and delivery of teaching, training, supervision, support and consultation across the care system.
  • Comply with governance systems in place for the provision and monitoring of clinical and professional supervision of qualified and unqualified psychological practitioners across the directorate.
  • Ensure practice within relevant guidelines for professional practice (e.g. BPS/HCPC/BABCP etc).
  • Provide highly skilled consultation, teaching, training and (where agreed) clinical supervision to other multidisciplinary professionals across the care system for their provision of psychologically-based interventions for service users.
  • Maintain up to date knowledge of relevant legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to the provision of services.
  • Attend regular psychology meetings to develop and maintain high standards of professional knowledge and practice in services.

Human Resources

  • Participate in appraisal and development planning, identifying and agreeing training needs.
  • Ensure the personal maintenance and development of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes.
  • Support HR investigations held under the Complaints, Disciplinary, Competency policies.

Performance and Quality

  • Support systems for evaluation, monitoring and development of the directorates psychological therapies services to ensure services are delivered in line with Trust policies, national guidance and evidence based practice.
  • Use skills in undertaking research, audit and evaluation analyse and interpret complex data, identifying trends and opportunities for improvement.
  • Participate as a senior clinician in service development and quality improvement initiatives within the directorate, in line with directorate priorities and in response to identified local need.
  • Develop and implement service related Quality Improvement and/or academic research or service evaluation projects, and advise/support other staff undertaking research and evaluation activities. Ensure that relevant clinical research, service evaluation and audit are undertaken in accordance with national and local NHS and professional requirements.

Financial and Physical Resources

  • Contribute to the responsible management of equipment and resources required for the ongoing provision of a high standard of psychological service to the directorate.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Patient Care

  • Provide expertise and psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other multidisciplinary professionals in the NHS, interagency and service user networks contributing directly to service users formulation, diagnosis and service planning. Ensure that multidisciplinary and community colleagues have access to a psychologically based framework for understanding the care of service users including the Recovery Approach.
  • Take delegated responsibility for developing working relationships with relevant statutory, voluntary and community groups and organisations to enhance care provision. Provide expert consultation about the psychological care of the service user group to external staff and organisations.

Clinical

  • To assess Service Users, prepare a psychotherapy care plan and deliver specialist therapy to individuals and to groups of service users.
  • To support other clinicians in the delivery of individual and group psychotherapy.
  • To hold your own caseload and respond to Service User crises as appropriate.
  • To undertake developed risk assessment and management for individual patients and/ or groups as appropriate; to provide highly specialist advice on psychological aspects of risk assessment and management holding in mind the relevant legal frameworks.
  • To provide developed co-produced highly specialist psychological assessments, based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources (including psychological tests, measures/rating scales including Recovery Measures and Quality of Life measures, direct and indirect observation and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and involved others.)
  • To formulate developed plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of mental health problems across a range of care settings, at population, systemic and individual levels, based upon a theoretical knowledge base to analyse, interpret and compare complex information in order to design specialist programmes of treatment for individuals, groups, families, care systems and populations tailored to individual need.
  • Be responsible for providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive, distressing and emotional information in relation to health issues where there are often barriers to acceptance.
  • To spend sustained amounts of time with service users who may be aggressive and hostile, who may have poor communication skills and self-care and special physical and/or mental needs.
  • To Be mindful of the needs of individuals and families from a wide range of racial, cultural, sexual, religious and social backgrounds and, with service users and colleagues, co-produce innovative ways of communicating and working across language and cultural barriers.
  • To communicate across language and cultural barriers, including working for sustained periods of time by communicating with service users, carers or groups through professional interpreters or advocates.

Administration

  • Be responsible for recording, monitoring and reporting on clinical work and communicating complex clinical information to a variety of recipients, e.g. service users, families and carers, other professionals, formal panels and statutory and voluntary organisations, orally, in writing making use of Trust provided Electronic Health Record and data analytics systems.
  • Make full use of available teleconferencing, video calling and electronic diary scheduling facilities.
  • Use information technology in line with Trust and NHS information governance requirements, and maintain up to date knowledge of systems and governance requirements.
  • Collate and report on information across service area using Trust Information systems to a high standard

Management

  • Exercise delegated line management and clinical supervision responsibility for other psychologists, psychological therapists, trainees and assistants in the service as agreed with team manager.
  • Be responsible for using a theoretical knowledge base and specialist clinical skills to ensure the maintenance and development of the psychological skills of others (assistant, trainee and other psychologists, members of other staff groups) via the development and delivery of teaching, training, supervision, support and consultation across the care system.
  • Comply with governance systems in place for the provision and monitoring of clinical and professional supervision of qualified and unqualified psychological practitioners across the directorate.
  • Ensure practice within relevant guidelines for professional practice (e.g. BPS/HCPC/BABCP etc).
  • Provide highly skilled consultation, teaching, training and (where agreed) clinical supervision to other multidisciplinary professionals across the care system for their provision of psychologically-based interventions for service users.
  • Maintain up to date knowledge of relevant legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to the provision of services.
  • Attend regular psychology meetings to develop and maintain high standards of professional knowledge and practice in services.

Human Resources

  • Participate in appraisal and development planning, identifying and agreeing training needs.
  • Ensure the personal maintenance and development of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes.
  • Support HR investigations held under the Complaints, Disciplinary, Competency policies.

Performance and Quality

  • Support systems for evaluation, monitoring and development of the directorates psychological therapies services to ensure services are delivered in line with Trust policies, national guidance and evidence based practice.
  • Use skills in undertaking research, audit and evaluation analyse and interpret complex data, identifying trends and opportunities for improvement.
  • Participate as a senior clinician in service development and quality improvement initiatives within the directorate, in line with directorate priorities and in response to identified local need.
  • Develop and implement service related Quality Improvement and/or academic research or service evaluation projects, and advise/support other staff undertaking research and evaluation activities. Ensure that relevant clinical research, service evaluation and audit are undertaken in accordance with national and local NHS and professional requirements.

Financial and Physical Resources

  • Contribute to the responsible management of equipment and resources required for the ongoing provision of a high standard of psychological service to the directorate.

Person Specification

Education/ Qualification/ Training

Essential

  • Clinical /Counselling Psychologist: Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS. OR Postgraduate Doctorate in Counselling Psychology.
  • Registered with the HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

  • Formal qualification in another model of psychotherapy, preferably psychodynamically informed (eg Psychodynamic, DIT, CAT, MBT, Schema)
  • Formal basic training in teaching, lecturing or clinical supervision.

Experience

Essential

  • Significant experience working with a wide range of severe and enduring psychological problems within therapy in NHS secondary care.
  • Experience of working psychodynamically/psychoanalytically
  • Experience working within a diverse cultural setting and engaging patients with different language and cultural needs including working with interpreters
  • Experience of combining or integrating more than one therapeutic model in treatment
  • Experience of delivering longer term (over 20 sessions) interventions in a secondary care psychological therapies service.
  • Experience of providing clinical supervision
  • Experience providing group treatments

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

  • Knowledge of generic and specialist psychological assessments and range of therapeutic interventions required for people with mental health problems.
  • Knowledge pertinent to effective risk assessment and management.
  • Skills in working in multidisciplinary settings and working knowledge of the practices and approaches of other key disciplines, professions and agencies involved in the care and management network, including medical, employment, social, educational and criminal justice systems.
  • Knowledge of adapting standard models using individualised formulations.

Desirable

  • Advanced knowledge of more than one area of clinical practice, e.g. work with complex and persistent anxiety or depression, psychosis or personality disorder, substance misuse

Other

Essential

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills relevant to a wide range of audiences.
  • Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and able to contain the stress of others.
  • Being able to independently move between sites in the borough, as necessary for patient care

Desirable

  • Speaking a local community language
Person Specification

Education/ Qualification/ Training

Essential

  • Clinical /Counselling Psychologist: Postgraduate Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS. OR Postgraduate Doctorate in Counselling Psychology.
  • Registered with the HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable

  • Formal qualification in another model of psychotherapy, preferably psychodynamically informed (eg Psychodynamic, DIT, CAT, MBT, Schema)
  • Formal basic training in teaching, lecturing or clinical supervision.

Experience

Essential

  • Significant experience working with a wide range of severe and enduring psychological problems within therapy in NHS secondary care.
  • Experience of working psychodynamically/psychoanalytically
  • Experience working within a diverse cultural setting and engaging patients with different language and cultural needs including working with interpreters
  • Experience of combining or integrating more than one therapeutic model in treatment
  • Experience of delivering longer term (over 20 sessions) interventions in a secondary care psychological therapies service.
  • Experience of providing clinical supervision
  • Experience providing group treatments

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

  • Knowledge of generic and specialist psychological assessments and range of therapeutic interventions required for people with mental health problems.
  • Knowledge pertinent to effective risk assessment and management.
  • Skills in working in multidisciplinary settings and working knowledge of the practices and approaches of other key disciplines, professions and agencies involved in the care and management network, including medical, employment, social, educational and criminal justice systems.
  • Knowledge of adapting standard models using individualised formulations.

Desirable

  • Advanced knowledge of more than one area of clinical practice, e.g. work with complex and persistent anxiety or depression, psychosis or personality disorder, substance misuse

Other

Essential

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills relevant to a wide range of audiences.
  • Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and able to contain the stress of others.
  • Being able to independently move between sites in the borough, as necessary for patient care

Desirable

  • Speaking a local community language

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

East London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Newham Specialist Psychotherapy Service

409 High Street, Stratford

London

E15 4QZ


Employer's website

https://www.elft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

East London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Newham Specialist Psychotherapy Service

409 High Street, Stratford

London

E15 4QZ


Employer's website

https://www.elft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Psychodynamic Team Lead

Dr Christina Katsakou

christina.katsakou1@nhs.net

02082216000

Details

Date posted

25 March 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£59,490 to £66,239 a year per annum Inc HCAs

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

363-NEW7073690

Job locations

Newham Specialist Psychotherapy Service

409 High Street, Stratford

London

E15 4QZ


Supporting documents

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