Senior Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/CBT Psychotherapist

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South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good'.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

We are pleased to be seeking Senior Psychologist/Psychological Therapist within the Helix Service (Maternal Mental Health Service). The Healing Experiences of Loss and Trauma ('Helix') Service is a secondary care psychological therapies service, that sits alongside the community perinatal mental health teams in the Trust.

We are looking to recruit an enthusiastic, compassionate, and motivated individual who has experience of working with those in the perinatal period and/or in a mental health service within maternity. We encourage applications from those who are committed to delivering an equitable service and working in partnership with those who have lived experience. We welcome those who are interested in gaining more specialist skills within a traumatic loss psychological therapy service.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will deliver highly specialist Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and other evidence based psychological therapies (e.g., EMDR) in the context of trauma and loss. Other therapies commonly used in the service include Compassion Focussed Therapy and Prolonged Grief Disorder Therapy. Due to the complex nature of the work we do, the ability to work integratively will be important. The post-holder will also provide training, supervision, consultation to other professionals and the maternity workforce - alongside offering reflective practice to the maternity workforce.

You will be responsible for supervising assistant & trainee psychologists and peer support workers (Experts by Experience).

The postholder will focus on clinical care that is delivered in the boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham, but contribute to the overall functioning of the service that covers all 4 boroughs in SLAM.

Working for our organisation

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as
substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and
Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few
organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three
major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
• To provide a highly specialist psychology service to women and birthing people who experience a moderate-severe mental health problem in the context of pregnancy loss or baby loss, including specialist assessment, treatment planning, delivery of evidence-based psychological therapies and monitoring of outcomes.
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a
psychologically safe environment.
• To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate, functioning as a lead specialist for the psychological aspects of mental health in maternity.
• To undertake service evaluation, audit and research.
• To work as an autonomous professional within BPS and HCPC guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by principles and policies or procedures of the service, taking responsibility for interpreting policies within defined parameters.
• To agree outcomes/results with clinical/professional lead and to decide how they are best achieved.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or equivalent; OR Counselling psychologist: MSc and PG Diploma in Counselling Psychology; OR Postgraduate diploma in CBT
• Completed training course in clinical supervision.
• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist or BABCP Accredited CBT Therapist, and evidence of continuing professional development as required

Desirable criteria

• Training in psychological interventions that may be applied in the context of trauma or loss (e.g., EMDR, IPT).
• Training in or experience of providing family or couple interventions.
• Training in or experience of parent-infant interventions.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Evidence of having worked as a clinical specialist under supervision in secondary care mental health services.
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and the delivery of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and other evidence based interventions with service users who have a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in the perinatal period.
• Experience of supervising assistant and trainee psychologists having completed the relevant training
• Experience of carrying out post-doctoral research, audit or service evaluation projects.

Desirable criteria

• Pre or post qualification experience of working in a specialist perinatal mental health service or mental health service in maternity.
• Experience of the co-production of services and/or working alongside peer support workers.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessments and interventions for women presenting with mental health difficulties in the perinatal period.
• Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
• Knowledge of the psychological and physical context of pregnancy and childbirth and the impact of these on mental health.

Skills and abilities

Essential criteria

• To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
• Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

• That all applications for this post will need to be made online
• That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe'

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• 8a FTC JD/PS (PDF, 456.6KB)
• 8a FTC JD/PS (PDF, 456.6KB)
• SLaM Staff Benefits (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working (PDF, 680.1KB)