Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

Job Overview

Harrow Adult Mental Health is looking for a highly motivated and passionate Psychologist to join our expanding therapies team. This popular post is offered within our innovative Adult Community Mental Health Hub (CMHH, Bentley House) which provides intervention to adults presenting with a range of secondary care mental health difficulties, including psychosis, Complex Emotional Needs and PTSD.

The successful candidate will play a key role in the provision of highly specialist psychological assessment, collaborative formulation with service users, and consultation to the team, to support the development of creative, personalised and multi-disciplinary care plans that support individuals under the care of the CMHH to move forward. They will also provide specialist psychological intervention that draws on a range of evidence-based modalities.

The post-holder will be expected to take a leading role in the ongoing development of Harrow’s Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIA) model for the adult mental health services. Over the last two years, our CMHH has rolled-out TIA, and trained the full MDT in Power Threat Meaning Framework formulation and Psychological Stabilisation interventions. This project builds on Harrow’s award winning TIA work in its acute services over the last six years, which has been published (Nikopaschos et al. 2023; 2025) and is now also influencing National Policy (see NHSE Guidelines for Acute Inpatient Mental Health Care for Adults and Older Adults, 2023).

Main duties of the job

Bentley House CMHH works closely with the rest of the Harrow mental health system (including the Home Treatment and Inpatient teams) to provide holistic intervention to adults with severe and enduring mental health difficulties. The post holder will join an expanding therapies team, committed to providing highly specialist and trauma-informed psychological care. They will work closely with the full range of MDT professionals, including psychiatry, nursing, occupational therapy and peer support. They will play a key role in assessment and formulation, the development of creative multi-disciplinary care plans, and the provision of psychological intervention that follows service users across the Harrow system.

The post-holder will be expected to work as a senior member of the MDT, including the provision of consultation, co-working, teaching, training, supervision and research as well as developing specific training to enhance the systematic provision of psychological interventions offered to service users by all members of the team within a ‘stepped-care’ framework. They will make a leading contribution to the learning culture of the team and wider service, and play an integral role in the further development and embedding of TIA.

Specialist supervision is offered in EMDR, DBT, NET, CBT, Open Dialogue, CAT, systemic and psychodynamic models.

Working for our organisation

We are delighted that you are interested in working with us here at CNWL. At CNWL, we work in collaboration with our multidisciplinary colleagues and value the lived experiences of both our staff and service users. CNWL is recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ in line with our values, our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

With us, you will get

• A Trust committed to staff personal development, with a trust wide culture change and leadership programme that has staff wellbeing at its core.
• Flexible working.
• Variety of work.
• Access to a variety of CPD opportunities.

Central and North West London (CNWL) Trust is pioneering in its Trauma-Informed Approach (TIA) which focuses on Power Threat Meaning Framework Team Formulation (PTMF), manualised stabilisation interventions and staff training. Over the last year, our CMHH has rolled-out TIA, and the Assistant Psychologists will play an important role in the ongoing development of this work. This project builds on Harrow’s innovative TIA work in its acute services over the last six years and is now also influencing National Policy (see NHSE Guidelines for Acute Inpatient Mental Health Care for Adults and Older Adults, 2023).

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Job Purpose

• To provide a specialist psychology service to service users, including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation 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.
• 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 the policies and procedures of the service, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions with support of clinical supervisor.

Key Responsibilities

• To provide specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for clients under the care of the Bentley House CMHH.
• To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions.
• To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.
• Where appropriate, to act as named worker and take responsibility for initiating planning and reviewing of care plans and co-ordination of multi-professional meetings.
• To contribute to the effective working of the service and to a psychologically informed framework for the service.
• To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.
• To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of an assistant psychologist if required, under supervision from a more senior psychologist.
• To provide occasional specialist training in psychological approaches to care to other professions as appropriate.
• To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
• To undertake regular complex service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.
• To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychologist according to HCPC and Trust guidelines.
• To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with BPS and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the HCPC ‘Standards for Continuing Professional Development’.
• To comply with the HCPC ‘Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics’ and ‘Standards of Proficiency’, and ensure professional development in line with these.
• To travel within the Harrow area for home visits as appropriate and across the Trust when required.
• To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations and to support others involved in such situations.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• 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.
• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist.

Desirable criteria

• Further training and or qualifications in other fields of applied psychology.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs.
• Experience of psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature.
• Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience.
• Experience of developing and carrying out research projects.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with adults in crisis or acute states of distress.
• Experience of teaching, training and/ or supervision.
• Experience of working as a qualified psychologist under supervision.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Theoretical knowledge of psychological presentations and the evidence base for the relevant treatment.
• Knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
• Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis.
• Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.
• To deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
• To select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources.

Skills

Essential criteria

• To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
• To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers, and for meetings such as CPA and case reviews.
• To plan allocation of tasks to assistant psychologists.
• To be skilled in the administration of psychometric and neuropsychological tests, including those that require complex manipulation of test materials.
• Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data.