Trainee High Intensity Therapist: Sponsorship Available

West London NHS Trust

Job Summary

H&F NHS Talking Therapies are offering several places on the London-wide NHS Talking Therapies for trainee Cognitive-Behavioural Therapists. Please note this role will involve working with the adult population.

If you are an experienced mental health or social care worker with a recognised professional qualification working in a mental health setting (see core professionals list on the BABCP website), or a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner with at least 2 years’ post-qualification experience, this course gives you the training you need to become an accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (CBT Therapist) via the BABCP route.

Since launching in 2009, H&F NHS Talking Therapies has become a well-established successful NHS Talking Therapy service and is one of the three services provided by West London NHS Trust. Our main base is in the heart of Hammersmith near the vibrant market of Lyric Square.

We have an excellent track record of successfully supporting our CBT trainees through their training and preparing them for life after. We have also retained many of our trainees who have completed the training. We recognise that the Talking Therapies training programme can be demanding, and we are careful to provide weekly individual supervision, supportive line management.Please note that due to the popularity of this post, it will be closed earlier than advertised if exceeding a high volume of applications

 

Main duties of the job

Applications are invited from qualified clinical or counselling psychological therapists, Mental Health Nurses, Psychotherapists, Counsellors, Occupational Therapists, Social Workers and Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners to apply for the one year full-time Talking Therapies post graduate diploma courses based at Royal Holloway University.

Applicants without a core mental health profession (such as Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner or counsellors without UKCP or BACP accreditation) must be able to meet the required KSA process criteria (see the Talking Therapies website for more information).

The training programme consists of three days working within H&F NHS Talking Therapies and two days at university taught by experts in the field. A typical week for a trainee involves working at least two days in the office including one evening clinic (12pm-8pm Monday to Thursday). You will then have two academic days to attend university (Royal Holloway) throughout the year.

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ – This role is part of the London wide recruitment process for CBT training places at Royal Holloway. If you have already applied for a CBT training role via an NHS Talking Therapies service, we would advise that you only apply for if this is the service you wish to prioritise.

Please note that if you have been offered another interview for a role Holloway College London service as part of the Royal Holloway process, you will not be offered an interview at H&F.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • A recorded/registered qualification in one of the following at graduate level in nursing, social work, occupational therapy, arts therapy or within a psychological therapy OR Evidence of meeting the Knowledge Skills and Attitude (KSA) requirements of BABCP.

Desirable

  • Experience working in a stepped care service for anxiety and depression.

Experience

Essential

  • Experience working in a stepped care service for anxiety and depression.
  • Ability to manage own caseload and time
  • Demonstrates high standards in written communication
  • Ability to meet agreed/specified service targets
  • Able to write clear reports and letters to referrers

Desirable

  • Experience of working in Primary Care Services
  • Worked in a service where agreed targets in place demonstrating clinical outcomes

Knowledge

Essential

  • Demonstrates an understanding of anxiety and depression and how it may present in Primary Care
  • Demonstrates a knowledge of the issues surrounding work and the impact it can have on mental health
  • Knowledge of medication used in anxiety and depression and other common mental health problems
  • Demonstrates an understanding for the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to evaluate and put in place the effect of training
  • Computer literate
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Has received training (either formal of through experience) and carried out risk assessments within scope of practice
  • Able to develop good therapeutic relationships with clients

Desirable

  • Car driver and/or ability and willingness to travel to locations throughout the organisation
  • Fluent in languages other than English
  • Experience of working with diverse communities within a multicultural setting

Other Requirements

Essential

  • Able to attend a two day per week course
  • Able to complete academic components of the course (e.g. submitting recordings, completing assignments, self-study)
  • Able to integrate training into practice

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).

Closing Date: 23 November 2025

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.