Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist

Job summary

Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist

This represents a significant opportunity for a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist or Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to contribute their psychological expertise within the City and Hackney community mental health services. The psychological professions are integrated within various multidisciplinary teams in community mental health, designed to deliver a responsive, place-based service that addresses the needs of the local population.

Candidates must possess a foundational professional mental health qualification or its equivalent, have completed additional postgraduate training in CBT, and have attained accreditation with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP).

Main duties of the job

The role entails both direct and indirect responsibilities within the realm of mental health services. Direct engagement with service users encompasses the provision of specialized psychological assessments, formulation, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment, both in individual and group settings. This position requires working with service users experiencing a broad array of mental health challenges within secondary care mental health services, particularly those presenting with complex, chronic, and often comorbid conditions.

The primary focus of this role is to deliver evidence-based assessments and treatments in accordance with NICE guidelines and current scholarly literature, specifically addressing severe and recurrent depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and complex trauma, particularly in cases where prior interventions have proven ineffective.

A comprehensive understanding and significant applied experience in treating service users with PTSD through trauma-focused therapies are imperative.

Indirect responsibilities will include providing consultation, formulation, supervision, and training to multidisciplinary teams.

The individual appointed to this position will demonstrate a steadfast commitment to advancing the collective efforts of the broader psychotherapy and psychology service, striving to ensure the delivery of high-quality, equitable, culturally competent, and trauma-informed care.

Person Specification

Education/Qualification/Training

Essential

• Core professional training in any mental health field (e.g. nursing, psychology, social work, OT etc.) or equivalent. Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or registered by a body overseen or accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
• Recognised Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy training.
• Accredited with the BABCP as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist.

Desirable

• Formal training in CBT supervision.
• Formal training in teaching and lecturing.
• Training in EMDR and/or Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET).

Experience

Essential

• At least a year’s experience (or part-time equivalent) of working within the NHS or equivalent prior to therapy training, working with a range of psychological problems, ranging from mild to complex conditions.
• Considerable experience of having delivering trauma focused CBT for patients with PTSD.

Desirable

• Experience of working within a multidisciplinary setting.
• Experience of working within a secondary care psychological therapies setting.
• Experience providing teaching, training or supervision in CBT.
• Experience of working within a diverse cultural setting and delivering therapy via interpreters.
• Experience in delivering EMDR and/or Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET).

Knowledge/Abilities/Skills

Essential

• Knowledge pertinent to effective risk assessment and management.
• Comprehensive knowledge of CBT theory and practice.
• Ability to work both autonomously and as a member of a team to manage conflicting demands between service users, the health care system and broader contexts.
• Ability to provide teaching, training and supervision to professionals.
• Ability to undertake appropriate risk assessment and formulate risk management plans and implement these plans.
• Assess, formulate care plans, implement interventions and evaluation of interventions using CBT.
• Skills to elicit, record and communicate routine clinical outcome data collection as part of clinical care. Skills to undertake appropriate clinical audits.
• Ability to engage service users and contribute to service development.
• The ability and skills to act as an advocate for the service, to engage and foster good professional relationships with all health professionals in promoting the good integration of this service.
• Ability to analyse complex health information and respond appropriately.
• Skills and abilities to contribute and lead on the service development process.

Desirable

• Capacity to conduct therapy in a language other than English.
• Knowledge of one or more psychotherapeutic approaches other than CBT.

Other

Essential

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills relevant to a wide range of audiences.
• Ability to engage patients with different language and cultural needs, including clinical work via interpreter.
• Ability to develop and generate self- help material in conjunction with the team.
• Experience of participation in clinical governance activities, such as clinical audit.

Desirable

• Knowledge and experience of delivering treatments in the context of complex trauma.

Closing Date: 21 July 2026