Senior Clinical/Counselling Psychologist: Sponsorship Available

Job summary

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust is a Top Employer Award Winner and works in partnership to provide responsive and dependable primary care, mental health, intellectual disability and substance misuse services to the diverse and culturally rich communities we serve.

In our quest to deliver patient-focused quality care we are looking to recruit a highly motivated, innovative and enthusiastic Senior Psychologist to join our forward thinking, friendly and expanding Mental Health Team at HMP Woodhill. By joining our Prison Health Care Team, you will not only look after the healthcare needs of the prisoners, but will also have the opportunity to have a real impact on promoting health and well-being. We are keen to recruit someone with a passion for working with people in custody, and those who have experienced trauma, adversity and offending.

Working in partnership with the criminal justice system and other agencies, we provide responsive, dependable and high-quality primary care and mental health services to those in prison, to improve their health status and to encourage social inclusion.

We strive to deliver a culturally competent and responsive service that can meet the needs of our population. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds, especially from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities.

Main duties of the job

To provide a key role in integrating clinical psychology within the wider mental health team.

To provide a comprehensive specialist clinical psychology service to service users.

To provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy as well as offering advice and consultation on service users’ psychological care to other members of the clinical team.

To work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service’s policies and procedures.

To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the Health & Justice Services Directorate.

To provide clinical supervision to other members of the team when appropriate.

To contribute to the reflective practice and critical thinking of the team on a case-by-case basis (e.g. complex case reviews) and in service improvement.

Person Specification

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Doctoral level training in clinical, forensic or counselling psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology, equivalent to that accredited by the BPS.
• Evidence of post-qualification specialist training, experience and developing expertise in a specialist area of clinical practice relevant to this role
• HCPC Registered as a practitioner psychologist

Desirable

• Pre- or Post-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across the full range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Experience of representing psychology within context of multidisciplinary care.
• Experience of the application of applied psychology in different cultural contexts and experience of working within a multicultural framework.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
• Experience or demonstrable knowledge of working with the particular client group served by the team/service
• Knowledge of guidance and legislation in relation to the client group and mental health
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialist psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnosis, people with additional disabilities etc)
• High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
• High level knowledge and skills in neuropsychology and evidence of further practice and/or training since qualification
• Formal Training in Supervision of other psychologists.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC

Desirable

• Experience of working in secure environments and/or forensic mental health.
• Experience of using a trauma informed approach
• Lived experience of mental health Issues

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, ABILITIES

Essential

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
• Possesses range of clinical knowledge, skills & information technology expertise relevant to post.
• Can demonstrate competence in supervision of junior qualified psychology and MDT staff and professional psychology trainees.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
• Broad knowledge of models of assessment, management, and treatment of offenders with mental health difficulties and personality disorders.
• Ability to work intensively with people who present challenges in the complexity of their problems and needs, including sexual and violent offending and self-harming and suicidal behaviours
• High level of ability to plan and organise clinical service provision to meet service demands, and to maintain high quality professional practice
• Evidence of continual development of specialist knowledge and skills through engaging in relevant study and Continuing Professional Development relevant to the forensic population
• Experience of software e.g. SPSS, Excel

Desirable

• Ability to write reports for varied audiences, including courts and purchasers of services.

ATTITUDES, APTITUDES PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Essential

• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Commitment to multidisciplinary team working

Other

Essential

• Ability to work in a secure environment. Must be able to obtain and maintain prison security clearance and work in accordance with HMPS and Sodexo policies and procedures
• Ability to travel across sites

Closing Date: 15 September 2026