Highly Specialist Psychologist/Psychotherapist Lambeth Crisis Plus: Sponsorship Available

Job summary

Lambeth Crisis Plus – Highly Specialist Practitioner Psychologist/Psychotherapist – B8a or B7-8a preceptorship

This is an exciting opportunity to join Lambeth Crisis Plus, a repeat/high intensity user psychology service, as a highly specialist psychologist/psychotherapist within Lambeth Community Mental Health Services. The team works across services in the Lambeth directorate whilst being based within the secondary care community mental health teams.

The successful applicant will use their clinical skills to support a complex range of service users and their network. They will think creatively, work flexibly and have a range of skills in working alongside others. The role involves offering time-limited, formulation- and psychologically-informed crisis and care support to the service user, carer(s) and network of services. The post holder will also be expected to guide the work of other mental health professionals and assistant/trainee psychologists. The model emphasises consultation alongside the service user, including their networks of services. Applicants would benefit from experience of multi-agency management of self-neglect, self-harm, violence and substance misuse. In addition, skills and experience of training, coaching and supervision to support other practitioners are a valued asset.

Main duties of the job

Clinically, you will be: offering targeted support to a small cohort of service users who have had repeated psychiatric admissions; supporting the professional and personal network around the service user; supervising junior staff; teaching and training MDT colleagues. The service is growing and expanding across SLaM and this role also has a strong service development component, including: research and evaluation; developing and refining the existing service; supporting the development of new services; liaison and joint work with senior colleagues across the directorate and Trust.

Key duties include:

• Working with repeat service users across Lambeth Adult Mental Health Services
• Offering time-limited interventions:
  • Engaging highly complex service users; supporting them to reflect on their experiences of services and take a more active role in their care
  • Developing specialist, trauma-informed formulations, centred around relationship to help
  • Engaging with carers and family
  • Co-producing multi-service/-agency crisis plans and interventions
• Consultation and liaison with teams and agencies across Lambeth
• Supporting, developing and evaluating Crisis Plus in conjunction with the Clinical Service Lead and Trust Lead for Crisis Plus
• Deputising for the Clinical Lead and representing Lambeth Crisis Plus across the directorate
• Supporting and directing the work of junior staff in the team (B5 Assistant Psychologists and B6 DClin Trainees)

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• 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. This can include Clinical, Counselling or Forensic Psychology or registered with BABCP as a CBT therapist.
• Additional training in a specialised area of psychological practice (such as any NICE and/or evidence base recommended psychological interventions for personality disorder such as DBT, MBT) through formal post-qualification training (PG Diploma or equivalent), OR a combination of specialist short courses, or an evidenced portfolio of supervised practice-based learning in a specialist area of clinical practice, assessed by an experienced clinical supervisor to be of equal level to a Postgraduate Diploma. (A/I)
• Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist, and evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC

Desirable

• Completed training course in clinical supervision

Experience

Essential

• Evidence of having worked in a clinical specialist under supervision in community mental health services
• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature in community and acute mental health services
• Experience of supervising assistant and trainee psychologists or CBT psychotherapists having completed the relevant training
• Post-qualification experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities
• Experience of carrying out post-doctoral research, audit or service evaluation projects

Desirable

• oExperience of delivering Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Open Dialogue, or trauma-focused models; or willingness to be trained in one of these models.
• Working across multiple services and agencies in relation to risk of harm to self and others
• Experience of working with service users who frequently present to acute and crisis services with multiple and complex risk presentations
• The Trust encourages and welcomes applications from people with lived experience of mental health challenges. We see this as valuable and recognise the positive impact this experience can have on the work we do

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessments and interventions for a range of diagnostic groups including personality disorder, psychosis and/or dual diagnosis
• Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
• Advanced 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 / equivalent knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis.

Desirable

• Understanding of principles around contingency management
• Understanding of principles of treatment in relation to personality disorder
• Understanding of the principles of DBT/Open Dialogue/trauma-focused models

Skills

Essential

• 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
• To skilfully and sensitively communicate complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues, overcoming barriers to communication including sensory and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to/rejection of information
• To be skilled in the administration of psychometric and neuropsychological tests, including those that require complex manipulation of test materials
• Skills in providing teaching and training to other professional groups

Abilities

Essential

• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate.
• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic meetings
• Ability to maintain concentration and to remain in restricted positions for long periods during observations, assessments and psychological interventions, and to deal with unexpected interruptions or changes during these
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour

Closing Date: 11 November 2026