Job overview
West London NHS Trust is launching a national psychology service for terrorism trauma care. This service will be support people affected by acts of terrorism—including survivors, bereaved families, witnesses, and others directly and indirectly affected by incidents both in the UK and abroad.
This service will be delivered in close partnership with Victim Support (as lead provider) and the Peace Collective, forming a coordinated national model of support across statutory and voluntary sectors.
Informal enquiries
Main duties of the job
As a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist within the service, you will:
1. Deliver specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and evidence‑based therapy for people affected by acts of terrorism, including presentations such as PTSD and complex trauma, grief and bereavement, moral injury, acute stress reactions, anxiety, depression, and functional/somatic difficulties.
2. Hold a clinical caseload, providing both short‑term and longer‑term interventions depending on need.
3. Contribute to clinical decision‑making, case discussions and joint working with colleagues across West London NHS Trust, Victim Support and the Peace Collective.
4. Provide consultation and advice to partner organisations on trauma‑informed practice, psychosocial responses and risk management.
5. Support care coordination and case management, ensuring people affected by terrorism receive timely, integrated support across agencies.
6. Participate in reflective practice, supervision, and wider MDT activity.
7. Offer training and psychoeducation input to teams across the partnership, and externally.
Working for our organisation
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.
Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ over 5,000 staff, of whom 59% are BME. Our turnover for 2024-25 is over £500m.
The Trust is rated as ‘Good’ overall by the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as ‘Outstanding’.
The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
8. Post-graduate doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology (or its equivalent for those trained prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS including two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology. Registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC)
Desirable criteria
9. Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
10. Accredited as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist by the British Association of Cognitive & Behavioural Psychotherapies (BABCP). Training and/or accredited in more than one evidence-based psychological therapy used to treat trauma (e.g.EMDR, trauma focussed CBT, Narrative Exposure Therapy)
Experience
Essential criteria
11. Experience working with patients following traumatic events. Ability to assess and treat the full range of psychological responses to trauma.
12. Experience of working with a wide variety of clinical presentations. This will include a wide variety of severity across different care settings including outpatient, community and primary care. Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care and treatment, both including within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan
13. Experience of teaching, training, professional and clinical supervision.
14. A proven ability to communicate clearly in difficult and complex situation.
15. Experience of developing and implementing service policies and procedures
16. The ability to meet agreed service targets.
17. Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment and intervention/ management. This will frequently require sustained and intense concentration.
Desirable criteria
18. Experience of representing psychological therapies within the context of multi-disciplinary care
19. Experience of the application of psychological therapy in different cultural contexts.
20. Experience of training others in psychological therapies
Knowledge and Skills
Essential criteria
21. Knowledge and skills of the application of CBT within adult populations.
22. Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
23. Ability to manage, supervise and co-ordinate the work of psychological therapists and other staff within the service. Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
24. Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health. Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS and HCPC. Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
25. Enthusiasm for developing psychological therapy in a broad range of settings and addressing the opportunities of integration.
26. Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology.
Desirable criteria
27. High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
28. Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
29. Flexibility to deploy at short notice to provide support in the event of a future act of terrorism.
30. 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.
31. Commitment to provide support to children, their families/carers and linked professionals and maintain high levels of aspiration for the population referred to the service.
32. Ability and willingness to work flexibly, including traveling in response to service need.
33. Commitment to working flexibly and collaboratively with team colleagues and to support innovative ways of working.
34. To approach clients with empathy and adaptability and to be open to development of new approaches to work with clients.