Employer South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Eating Disorder Outpatient, Maudsley Hospital, Middle House, Level 2 Town London Salary £56,276 - £63,176 per annum Incl. of inner HCAs Salary period Yearly Closing 15/10/2025 23:59
Counselling Psychologist/CBT/Psychological Therapist/Psychotherapist
NHS AfC: Band 7
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.
We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.
We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.
The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role.We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.
As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
We have a vacancy for a band 7 clinical or counselling psychologist, CBT therapist or psychotherapist within our outpatient team. This is an exciting opportunity to join our team as joint FREED Champion, taking a lead role in coordinating our FREED early intervention pathway (First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders).
We can offer protected time for research, special interest projects and continued professional development, and clear pathways for further career development within our department and the Trust.
Main duties of the job
To provide specialist p sychological interventions for eating disorders in adults, including specialist assessment, treatment, planning, implementation and monitoring of outcomes.
To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate .
To promote service evaluation, audit and research.
To take a lead role as co-FREED Champion in the team, supporting the coordination of the FREED early intervention pathway (First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders).
To work as an autonomous professional within r egistration body guidelines and codes of conduct, and guided by the policies and procedures of the service, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions with support of clinical supervisor
To be active in the provision of staff support within their area, including but not limited to Critical Incident Staff Support and Reflect-Support-Resolve. To participate, as a recipient, in staff support work when appropriate .
Working for our organisation
The Eating Disorder Unit (EDU) is internationally renowned for providing best practice, evidence-based care for adults with the full range of eating disorder difficulties. We are the developers of MANTRA, now recommended as part of NICE 2017 guidelines for the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa, of FREED, and of PEACE (Pathway for Eating Disorders and Autism developed from Clinical Experience).
We offer opportunities for ongoing training and collaboration with colleagues across the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences at King’s College London. We will consider those who are completing training.
Our Trust headquarters is located at Denmark Hill less than 5 minutes from the train station (zone 2). We also provide services and operate across other locations, such as London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; and substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Lambeth, Greenwich and Wandsworth.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To p rovide specialist psychological assessments, formulations and interventions for clients (individuals, couples, families and social networks where the identified client has complex mental health needs) in the eating disorders outpatients service.
To provide culturally appropriate psychological or psychotherapeutic interventions with carers or families of referred clients when required .
To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans .
To provide reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, in order to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users and their families .
To select and deliver evidence - based specialist therapeutic interventions for eating disorders and associated comorbidities, drawing from a spectrum of evidence-based ideas and models, monitoring outcome and modifying and adapting interventions as necessary, based on the highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, couple, family or group.
To promote psychological support for carers (or families as appropriate) of referred clients .
To jointly manage the FREED early inter vention pathway as co-FREED Champion.
Person specification
Qualifications
* To have undertaken a recognised qualification in one of the core mental health professions, e.g. psychiatric nursing, clinical psychology, medicine, social work and occupational therapy OR to have equivalent relevant experience and demonstrable competence to work in the mental health field in the NHS.
* For Psychologists: 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 as a clinical or counselling psychologist.
* For CBT Therapists and Psychotherapists: Entry-level qualification in Psychotherapy that has been accepted by the APC/BPC/ACAT/UKCP/BACP/BABCP (specify which, according to nature of post) for purposes of professional registration. (A/I) (for a job requiring specific professional qualification(s), change this point to specifythe required qualification(s).
Experience
* Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs.
* Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience.
* Experience of working with issues of risk and safety both physical and relational.
* Experience of working with individuals with eating disorders.
* Experience of developing and carrying out audit/research projects).
Knowledge
* Theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment.
* Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health issues, child and adult protection, and equalities.
* Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.
* Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies for adults with eating disorders.
Skills
* To communicate skilfully and sensitively complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory, and emotional difficulties, cultural differences and hostility to or rejection of information.
* To plan and schedule assessment and interventions for individual clients and groups and carers.
* Consultation skills to work with the multi-professional team or other professional groups and sensitively managing, a number of people’s needs simultaneously within the context of therapeutic work/consultation.
* To select and administer specialist assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources.
Abilities
* Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.
* Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic meetings
* 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.
* 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.
The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:
* Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
* Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
* We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity
Please note:
* That all applications for this post will need to be made online
* That you read and understand the Job Description and Person Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
* That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
* That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
* That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not been successful
* That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
* That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
* That we are a smoke-free Trust
SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion, Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe’
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Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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