Highly Specialist Clinical Practitioner
The closing date is 18 June 2026
We are looking to recruit highly motivated, innovative and enthusiastic Highly Specialist Clinical Practitioners to join our Healthcare Service at Oasis Restore Secure School (ORSS). If you have a background in, and hold professional registration as a Clinical and/ or Forensic Psychologist, Registered Nurse, Systemic Therapist or Family Therapist then this is the post for you.
ORSS is the first Secure School in the UK and holds 12-18 year old children. All staff work in line with Child First principles to create a developmentally appropriate and trauma informed healthcare service. By joining our team, you will have the opportunity to be involved in developing a new service that will have a real impact on promoting health and well-being for this vulnerable population and impact on their future life orientation.
Main duties of the job
The Highly Specialist Clinical Practitioner role provides a comprehensive, specialist, trauma-informed therapeutic service to children and staff at Oasis Restore Secure School.
The postholder is expected to deliver, and lead on, trauma-informed, culturally sensitive care, considering the developmental needs of the children, and ensuring consideration of the impact of their experiences on their current strengths, needs and difficulties. Developing good therapeutic relationships with the children and their families, is key for this post and in the wider service delivery.
The post holder will work within a residential model of care, including participating in and co-delivering training, attending team Reflective Practice as a key part of the role, facilitating a therapeutic culture and activities within Oasis Restore. The post holder will be allocated to a house providing support and development for children. They will also contribute to a wider programme of intervention, ensuring that a variety of opportunities for expression, exploration and empowerment are available for children at the school.
The successful candidate will have excellent oral and written communication skills; and a proven ability to make evidence-based, informed decisions within a complex, rapidly changing and demanding environment.
Job responsibilities
* To provide a comprehensive, specialist therapeutic service to children and young people at Oasis Secure School.
* To provide specialist psychological assessment and therapy as well as offering advice and consultation on children and young peoples psychological care to other members of the core team on a given unit/house.
* To coordinate and support the core support team in the process of multi-disciplinary collaborative formulation.
* To provide reflective practice, training and support to secure school colleagues in their day-to-day management of children and young people in the school setting.
* To offer therapeutic work to families of children and young people in the Secure School.
* To develop and facilitate a range of therapeutic groups including weekly community meetings.
* To supervise and oversee the work of assistant practitioners, students and graduate therapists/psychologists.
* To work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the services policies and procedures.
* To utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the Health & Justice Service Line.
* To provide clinical supervision to other members of the team or secure setting when appropriate, including in the event of a serious or significant incident.
* To offer training to secure school staff and other professional colleagues around therapeutic skills, adolescent mental health and related issues in collaboration with Oasis Restore.
About us
Oasis Restore is the first UK secure school enabling young people to live their best lives, through education well being and hope. We will care for children aged 12-18 who are on remand and sentenced to custody by the courts. Oasis Restore represents a revolution in youth justice: an opportunity for children within the criminal justice system to experience a restorative environment that creates the potential for them to thrive both now and for the future. Our healthcare team will build and model healthy and trusting relationships with children that enable them to feel safe, learn and reach their full potential.
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust is a Top Employer Award Winner. We have a Health and Justice Services Directorate, within which sits the Children and Young People Service line working in partnership with Youth Custody Service colleagues to provide responsive, trauma-informed primary care, mental health, neuro-developmental and substance misuse services to the young people and young adults within our care.
Qualifications
* Degree in Psychology or a related field, accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) or equivalent professional body.
* Doctoral level training in clinical, forensic or counselling psychology or its equivalent, accredited by the BPS, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology OR a recognised post graduate qualification in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy (or equivalent).
* Accreditation with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) (via having a recognised qualification in one of the core mental health professions e.g. nursing, psychology, medicine, social work, occupational therapy or evidence of having achieved the Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSA) route) OR a recognised professional post‑graduate qualification in Systemic Therapy, Family Therapy, Arts Therapies, Psychotherapy or relevant core mental health professional therapeutic training.
* HCPC / NMC / Social Worker Registered.
* Further training in a specific trauma therapy e.g. EMDR, NET, TF-CBT.
* Further training in forensic mental health or forensic psychology.
* Family therapy qualification / training.
* Further training in reflective practice.
* Further training in yoga or mindfulness‑based approaches.
Experience
* 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 using a trauma informed approach.
* 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 or a given therapeutic discipline within the context of multi disciplinary care.
* Experience/understanding of working with adolescents/young people.
* Experience of working within a secure setting, prison or hospital.
* Experience working with adolescents with complex needs.
* Experience of running reflective practice or staff groups and/or offering clinical supervision.
* Experience of working using multi therapeutic approaches.
* Experience of working with neurodevelopmental difficulties amongst children and young people.
* Experience of working with service-users to develop peer facilitated support or treatment initiatives.
Skills and Knowledge
* 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.
* Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non professional groups.
* Possesses range of clinical knowledge, skills & information technology expertise relevant to post.
* An understanding of the social determinates of health inequalities and relevant psychological theory and practice.
* 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.
* 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.
* Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult-to-treat groups (e.g. people with additional disabilities).
* Can apply psychological knowledge creatively in developing new initiatives.
* Ability to write high quality reports for varied audiences, including courts and purchasers of services.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
£49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum (pro rata if part time)
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