Houldsworth Centre
The Role
We have an exciting opportunity for an Consultant Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to join our Veterans First Point (V1P) service on a twelve month fixed term basis.
V1P Lanarkshire is a specialist service for military Veterans and is hosted within NHS Lanarkshire. Service provision includes individualised packages of care to address social, welfare, and mental health needs. The service is part of 6 Regional bases within the V1P network and adheres to this model, whilst adapting this locally to best fit a Lanarkshire context. The service is a member of the Quality Network for Veterans Mental Health Services (QNVMHS), Royal College of Psychiatrists having formally being awarded accreditation in September 2023.
The post holder will take a lead role on the clinical and strategic delivery of V1P Lanarkshire; and operational management of all psychological therapy and peer support worker staff in the team. There are considerable opportunities for local service development and quality improvement, and contribution at a National level.
Interviews will be held on 13/11/2025
NHS Lanarkshire
Have you always wanted to work with NHS Lanarkshire? Then this might be the opportunity for you to join Team Lanarkshire!
Here at NHS Lanarkshire, we put the patient at the heart of everything we do. Each colleague within the organisation plays a key role in how we deliver our healthcare services.
We proudly serve a population of 655,000 across rural and urban communities in both North and South Lanarkshire. NHS Lanarkshire is comprised of Acute Services (which currently provide hospital based services over 3 main sites), Corporate & Property & Support Services, North and South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnerships which provide integrated primary healthcare and social care services to local communities and surrounding areas.
What we'll need you to bring
Minimum Qualifications:
1. To be eligible for Registration as a Chartered Clinical or Counselling Psychologist as per the requirements laid down by the British Psychological Society (BPS). That is,
EITHER
2. hold a post-graduate Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology, which includes academic, research and clinical components
OR
3. be granted statement of equivalence by the BPS with respect to qualifications gained oversea
OR
4. meet the requirements by having attained chartered status via the grandparenting route.
5. Experience in the management or co-ordination of personnel delivering clinical services.
6. Specific courses in the theory and practice of management and leadership.
7. Experience in policy design and implementation, and service planning at both the local and national level.
8. Post qualification training in specialised psychological therapies
9. Broad understanding of all relevant professional issues
Knowledge
Foundation knowledge of:
10. Classification and epidemiological issues, including major classification systems the speciality detailed in the role profile (AAMR, DSM-IV, ICD-I0) and basic knowledge of the classification of other mental disorders.
11. Psychopathology in general, and of how psychiatric disorders manifest in individuals attending the service.
12. Relevant professional papers such as BPS to the service user group the post relates to.
13. Lifespan development issues, including: theories of adult development, individual and family life cycle issues.
14. Relevant biological and neurological issues.
15. The broader context of service delivery, including the history of, and ideologies surrounding services for people with a (including normalisation, social role valorisation, the political economy, human rights, consumerism and advocacy and quality of life models).
16. Social and cultural issues such as gender and ethnicity and their particular impact on service users.
17. Relevant legislation including: the Mental Health (Scotland) Act and the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act.
Extensive knowledge of:
18. Issues most frequently addressed by psychologists, including: mental health problems, behavioural difficulties, trauma, distressed behaviours, adjustment disorders, bereavement, abuse, life problems, and skills development.
19. The major assessment techniques used with holder people and how to address varying levels of impairment, and standard assessment procedures and how these may require modification when used with a person attending the service.
20. Intervention approaches which include non-aversive, behavioural, cognitive, cognitive-behavioural, ACT, Schema, IPT, EMDR, humanistic, constructional and systemic, and how standard approaches might need to be modified when used with certain service user groups.
21. The use of descriptive, inferential, univariate and multivariate statistics, the principles of standardised test construction, the application of descriptive statistics (including measures of central tendency and dispersion), inferential statistics (including standard error of measurement, and the statistical significance of difference scores) to test interpretation and validation constructs (including reliability and validity).
22. Service and policy contexts, including: Government policies; the National Review; current patterns of service provision for the service user group; local variations in service provision for service users. Extent of knowledge of social policy will vary according to the psychologists grade and experience
Please note for all vacancies where a driving licence is required this must be a full UK/EU/EEA licence.
It would be great if you also have
23. Post Qualification training/CPD in Leadership
24. Experience in Leadership role within patient / client group setting
25. Post qualification experience of working with Veterans
26. Large theoretical knowledge base about various psychological models that can be utilised to assess, formulate and treat psychological/mental health problems in individuals across the life span
27. Keep up to date with research developments in field and to inform and update their clinical practice accordingly highlighting training requirements including budgetary considerations to Head of Psychological Specialities
28. Pursue understanding and knowledge in wider professional issues at national levels relevant to clinical/counselling psychology
29. Knowledge of and adhere to the British Psychological Societys Professional practice guidelines and the divisions of Clinical and Counselling Psychology Code of Conduct and relevant HCPC guidelines
30. Maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to patient/client group and mental health
31. Knowledge around theory and practise of leadership and management
32. Knowledge and experience of policy design and implementation of Service planning
33. Requirement for a range of non-clinical skills including computer skills, statistical knowledge and abilities
Contract type
Fixed Term or Secondment 12 months from Dec 2025
Part Time
33.3 hours
Please note this is a part time post and the salary for this position will be pro-rata.
Please note this is a fixed term post 12 months from Dec 2025 Where a post only has temporary funding and an existing member of NHS Lanarkshire staff wishes to apply, this will be treated as a secondment. The employee MUST already have written agreement from their line manager to be released on a secondment before applying for the post.
Location and Working Pattern
This role will be based in MH&LD within Houldsworth Centre .
The working pattern for this role To be confirmed
Whilst this advertisement may be for a specific post(s) in a particular location, applicants who are shortlisted for interview may be considered for similar vacancies in alternative locations.
Looking to find out more?
If youre looking to find out more, then we would love to hear from you!