Join to apply for the Counsellor/Counselling Psychologist role at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.
Job Overview
We are looking for an experienced accredited counsellor, psychotherapist or counselling psychologist to join our team at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. The service provides low‑and high‑intensity therapies at Step 2 and Step 3, alongside a Step 3 counselling service. We value compassion, respect, empowerment and partnership and are passionate about the work we do and the care we provide to service users.
* You will join a team of Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWP), CBT Therapists and Counsellors, with experienced supervisors.
* You should be competent in providing brief focused counselling using an evidence‑based approach (e.g. focal psychodynamic, client‑centred, solution focused, humanistic).
* Delivering therapy in local languages is desirable.
Key Attributes
* Passionate about the benefits of short‑term focused therapy.
* Worked in the past two years with adults with common mental health problems in a primary care/IAPT or NHS setting.
* Extensive experience of assessments & enjoy working independently.
* Enjoy working within a fast‑paced & busy setting with diverse populations.
* Want to develop clinical skills & access further training.
* Thorough: the advertised post is full time, but part‑time applicants are welcomed and flexible working patterns are supported as long as core service commitments are covered.
Benefits
* Well‑being is important within our service and we are a collaborative and cohesive team.
* 27 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays, with an increase to 33 days with continuous service.
* NHS discount.
* Opportunities for career progression.
* Supported professional development and further training in specialist IAPT modalities (e.g. Brief Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Counselling for Depression, Couples Counselling for Depression). This will enable you to progress to a Band 7 IAPT High‑Intensity Counsellor at the end of the training.
Main Responsibilities
* Provide a systematic time‑limited assessment and counselling/psychological therapy service to people with defined common mental health difficulties within the Primary Care setting.
* Exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of patients whose problems are managed by psychologically based care plans.
* Provide consultation to referring GPs and the primary and community care teams about psychological therapy aspects of patient care and a range of mental health issues; attend primary care meetings where appropriate.
* When necessary, arrange onward referral of patients to other NHS and non‑NHS teams and organisations in consultation with the referring GP.
* Work as part of local mental and physical health services to provide a clear patient pathway.
* Provide comprehensive and timely clinical information when referring within and between these teams and services.
* Liaise with voluntary organisations and other mental and physical health agencies over patient care and provide advice around primary care issues; have extensive local knowledge of associated services.
* Use analytical and judgement skills across complex presenting facts or situations in devising an appropriate response and intervention.
* Responsible for keeping clinical records and maintaining patient records in secure locations across sites; ensure any patient‑identifiable data is not carried outside these NHS premises or between sites.
Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
* Essential criteria: Qualified Counsellor / Psychotherapist, current registrant on the Professional Standards Authority Accredited Register of Counsellors (BACP, BPC, UKCP, NCS, COSCA, UKAHPP) or Qualified Counselling Psychologist, current registrant with the HCPC; substantial post‑qualification experience of generic counselling (minimum 450 hrs client contact), demonstrable through an additional supervisory reference; continued professional development that includes learning/knowledge of other clinical modalities and theoretical models.
* Desirable criteria: Post‑qualification training in one or more IAPT modalities (e.g. DIT, IPT, CfD, Couples Counselling for Depression); post‑qualification training in additional specialist mental health areas (e.g. CBT principles, ACT).
Previous Experience
* Essential criteria: Recent experience of working with adults with common mental health problems; recent experience of working in a primary care setting using brief, time‑limited counselling interventions; assessed experience of undertaking assessments for brief therapy/counselling, including risk management; experience of working with a wide variety of clients over the age of 16 presenting with common mental health problems; 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 exercising clinical responsibility for clients’ emotional care and treatment including maintaining confidentiality.
* Desirable criteria: Experience of assessing clinical risk in the context of common mental health problems; experience of working in a multicultural setting and with diversity; experience of working with adults with Serious Mental Illness; experience of working therapeutically with people presenting with Long Term Health Conditions; experience of working with interpreters; experience of managing an independent and specialist caseload.
Skills and Knowledge
* Essential criteria: Skills in psychological assessment for counselling, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration; competency in working within a recognised theoretical framework; ability to draw on an evidence‑base in choice of interventions in line with NICE Guidelines; competency in working with a clinical model in brief counselling that includes working with a focus and goals for therapy; ability to work independently and manage a caseload, with freedom to act and take decisions about patient care within professional discretion; ability to provide support to colleagues, GPs and other members of the Primary Care Team with knowledge of mental health issues as appropriate; ability to offer mentoring to counsellors on placement within the team.
* Desirable criteria: Knowledge of more than one model of intervention and the ability to choose and apply different interventions; familiarity with mental health issues in the field of primary care counselling; familiarity with issues around clinical governance; ability to provide counselling in mother tongue within the Brent population.
Employment Details
* Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level
* Employment type: Full‑time
* Job function: Other (Healthcare)
* Industry: Hospitals and Health Care
* Location: Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (main hub – Fairfields House in Kingsbury, satellite hub – Bell House in Willesden Green; also work in GP surgeries and community settings)
* Working hours: 8 am – 8 pm on weekdays, including evening clinic as required; flexible working supported.
Applicants should ensure they provide the correct Registration Number in applications to confirm accreditation status. Candidates awaiting accreditation decisions should note this in their supporting statement.
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