Principal High Intensity CBT Therapist (Step 2 Clinical Lead)
The closing date is 09 April 2026
A fixed‑term opportunity has arisen to cover the Step 2 Clinical Lead role at Lambeth NHS Talking Therapies for a period of 7 months to provide maternity cover.
The primary purpose of this role is to contribute to the continued development and provision of a very high quality therapy service to meet the needs of people with common mental health problems in Lambeth. The Step 2 Clinical Lead will be an experienced psychological therapist with extensive experience working within an NHS Talking Therapies service (formerly known as IAPT), and will be part of the management team and work closely with the service lead and deputy service lead, playing a key role in supporting, inspiring and guiding the clinical work of their team, with a focus on continuing service improvement.
Main duties of the job
* Develop the strategy to enable the Step 2 team to meet the nationally set targets around reliable recovery and reliable improvement
* Plan and manage treatment capacity and demand to ensure that the nationally set targets around completed treatments and waiting times are met
* Line manage the Step 2 8a Team Leads and the Step 2 team, supporting their well‑being and development and managing their performance
* Lead recruitment for qualified and trainee PWPs
* Lead with the help of the 8a Step 2 Team Leads the monthly Step 2 meetings and LI supervisors meetings
* Liaise with UCL about the Croydon & Lambeth London training cohort
* Work collaboratively with the service lead to plan the future development of the service, and to lead specific service developments and new initiatives
* Work with service users, referrers and other providers to improve existing services to clients and to develop new care pathways and services
* Support the service lead in maintaining a strong, committed and motivated team
* Work autonomously as a Senior Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures
* Provide high quality specialist CBT supervision
About us
The post-holder will work within the Lambeth NHS Talking Therapies Service. The service consists of approximately 120 WTE clinical and administration staff providing a service across Lambeth. The main service bases are Dalbury House in Brixton, Stockwell Gardens and Palace Rd Streatham. This is a borough of high social and psychological needs with considerable cultural diversity. The service sees clients with a wide range of common mental health problems and varying levels of severity. Many clients present with multiple problems including social, housing and employment issues. The postholder will work with people from different cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary and should be committed to equal opportunities.
We operate a stepped care service model offering on‑line CBT, guided self‑help, groups and workshops as well as individual therapy (CBT and a range of other approaches) and offer treatment to Lambeth residents suffering from long‑term conditions. We offer clinical services weekdays from 8 am until 8 pm. We have close links with our sister IAPT services within SLaM, with the IAPT training courses at the Institute of Psychiatry and University College London (UCL) and CADAT.
Job responsibilities
Key Responsibilities:
PLANNING, MANAGING AND EVALUATING THE DELIVERY OF SERVICES WITHIN LAMBETH TALKING THERAPIES
* Assess the service need for a service area, and current and future capacity requirements
* Plan and manage the recruitment process to meet this need
* Monitor and evaluate service activity and outcomes
* Ensure the effective use of resources through the design and refinement of efficient systems and processes of service delivery and the ongoing adoption of new ways of delivering care
* Design and implement new care pathways in collaboration with referrers and other services
* Develop and update policies and procedures for the delivery of high quality clinical services
* Commission and monitor external provision of services as agreed
TEAM MANAGEMENT
* Agree job plans, performance targets and development goals with your team through the appraisal process, and monitor and support staff in their achievement
* Foster a supportive and performance‑focused team ethos through your interaction and communication with the team, your own behaviour, team meetings and supervision
* Take responsibility for the well‑being of your team, setting up formal and informal systems to identify issues and addressing them
* Induct new team members, agree job plans, and ensure they are trained and supported to do their jobs, and meet them regularly to support their development and performance
* Ensure a programme of clinical training and development is in place for your team and is regularly reviewed and refreshed
* Ensure good two‑way communication between your staff and the service management
* Lead team meetings
SERVICE LEADERSHIP
* Share responsibility for the direction and development of the service, taking an active role in the monthly service management meeting, leading team and whole team meetings
* Provide regular reports on the activity and performance of your service area, and any issues that need attention
* Identify aspects of the service that could be improved and initiate and implement service development projects
* Be proactive in challenging discrimination and support the development of culturally competent services
* Keep abreast of local and national developments in mental health services and lead proactive responses in LTT
* Take the lead in agreed areas of development and service delivery
* Lead recruitment of CBT therapists, PWPs, administration staff, assistant psychologists and trainees
* Consult and engage service users in planning and developing services
* Listen and respond to and appropriately manage patient complaints
* Participate in clinical governance initiatives as agreed by the directorate clinical governance committee
* Contribute to a culture that values the use of outcome measures and service‑user involvement as ways of improving clinical practice
CLINICAL
* Provide expertise in a highly specialist clinical area for the treatment of clients with anxiety disorders or depression within an IAPT framework
* Deliver NICE recommended, formulation‑driven psychological interventions for depression and anxiety disorders, adapting interventions for the specific needs of the clinical setting, and integrating social support, voluntary work and employment into therapy
* Provide highly specialist assessment and clinical formulation to clients with complex mental health needs, including personality disorders, addiction and trauma
* Write psychological reports, including relevant formulation, opinion and interventions, to inform referrers and, where appropriate, service users
* Select and deliver highly specialist evidence‑based psychological treatments, monitoring outcomes and adapting interventions, drawing on a range of theoretical models
* Collect and enter clinical outcome data on a sessional basis; select and interpret outcome measures to inform treatment planning
* Work autonomously within BPS/BABCP/HCPC guidelines and the service’s policies and procedures, taking full responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions
* Travel to community settings as appropriate and across the Trust when required
* Contribute to effective team working and a psychologically informed framework for the service area, taking on specific roles or duties as agreed
* Communicate skilfully and sensitively highly complex and sensitive information with clients, carers, colleagues and other professionals, taking account of sensory and cultural barriers to communication
* Keep clear, accurate and up‑to‑date records of all clinical activity in line with service protocols
* Assess and monitor risk and develop appropriate risk management plans
* Advise other members of the service on specialist psychological care of clients
* Respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations such as distressed clients or abusive behaviour and support others involved in such situations
* Provide information and signposting for patients who do not meet the services’ eligibility criteria
* Refer people with more severe common mental health problems to the secondary care psychological therapies service
* Work closely with other members of the IAPT team to ensure that patients referred to the IAPT service have a clear referral pathway
* Maintain a clinical caseload in line with activity targets agreed with line manager
TEACHING, TRAINING AND SUPERVISION
* Receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychologist/psychotherapist according to BABCP/BPS/HCPC and Trust guidelines
* Contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills base within Lambeth IAPT by maintaining an active awareness of current developments in psychology, CBT, IAPT, and implementing knowledge gained in practice
* Provide professional, managerial and clinical supervision to HI CBT therapists, PWPs, trainees, assistant psychologists and other junior staff for all aspects of their work, including live supervision of therapists’ work
* Deliver and promote outcome‑focused supervision, directly to supervised staff, and through participation in the LI and HI supervisors groups
* Provide service‑level risk management, taking part in the on‑call risk rota and developing and recording risk management plans
* Provide specialist training to other professions as appropriate
* Plan and undertake teaching and training of pre‑ and post‑qualification psychologists and specialised training to other professions as appropriate
* Provide supervision for the psychological work of other multi‑disciplinary staff as appropriate
RESEARCH & SERVICE DEVELOPMENT
* Assist in developing and maintaining a strong research culture that values the use of outcome measures as a way of improving clinical practice
* Encourage the critical evaluation of practice and undertake research
* Use theory and literature to support evidence‑based practice in clinical work, supervision, teaching and consultations
* Communicate and disseminate research and service evaluation information so that clinical practice is appropriately informed
* Contribute to development of services through initiating, undertaking and supervising service evaluation and audit
* Disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles
PROFESSIONAL
* Work as an autonomous professional and maintain standards of practice adhering to HPC or BABCP guidelines and the service’s policies and procedures, taking responsibility for own work including treatment and discharge decisions
* Ensure Continuing Professional Development in line with BPS/BABCP/UKCP and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements
* Be aware of advances in CBT, other psychological therapies and the IAPT programme
* Work in accordance with the principles of CBT and within the parameters of good practice, in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Clinical Governance Framework
GENERAL
* Participate in business and professional meetings within the IAPT service and Lambeth Directorate
* Lead investigations into Serious Untoward Events in other SLAM services as required
* Respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations (such as challenging behaviour or abuse) and support others involved in such situations
* Travel to GP practices, service meetings and other meetings as appropriate
* Regularly work one evening and, on occasion, do Saturday work as required
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Qualified therapist in CBT from an IAPT‑approved High Intensity training at post‑graduate diploma level or equivalent
* Practitioner accreditation status with BABCP
* Additional therapy qualification such as EMDR, IPT, DIT, couples or systemic therapy
Experience
* Significant experience in staff management including line management, performance management and appraisal
* Experience of implementing major service improvements
* Ability to support teams to achieve service targets
* Experience of managing the day‑to‑day running and performance of a significant service or function within an NHS Talking Therapies service
* Experience of clinically supervising psychological therapists including qualified PWPs and HIs
Knowledge and Skills
* Highly developed knowledge of the theory and practice of at least one NICE recommended model of therapy for IAPT
* Attendance at supervision training for PWPs and HIs
* Advanced knowledge of disorder‑specific formulations and evidence‑based treatment interventions relevant to an IAPT service
* Advanced theoretical knowledge of psychopathology and the evidence base for the relevant treatment
* Training in performance management
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and 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.
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
£72,921 to £83,362 a year, inclusive of HCAs
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