Job summary
- Main area
- Addictions Services
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 5 sessions per week (18.75hrs per week)
- Job ref
- 333-D-HJ-1994
- Employer
- Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Willesden Centre for Health and Care
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £61,631 - £68,623 pa inc HCAS pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 09/04/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
NHS AfC: Band 8a
CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.
Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We’re proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.
We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. For more information on these and other benefits of working for us, see our Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing page
Become part of our team. We care for you as much as you care for others.
CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.
Job overview
We are looking for an enthusiastic and dynamic Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join our multi-disciplinary team in the Recovery Day Programme at the New Beginnings Addiction service in Brent.
This is a an exciting and rewarding opportunity for a psychologist who is enthusiastic about working in a multi-disciplinary setting, who is adaptable and enjoys variety and working independently as well as within a team context. You will have post-qualification experience and have excellent clinical skills and supervision experience. You will work alongside a range of professionals including psychiatrists, mental health nurses, social workers, drug and alcohol practitioners, experts by experience, criminal justice staff, recovery workers and group facilitators.
Specifically, you will be part of the Recovery Day Programme (RDP), an evidence-based, group and individual recovery-based intervention service designed to assist clients achieve and maintain abstinence from problem addictions. It is based within the Brent New Beginnings Addictions Service and is an integral part of the treatment pathway of this multidisciplinary service.
If you are currently a band 7 psychologist with post registration experience who wants to work towards a band 8 or a current band 8a who is seeking to follow a senior career pathway in the NHS then this job allows for both of those development pathways.
Main duties of the job
As the Psychologist in the service you will be expected to contribute to developing the RDP team in conjunction with the coordinator, leading on psychosocial interventions for the RDP and wider service, assisting both the Consultant Psychologist and Consultant Psychiatrist in service development and ensuring that the RDP is maintained as a critical element in the treatment pathway in the New Beginnings service.
Liaising and developing effective collaborative relationships with other services such as social care and mental health is a key part of the role. The post holder will have some management and clinical supervision responsibilities for assistant and trainee psychologists and other staff as required, and will assist in embedding a psychologically informed environment (PIE) across all levels of working. The post holder will be responsible for screening and assessing referrals, managing wait lists, and providing psychological consultation to colleagues and other services about the mental health and psychological needs of clients. You will be expected to work with clients in groups and individually, and with carers and families as required.
You will be operationally responsible to the service manager and work alongside the RDP coordinator and receive regular clinical supervision, support and reflective practice from the Consultant Clinical Psychologist, as well as peer support and guidance from other senior team members.
Working for our organisation
CNWL are committed to progressing and supporting their staff with career development and training, and ensuring staff health and wellbeing and job satisfaction. The service has a strong track record of providing both external and internal training for our staff in line with service development and need.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The RDP provides a 12-week intensive, CBT and evidence-based group treatment programme for clients who have reached abstinence. These groups use Motivational Interviewing, cognitive behavioural and behavioural therapy principles, as well as mindfulness-based CBT, dialectical behaviour therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, positive psychology and solution focused therapy. Fellowship and peer recovery principles are also incorporated in the programme and the staff team is a mix of recovery workers, experts by experience, group therapists, counsellors and clinical and counselling psychologists.
Individual and couples’ therapy (behavioural couples’ therapy) are also an integral part of the programme, as well as the use of specialist psychological interventions such as EMDR and other trauma-informed approaches. Psychoeducational groups, lectures, guided self-help CBT and workshops also form part of the 12-week programme. Ongoing support for those successfully completing the programme is provided through the RDP Graduates Group.
You will have assessment, formulation, therapy, and leadership and supervision skills; and you will have (and/or want to develop) experience, training and knowledge in working with Addictions and associated complex presentations. Although experience of working with people with addictions would be valuable, we recognise that not all applicants will have had this opportunity. Tailored induction and training will be provided to enable you to work effectively with this client group.
You will have good research and audit skills, be familiar with care quality and clinical governance and be expected to contribute to the development of the service.
A significant percentage of addiction clients also present with diagnoses of Trauma, Personality Disorder, and Complex Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and the team is expected to deliver a range of evidence-based interventions as recommended by NICE Guidance including MI, MBT, DBT, CFT, EMDR and CBT. Other modalities are used dependent on patient need and best practice. The successful applicant will be involved in the provision of therapy and supervise both qualified and trainee psychology staff.
This is a 0.5 WTE permanent post and is available immediately.
Person specification
TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
Essential criteria
- Doctoral level training in clinical/counselling psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS. Registration with the HCPC
Desirable criteria
- Post-graduate training in an evidence-based therapeutic technique of use to the service
- Post-graduate training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
EXPERIENCE
Essential criteria
- 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 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.
Desirable criteria
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
- Experience of the application of clinical/counselling psychology in different cultural contexts.
- Experience of the treatment of substance and behavioural addictions populations
- Experience of attending management meetings and of being senior psychologist in service
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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Applicant requirements
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Andre Geel
- Job title
- Lead Psychologist for Addictions
- Email address
- [email protected]
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