Senior Cognitive Behavioural Therapist with Lead role

Do you have excellent clinical skills, substantial supervision and management experience and have led a development or clinical area, in an NHS Talking Therapies service? Hillingdon NHS Talking Therapies is looking for an innovative and experienced Senior High Intensity Therapist (CBT, accredited Counsellor or Clinical Psychologist to join the team in a leadership role, working 4 days a week. The role requires flexibility to lead across a range of roles and responsibilities within the management team as appointments are not for permanently fixed areas of provision and can change over time. Applicants should be creative, innovative, enthusiastic and committed to developing staff and to staff wellbeing. Applicants with experience in leading other service areas, including Long Term Conditions / Covid, perinatal, young adults and groups, or providing specialist clinical input or supervision, will be welcomed, as will those from diverse backgrounds and communities.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Applicants should work currently in a Talking Therapies service and have extensive post-qualification clinical and supervisory experience including managing complex client presentations, risk and safeguarding. Our service is clinically focussed and supports all staff to develop skills and competencies to provide a high quality therapies service. Training and development are emphasised, and staff wellbeing and team working are given high priority.

The postholder will provide clinical supervision and line management to training and qualified staff at steps 2 and 3, undertake recruitment, oversee staff wellbeing initiatives and support staff through reflective practice and compassionate leadership. In turn, the postholder will be supported in their own development and have opportunities to innovate and lead.

The postholder will be expected to participate in extended hours clinics run by the service from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, to provide senior cover as well offer extended hours assessments and treatments to clients across the team bases and other sites as appropriate.

Flexible working arrangements currently require site working at our main hub in central Uxbridge two days a week, the remainder home/remote working. This may change in response to increased patient and service demand for face to face therapy, supervision and for team cohesion and wellbeing with a potential to increase site presence.

The team is a friendly, well established, dynamic and innovative service, and is responsible for the provision of Low Intensity and High Intensity (CBT and Counselling) therapies. We offer a range of relational modalities within the service, while working to the NHSE National programme. We have a vibrant outreach programme and are committed to reaching wider groups and communities in our borough.

Applicants must have good knowledge of the IAPT programme and preferably experience of IAPTus, and have demonstrated high standards of communication skills, problem solving and have developed good professional working relationships with staff, patients, partners and the general public.

We are looking for applicants with enthusiasm for working within IAPT services and who are interested in contributing to further development of the IAPT provision, in service expansion in line with the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, who embrace the agenda for parity of physical and mental health and who are committed to providing an inclusive service for the local population.

The post is for a Senior Clinician with a Lead role and responsibility for managing an area or service within the Hillingdon NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression. The postholder will hold, and maintain, individual accreditation to deliver psychological therapy within their modality of training, provide specialist support and supervise and develop trainees and qualified staff within the service. The postholder will also carry a clinical caseload including complex cases and support staff through the duty system to identify and manage risk, with decision-taking and to triage and manage referrals into the service. The postholder will support clinical staff through training and provide clinical supervision and line management to training and qualified staff at steps 2 and 3.

The postholder will be required to take up key management roles and responsibilities as required by the service and across areas of provision, including LTC-Covid, Perinatal, Step 2, Outreach and S2 Operational management, depending on service need for flexibility within the management team and to support other Lead postholders where necessary. The postholder will support the management team and the Clinical Lead in their roles and work within the framework of NHS Talking Therapies national requirements. The postholder will provide advice and consultation on clients’ psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues and to other, non-professional carers; will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the Trust and Service’s policies and procedures. The postholder will utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the service.

Accreditation checks are a pre-requisite for shortlisting, please ensure you provide your correct REGISTRATION NUMBER as names are not visible to shortlisters