Clinical/Counselling Forensic Psychologist
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Main area Forensic CMH Grade NHS AfC: Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours Part time – 22.5 hours per week Job ref 294-FASP-8271916-EB
Site Shaftesbury Building, Springfield University Hospital Town London Salary £66,274 – £73,496 per annum inclusive of inner London HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 22/09/2026 23:59
South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We provide a full range of local mental health services to the Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth London boroughs, as well as specialist forensic mental health services, including specialised services such as national deaf adults and CAMHS inpatients and OCD.
We are committed to providing high quality integrated health and social care for local people with mental health problems in South West London and more specialist mental health services for people throughout the UK. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ however we aim to be ‘outstanding’.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values; being consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is “making life better together”.
When you join us, you’ll be part of something special – an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK.
As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Forensic Outreach Service in one of the dedicated clinical posts supporting a new forensic step-down supported living service, scheduled to open in January 2027.
The Service will be delivered as part of the SWLSTG Adult Secure discharge and step-down pathway, commissioned through the South London Partnership (SLP) Adult Secure Provider Collaborative Programme. The service will provide an integrated model of care and support through a partnership between the Forensic Outreach Service and a Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) provider. The VCS partner will deliver the supported living pathway and work closely with the SWLSTG Forensic Outreach Service which will host dedicated clinical posts.
The Service is commissioned for adults stepping down from Adult Secure inpatient services into a community setting, whose ordinary residence and Section 117 aftercare provision sits with one of the five South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) boroughs, for health and social care. It will enable people to transition safely and sustainably from secure mental health services into the community, through access to high-quality accommodation and specialist, recovery-focused support delivered in a least restrictive setting.
Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will work within the Forensic Directorate in providing psychological support to individuals living within the Forensic Step-Down Service, to colleagues within the team and other teams providing support and to the individual’s social network. The post holder will sit within the Forensic Outreach Service.
As a key member of our multidisciplinary team (MDT), you will provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and evidence-based interventions to support the recovery, rehabilitation, and risk management of service users within the Forensic Step-Down Service.
You will contribute to the assessment and admission process by undertaking psychological assessments in collaboration with the VCS provider and the multidisciplinary team, ensuring that referrals are clinically appropriate and that psychological needs and identified risks are considered as part of the admission decision-making process.
In addition to direct clinical work, the postholder will provide consultation, guidance, and psychological leadership to the VCS support staff and multidisciplinary team members through a consultation model. This will include regular multidisciplinary case formulation and consultation meetings, as well as structured reflective practice sessions designed to enhance staff understanding of service users’ presentations, strengthen psychologically informed care, and promote safe and effective therapeutic practice.
Working for our organisation
We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.
We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ – we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.
This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.
We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.
We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.
Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.
Unless expressly stated in the job advert the role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological (and neuropsychological) tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.
To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems and problematic/offending behaviour, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, adjusting and reformulating the therapeutic models as appropriate based on feedback and follow up, drawing on a number of different explanatory theoretical models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options considering both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based care plans.
To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to the clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all residents.
We provide reasonable adjustments to the interview process for any candidates with a disability.
We are committed to supporting the Armed Forces Community and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.
Experience
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of people with mental health problems, personality disorder and offending behaviour problems.
- Experience of co-facilitating psychosocial groups.
- Experience of working within a Multi-Disciplinary Team
- Experience of working systemically with friends and family members of service-users.
- Experience of working in forensic and/or substance misuse services.
- Experience of leading on areas of service development.
Training & Qualification
- Doctorate level training in clinical, forensic or counselling psychology, including specifically: models of psychopathology; clinical psychometrics and two or more distinct psychological therapies as accredited by the BPS
- Registered with the HCPC under the appropriate domain specific title
- Further post graduate training in relevant areas of professional psychology, mental health practice and/or research design and analysis.
- Trained in the theory and practice of clinical supervision of psychological therapy practice
Knowledge & Skills
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information, including contentious and highly distressing information, to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, psychological formulation, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration. This requires the use of highly developed analytical skills and judgement.
- High standard of report writing for communication with professionals from NHS, Local Authority and other agencies, parents/carers and clients.
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies to treat people in secure settings.
At South West London St Georges Mental Health Trust we are committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Committed Employer, and welcome applications from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We are Members of Stonewall Diversity Champions and
#J-18808-Ljbffr…