Specialist Clinical / Counselling / Practitioner Psychologist

A Vacancy at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Clinical Psychologist/Counselling Psychologist/Specialist Practitioner Psychologist or Psychotherapist, Band 7, full time permanent post

We are looking for a someone to join our friendly community service for adults with Learning Disabilities. You will need to be a qualified Clinical or Counselling Psychologist, or Practitioner Psychologist/Psychotherapist with specialist skills, knowledge and experience required for the role, including neuropsychological assessment. We would welcome applications from current final year trainees, looking to start in Autumn 2023

You would be joining a friendly and well-established department of up to 20 Psychologists and Behavioural Support Practitioners, working in three Inner London boroughs, each borough led by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. There are a range of opportunities for support and supervision from both Senior, Lead and Consultant Clinical Psychologists, many of whom have worked in the team since being newly-qualified themselves. We are a core placement for Trainee Clinical Psychologists, who are an important and valued part of our department

You will be working within the Mental Health & Learning Disabilities Service (MHLD), a specialist community service for adults with learning disabilities, covering the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham, working with adults who have additional mental health difficulties and/or behaviour that challenges, and their support networks.

You will based in the Lewisham borough team, coordinated by a Team Leader, working jointly with Psychiatry and CPN colleagues. The team is co-located with the local CTLD and works in close partnership them as well as social care colleagues, with psychological and behavioural interventions delivered as part of a multidisciplinary care plan.

You will be expected to work directly and indirectly with people with learning disabilities, families, paid carers and support networks to provide a range of high quality, collaborative and person-centred psychological assessments and interventions. We are looking for someone who is compassionate and creative, with a commitment to improving the lives of people with learning disabilities who have additional mental health needs and/or behaviours that challenge, and their families.

Across the three boroughs, we offer a range of psychological assessments and interventions for people with learning disabilities and their networks, delivered individually and in groups, face to face and online. We have developed expertise in specialist areas, for example, Systemic and Open Dialogue approaches, Cognitive Analytic Therapy and Positive Behaviour Support and Behavioural Analysis, and you will be invited to make use of regular supervision and special interest groups as part of your development.

We are committed to learning from the people and the local population we serve, and contribute to Trust-wide initiatives to develop anti-racist practice, promote race equity, improve local service provision and a develop a more representative workforce. As a newly qualified Psychologist, you would have weekly supervision and have a range of opportunities available to help develop your clinical, leadership and supervision skills as part of your continuing professional development

We have close links with the Doctorate of Clinical Psychology courses at IOPPN and Salomons, providing core placements and teaching on the academic programmes, as well as with Estia Centre, a specialist training and research arm of the service to enhance skills of local service providers. This means you will have opportunities to develop your teaching and training skills to a range of staff and trainees in the region.

We are part of a Clinical Academic Group (CAG) within Kings Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre, which means there are opportunities to further develop your research skills and interests, to help improve physical and mental health care for people with learning disabilities. There are also opportunities to work with Trust colleagues to offer training and consultation to our adult mental health teams to help improve access for people with mild learning disabilities, and opportunities to work closely with ND-CAMHS as part of our transition pathways