Company: NHS

Apply for the Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or Psychotherapist

Location: London

Job Description:

Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or Psychotherapist

The closing date is 27 July 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly specialist clinical or counselling psychologist or psychotherapist within the Psycho-oncology team at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. We are looking to appoint an empathic, enthusiastic and dynamic psychological practitioner to contribute to the provision of a specialist psychology service for patients with cancer across all sectors of cancer care at ICHT. This is a fixed term maternity leave cover post within a large, established, friendly and supportive team of psychologists and psychotherapists working across cancer and oncology services.

Main duties of the job

The postholder will work individually and systemically to support patients, carers and staff from diverse backgrounds throughout the cancer pathway, alongside working to foster a psychologically safe environment within cancer services. They will contribute to Level 2 teaching and supervision for specialist cancer staff as well as provide training, consultation and reflective practice as appropriate. The postholder will undertake service evaluation, audit and research as required and work as an autonomous professional within BPS and HCPC guidelines and codes of conduct, guided by the policies and procedures of the service. Supervision and management will be provided by one of the experienced senior psychologists within the psychology team and there will be opportunities to link and work alongside other psychologists and psychotherapists working in other medical specialities within the broader ICHT Clinical Health Psychology Department.

Desirable candidates may have particular interests in third wave therapies (i.e., ACT, CFT), adjustment and coping in acute and chronic illness, systemic and narrative approaches, trauma informed models and approaches, attachment, existentialism, models of loss and grief and non-diagnostic approaches to understanding distress (e.g., the PTMF), amongst other therapeutic approaches. The postholder will have access to CPD and training offered through CNWL, as well as other training opportunities.

Job responsibilities

Clinical and Client Care

To provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation and intervention for patients with cancer across all sectors of cancer care at ICHT.
To provide culturally appropriate psychological interventions with carers or families of referred patients when required and as appropriate.
To assess and monitor risk and draw up appropriate risk management plans.
To act as liaison on the patient pathway, between the acute hospital, primary care and community services as necessary for the psychological well‑being of the patient.

Contributing to team or service clinical functioning

To contribute to the effective working of the Psycho‑oncology service and to a psychologically informed framework for the service.
To contribute to the teams delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
To be proactive in challenging discrimination and supporting the development of culturally competent services.

Policy and service development

To implement policies and procedures in own area of work, and to propose improvements or beneficial changes.
To contribute to the consultation and engagement of service users in planning and delivering services which meet the needs of local communities.
To contribute to service development through undertaking and participating in appropriate projects.

Care or management of resources

To take care of, and use carefully, the Trusts equipment and physical resources.

Management and supervision

To be responsible for the allocation and/or clinical supervision of the work of an assistant psychologist if required, under supervision from a more senior psychologist.
To supervise trainee applied psychologists within own area of specialism after completion of the relevant Training Courses Supervision Training.
To offer supervision and consultation to non‑psychological staff working in cancer services in ICHT.

Teaching and Training

To provide specialist training in psychological approaches to care to other professions as appropriate.
To disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and published articles.

Record‑keeping and Information Governance

To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry.

Research and development

To undertake regular complex service evaluation, audits or research relevant to service needs.

Maintaining professional standards and continuing professional development

To receive regular clinical and professional supervision from a more senior psychologist according to HCPC and Trust guidelines.
To ensure own Continuing Professional Development in line with BPS and Trust Personal Development Plan requirements and the HCPC Standards for Continuing Professional Development.
To maintain an up‑to‑date knowledge of current developments in professional and clinical practice and of relevant legislation and policies.
To comply with the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and Standards of Proficiency, and ensure professional development in line with these.
To adhere to the BPSs Professional Practice Guidelines and Trust policies and procedures.

General

To travel to meetings at ICHT and CNWL as appropriate and when required.
To be aware of risk relating to aggressive and challenging behaviour and follow trust policies relating to its management.
To respond appropriately and professionally to emotionally distressing situations and to support others involved in such situations.
Where relevant and by agreement with line manager to work flexibly which may include offering some regular commitment to late clinics or Saturday working, within the overall Job Plan.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Training

Doctorate or equivalent in Clinical or Counselling Psychology or equivalent Psychotherapy qualification.
Registered with the HCPC as Practitioner Psychologist or UKCP as a Psychotherapist.
Training in 3rd wave therapies.
Knowledge and experience of time‑limited NHS psychology services.
Specialist training or experience in the field of clinical health psychology.
Specialist training in trauma‑informed therapeutic approaches.

Experience

Experience of psychological assessment and support of clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature.
Experience of work in health psychology or other relevant area.
Experience of NHS (or other public health / third sector) multidisciplinary teamwork.
Experience of supervised psychological practice in NHS (or other public health / third sector) settings.
Experience of using and communicating advanced psychological formulations.
Experience of working in different cultural contexts and / or working with diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience.
Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs.
Experience of developing and carrying out research projects and / or audit.
Evidence of continuing professional development as required by the HCPC / BABCP/ UKCP.
Experience of supporting patients with trauma, especially in relation to physical health conditions or experiences that might affect the treatment and management of a physical health condition.
Experience of using routine outcome monitoring for the purposes of service evaluation.
Experience of working within cancer, oncology and/or haematology psychology services.
Experience of working with interpreters.
Experience of providing psychological support for people who are socially disadvantaged.
Experience of facilitating groups.
Experience of teaching, training, supervision and consultation.

Knowledge

Theoretical knowledge of psychological processes that are relevant to physical health conditions.
Knowledge of psychological assessment and clinical psychometrics.
Understanding of staff responsibilities and an ongoing commitment to promoting Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion within the NHS informed by the Equality Act 2010.
Knowledge of legislation in relation to mental health, child and adult safeguarding, including knowledge of information governance.
Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.
Knowledge of the literature concerning common psychological issues in oncology, cancer and haematology patient groups.
Doctoral level knowledge of psychological research methodology and complex statistical analysis.

Skills and Abilities

Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non‑professional groups working in acute care.
An ability to work effectively, efficiently and independently to manage high clinical caseloads in a safe and effective manner.
Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive work.
Ability to undertake audit and evaluation.
Good communication skills, psychological insight and a warm empathic manner.
Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information with clients, carers and colleagues overcoming barriers to communication including sensory difficulties, language barriers and emotional distress.
Well‑developed skills in the ability to communicate through written means complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information.
Able to suitably adapt and sensitively deliver psychological therapy across cultural and other differences.
Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi‑media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
Well‑developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data.
Ability to work creatively, cooperatively, reliably and consistently both independently and in multidisciplinary settings.
Able to select and administer specialist psychological assessments, interpreting and integrating complex data that require analysis, interpretation and comparison, drawn from several sources.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such 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.

£58,133 to £65,261 a year per annum inc HCAS

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Posted: July 19th, 2026