Job summary
- Main area
- Psychological Therapy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 334-CLI-8098621
- Employer
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Lewisham
- Town
- Lewisham
- Salary
- £58,133 - £65,261 per annum incl. of HCAs (inner)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 07/10/2026 23:59
Employer heading
High Intensity Counsellor
NHS AfC: Band 7
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.
We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.
We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.
The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.
As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
Job advert for Counselling
We are looking for enthusiastic, passionate team players to join our dynamic service as High Intensity (HI) Counsellors. We are particularly interested to hear from female and Global Majority applicants to strengthen our diverse team.
If you are committed to delivering short-term evidence based high-quality care and making a real difference in people’s lives, we would like you to apply.
Why Join Us?
· Well established counselling team within a Talking Therapy Service (IAPT)
· Delivering short-term, goal focussed, outcome centred interventions
· Supportive, collaborative team environment
· Opportunities for professional development
· Make a meaningful impact in the Lewisham community
Working for the organisation:
We are a diverse, friendly and forward-thinking psychological therapy service based in Lewisham. Our team is committed to delivering high-quality, evidence-based interventions and fostering an environment where staff feel valued and supported in their professional growth. We have strong partnerships within the local community and welcome applicants who bring special interests or expertise in developing these links.
Main duties of the job
Main duties of a HI Counsellor:
The post holder will provide specialist psychological therapy services to clients residing in the Lewisham Borough.
This includes:
· Conducting specialist assessments to identify psychological needs.
· Developing individualised treatment plans, primarily using short-term, goal focused counselling.
· Delivering evidence-based interventions and monitoring progress through weekly outcome measures to support clients’ recovery rates.
· Ensuring high standards of clinical care and adherence to professional guidelines.
· Working autonomously, within the team and supervision guidelines.
· Competent to liaise and refer to multi-disciplinary teams (MDT) when appropriate.
Our clinicians are highly skilled and motivated, with access to specialist training enabling us to offer a wide range of therapies, including:
· Person Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD)
· Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT)
· Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
· Couple Therapy for Depression (CTfD)
To apply, download a full Job Description and main responsibilities.
Working for our organisation
We are a diverse, friendly, and forward-thinking psychological therapy service based in Lewisham. Our team is committed to delivering high-quality, evidence-based interventions and fostering an environment where staff feel valued and supported in their professional growth.
We maintain strong links with leading TT training programmes at King’s College London / Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) and University College Londonr. In addition, we collaborate with centres of clinical excellence and research innovation, such as the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (CADAT).
Our clinicians are highly skilled and motivated, with access to specialist training enabling us to offer a wide range of therapies, including:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Counselling for Depression (CfD)
- Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT)
- Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
- Behavioural Couples Therapy (BCT)
We have strong partnerships within the local community and welcome applicants who bring special interests or expertise in developing these links.
We aim to listen to and value our team members, promoting opportunities for continued professional development and career progression. If you are passionate about delivering high-quality care and contributing to service innovation, we would love to hear from you.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Provide specialist psychological therapy for clients referred to the NHS Talking Therapies service, integrating complex information from multiple sources, including:
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Specialist psychological assessments
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Self-report measures and routine outcome monitoring
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Clinical observations and formulation
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Deliver evidence-based, NICE-recommended psychological therapies for depression and anxiety disorders, including Person-Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD), Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), and Couple Therapy for Depression (CTfD), where appropriately trained.
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Formulate and implement individualised treatment plans using a collaborative, evidence-based and recovery-focused approach.
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Deliver short-term, goal-focused psychological therapy interventions and regularly review treatment progress and clinical outcomes to support recovery.
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Monitor treatment progress and outcomes through routine outcome measures, ensuring interventions remain effective and aligned with best practice.
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Work autonomously within professional, organisational and clinical governance frameworks, making appropriate referrals and liaising with multidisciplinary teams where required.
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Maintain high standards of clinical care, adhering to professional, ethical and service-specific guidelines.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- A level 7 post-graduate (or equivalent) qualification in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, Psychotherapy, Counselling, or Counselling Psychology
- SCoPEd Column C Accreditation with a NHS Talking Therapies recognised counselling or psychotherapy body: BACP, UKCP, ACC, NCS, BPC.
Desirable criteria
- Post-graduate training in supervision
- Other TT modality qualification - 1 pt for each
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of delivering high-intensity counselling for common mental health problems
- Experience of psychological assessment inc risk assessment and management
- Experience of working within an NHS Talking Therapies / IAPT service or similar
- Experience of using routine outcome measures
- Experience of working across cultures and with diverse communities and ‘hard to reach’ groups
Desirable criteria
- Delivering IAPT-relevant psycho-educational or therapeutic groups or workshops
- Experience in service development, audit, or research
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to manage a complex caseload autonomously, with clinical assessment, intervention, and case management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Skills in tailoring therapy to individual clients from diverse backgrounds and with other specific factors such as neurodivergence, socio-economic stressors, D&A issues and character traits.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, and where relevant their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Ability to meet agreed service targets and manage own caseload
Desirable criteria
- Ability to deliver therapy in additional languages
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Experience at working with one or more NHS Talking Therapies-recognised psychological therapies at a specialist level
- High -level knowledge of the theory and practice of one or more NHS TALKING THERAPIES-recognised psychological therapies.
Desirable criteria
- Skills in tailoring therapy to individual clients from diverse backgrounds and with other specific factors such as neurodivergence, socio-economic stressors, D&A issues and character traits.
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of adapting specific NHS Talking
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
- Nwabisa Ewing
- Job title
- High Intensity Counsellor
- Email address
- [email protected]
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