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Job summary

Main area
Clinical Psychology
Grade
Band 8a
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Part time - 30 hours per week
Job ref
363-TH8036436
Employer
East London NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Mile End Hospital
Town
London
Salary
£66,274 - £73,496 per annum pro rata Inc HCA
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
12/07/2026 23:59

Employer heading

East London NHS Foundation Trust logo

Highly Specialist Clinical or Counselling Psychologist

Band 8a

ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job overview

We are seeking a highly motivated and creative HCPC-registered Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join a developing psychology service working across adult homeless hostels in Tower Hamlets. 

The service is focused on supporting hostel providers to embed Psychologically Informed Environments (PIEs), trauma-informed and neuro-informed care. The service takes a non-pathologising, strengths-based and community psychology approach, recognising the impact of adversity, inequality and exclusion on mental health. The role involves close partnership working with hostel staff, residents, and local organisations, with a strong emphasis on lived experience, co-production and inclusion.

Within this context, the postholder will play a key role in shaping psychologically informed provision across the system. This includes supporting staff teams through consultation, reflective practice and training; contributing to service development; and improving residents’ access to psychological and therapeutic opportunities.

This role is suited to an experienced psychologist with strong systemic thinking and the ability to work across organisational boundaries. You will have experience working with people with complex mental health needs and from diverse backgrounds, and be confident working collaboratively with a range of partners.

This is an opportunity to join an innovative service  working at the intersection of mental health and homelessness in a diverse inner-London borough.

Main duties of the job

Core tasks will include facilitating reflective practice, staff training, providing psychological advice (informal, ad hoc, and formal consultation), assessment (including psychometrics and neuropsychological) and brief interventions with service users and carers. The post also involves the development of partnership working across all relevant sectors including health, social care, housing, criminal justice etc. By supporting staff, the goal is to improve the health and wellbeing of homeless people, promote their social connections, community engagement and participation.

We aim to develop and deliver our services through co-production with people with lived experience. We would expect you to be fully committed to partnership working and co-production.

 

Working for our organisation

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For details of the post please see the job description and person specification attached to this advert and do not hesitate to contact Jen Potter-James for more information

Person specification

Education/qualification/training

Essential criteria
  • HCPC registered Clinical or Counselling psychologist with post qualification experience
Desirable criteria
  • Further training in a therapeutic modality or psychological intervention relevant to homelessness e.g. trauma, trauma informed approaches, addiction

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Experience of working as a specialist clinical or counselling sychologist in a multi-disciplinary team for adults with complex mental health needs
  • Experience of teaching, training, consultation and/or professional and clinical supervision
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of working in partnership within homelessness and/or third sector agencies
  • Experience of facilitating reflective practice groups

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria
  • Skills in providing advice and consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
  • Ability to provide a culturally competent and non-stigmatising service including an awareness of the potential impact of discrimination and disadvantage on mental health
Desirable criteria
  • Knowledge of the the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies for complex health and social needs (e.g. trauma, self-harm, people diagnosed with 'personality disorder', psychosis, dual diagnosis, homelessness, persons with additional disabilities etc)
  • Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies for specific populations that psychological services have traditionally fund difficult to work with

Other

Essential criteria
  • Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviour
  • Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and able to contain the stress of others
  • Demonstrably respectful approach to service users, carers, colleagues, other professionals and professional contacts. Willingness to negotiate and ability to handle confrontation effectively and professionally
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of co-production with people with lived experience of mental distress

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Capital Nurse, LondonCommitted to being an Inclusive EmployerApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveHSJ Best places to workArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)Mindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerCare quality commission - OutstandingStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Jen Potter-James
Job title
Lead for Psychology in Hostels
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07387 055886
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