Senior Psychological Therapist - Clinical​/Counselling​/Forensic

Job summary

Are you an experienced and passionate psychological practitioner looking for your next leadership opportunity?

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) is seeking an enthusiastic and highly skilled Band 8a Senior Psychological Therapist to join our Health & Justice Psychology Team based at HMP Downview. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in delivering high-quality, evidence-based psychological services within a specialist prison healthcare setting.

Working within a multidisciplinary team, you will provide expert psychological assessment, formulation and intervention for individuals with complex mental health needs, trauma histories, neurodiverse presentations and personality difficulties. You will lead psychological practice within the service through consultation, supervision, training and service development activities.

About the Role

As a Senior Psychological Therapist, you will:

• Deliver highly specialist psychological assessment and intervention to individuals and groups.
• Hold and manage a complex clinical caseload.
• Provide clinical supervision and professional leadership to Band 7 therapists, assistant psychologists, trainees psychologists and other staff.
• Offer consultation and psychologically informed guidance to multidisciplinary colleagues.
• Contribute to service development, quality improvement, audit and research activities.
• Lead on psychological governance and support the development of innovative and responsive services.
• Promote trauma-informed, person-centred and recovery-focused approaches to care.

We are looking for a compassionate and motivated practitioner with:

• A professional qualification and registration as a Practitioner Psychologist, accredited CBT Therapist, or accredited Psychotherapist/Counsellor with relevant post-qualification specialist training.
• Significant post-qualification experience working with complex presentations.
• Experience of supervision, consultation and multidisciplinary team working.
• Knowledge of evidence-based psychological therapies and psychological assessment.
• Excellent communication, leadership and relationship-building skills.
• A commitment to equality, diversity and psychologically informed care.

This is an opportunity to work within one of the UK's leading Health & Justice services, supporting some of the most vulnerable and underserved populations. You will join a highly supportive psychology network with access to excellent supervision, CPD opportunities, specialist training and career development pathways. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where innovation, compassion and clinical excellence thrive.

By joining CNWL you will be joining a large department of psychologists and psychological therapists that provide an array of mental health and OPD services across London and the home counties. Our staff are dynamic and welcoming and the networking and CPD opportunities are central to our services ethos. We have active research forums and promote our services and work through academic and clinical forums.

All staff receive regular supervision and are supported with career aspirations and progression.

Excellent staff benefits, our benefit packages are amongst the best in London and include:
Health and wellbeing services, Season ticket loans, Cycle to work scheme

HMP Downview is in easy reach of London and the surrounding areas. The prison offers free use of onsite leisure facilities and free parking for all staff.

Join us and help make a meaningful difference to the lives of people in contact with the criminal justice system.

Date posted: 19 August 2026

Pay scheme:
Agenda for change

Band:
Band 8a

Salary: £63,665 to £70,887 a year per annum inc HCAS pro rata

Contract:

Permanent

Working pattern:
Part-time

Reference number: 333-D-HJ-2066

Job locations: HMP Downview, Sutton Lane, Sutton Surrey, SM2 5PD
, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Please see attached detailed job description & person specification.

We are a friendly team and encourage any prospective candidate to contact us with any questions and/or to book an informal visit. For an informal…