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Clinical, Counselling or Psychological Therapist

The closing date is 20 August 2025

The pioneering and award-winning Family Safeguarding Service in Hertfordshire is we are seeking a part time (0.5) Band 8a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Therapist who is motivated to help change the lives of some of the most vulnerable families in Hertfordshire.

The post is based within the Family Safeguarding Service of Hertfordshire County Council but are employed by Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust and practice governance is provided from the NHS Trust. The posts are focused on the parents of the children and their families involved with the service and would best suit a practitioner with relevant experience of assessing and providing psychological interventions with adults with various mental health presentations.

Main duties of the job

A first in the UK, Hertfordshire's ground-breaking family safeguarding model brings together all the professionals needed, under one roof, to provide intensive support to parents to address the substance misuse, mental health and domestic abuse that place children at risk of significant harm. An important focus of the project is to invest in training all team members to a high standard in motivational interviewing, to engage parents and children in conducting their own assessments of risk and change, to make group work and strengthening relationships work part of our everyday work. The model has been positively evaluated by the DFE and is currently being adopted by many other Local Authorities around the UK.

Pleases read the job description for more details.

About us

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trustare one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from theCare Quality Commission

Our family of over 4,000 members of staff provide health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. Everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:

Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.https://www.hertsnhsgreattogether.co.uk/

About us - Hertfordshire NHS Partnership Trust

Heard. Respected. Included. Together, we help people with mental ill-health, learning disabilities and autism to live life to the fullest. We work throughout Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Norfolk...

Job responsibilities

The post-holders will be based at Hertfordshire County Council offices in Apsley. A hybrid model of agile, virtual and face to face working is in practice. Assessments and Interventions can sometimes take place in service users homes and at different sites across Hertfordshire so a car driver with access to a car is essential (unless the candidate is unable due to a disability). There are professional links across Hertfordshire, with structures in place for supervision and governance. There are also strong links with the University of Hertfordshire Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Training Course with opportunities for contributing to teaching and taking trainee clinical psychologists on placement.

Hertfordshire County councils Childrens Services has been rated as good (with parts of the service rated as outstanding) and HPFT was rated outstanding in our most recent CQC inspection.

Person Specification

KNOWLEDGE, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

• Professional qualification in one of the core mental health professions e.g. psychiatric nursing, clinical psychology, counselling psychology, medicine, social work and occupational therapy, a recognised qualification in cognitive behaviour therapy or to have substantial other relevant experience and with demonstrable competence to work in the mental health field. AND: Diploma and / or M.Sc. in CBT leading to demonstrable eligibility for accreditation with the BABCP.
• OR Completion of DBT Intensive Training and PG Certificate in DBT. Continuing registration with body overseeing practice of core mental health profession, e.g. NMC or HPCP
• Experience of supervising of qualified clinical staff from a range of professional backgrounds including Chartered Psychologists.
• Post qualification training in assessment and intervention models in one or more of the following: parent-infant relationships, attachment, complex trauma, or family systems.
• Training in risk assessment and management.

AREAS OF EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE

• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care co-ordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care co-ordinator and also within the context of a multi-disciplinary care plan.
• Experience of working as a qualified psychologist within Adult Mental Health services or services related to safeguarding and/or complex families, which could include the Local Authority, Forensic Services or relevant Third Sector organisations.
• Experience of assessing and managing high-risk individuals or families in the community in collaboration with a multi-agency network.
• Experience of providing supervision, training and teaching.
• Experience of working with families in which maltreatment/severe parenting breakdown has occurred.
• Experience of delivering parenting interventions.
• Experience of providing expert witness reports and testimony in family court proceedings.
• Experience in forensic risk assessment and forensic psychological assessment tools.
• Experience of multi-professional leadership of teams or services.
• Experience of the application of psychology in different cultural contexts.

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.

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

£56,442 to £63,529 a yearper annum pro rata (5% HCAS inclusive)