About this role
Job summary
We have an exciting opportunity for a Principal Applied Psychologist / Psychotherapist to join our team. This role uniquely blends advanced specialist clinical practice with senior clinical leadership to deliver compassionate, high-quality, and psychologically informed care for older adults.
Working with a high degree of professional autonomy across community, inpatient, and residential settings, you will oversee and deliver evidence-based care for individuals experiencing severe and enduring mental health difficulties, including those living with dementia and cognitive impairment.
The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).
Please note, Visa Sponsorship is unavailable for this post.
Main duties of the job
Specialist Clinical Practice: Deliver advanced psychological assessments, formulations, and evidence-based interventions for complex clinical presentations, adapting approaches for individuals with cognitive impairments.
Consultation & Decision-Making: Offer expert advice to multidisciplinary teams (MDTs), bringing a strong psychological perspective to complex care planning, risk management, and clinical decisions.
Leadership & Supervision: Supervise, train, and support the professional growth of psychological practitioners and trainees within the service.
Service Improvement: Drive service development, clinical audits, research, and evaluation to continuously elevate care standards and promote psychologically informed practice across the locality.
About us
We are Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway and are rated 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Our teams support children, young people and adults with a wide range of mental health needs. We also provide specialist services, including all-age eating disorder services and neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people, such as autism and ADHD.
Because we work across the whole county and across hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the people we serve.
Our vision is simple: we are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. Everything we do is guided by our values: caring, inclusive, curious and confident.
Join us if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's working well together.
Job description Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description for the full details on the responsibilities and person specification
We are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.
Person Specification
Training, Qualifications and Registration Essential
Good honours degree in Psychology. Post-graduate doctorate in clinical/counselling psychology (or its equivalent) as accredited by the HCPC/BPS. Relevant specialist training in the skills required for the specialty area. Clinical supervision training for supervision of Doctoral trainees on placement.
Experience Essential
Experience working as a qualified specialist psychologist / psychotherapist for a substantial number of years in the NHS. Experience of working with older people Experience of working with people with dementia or cognitive impairments. Experience of administering and interpreting neuropsychological assessments
Knowledge and Skills Essential
Ability to organise own workload effectively, prioritising a complex range of tasks and responsibilities to meet agreed deadlines. Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS/HCPC/UKCP/BABCP Must be capable of taking substantive professional responsibility and acting autonomously in respect of clinical decisions in their area of practice.
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
Address The Beacon
Manston Road
Ramsgate
CT12 6NT
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.kentmedwaymentalhealth.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)