CAT Therapist or Clinical​/Counselling Psychologist

Go back Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 05 February 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work within the CNWL Eating Disorder service as a Cognitive Analytic Therapist or a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist and/or Specialist CBT Therapist.

This position involves providing specialist therapies (CAT, CBT-E, MANTRA, CBT-AR) to clients across all sectors of care, although the majority of the work will be with outpatients. This includes the provision of highly specialist psychological assessment and therapy, whilst also offering advice and consultation on clients' psychological care to colleagues and to other non-professional carers. The post holder will carry out clinical duties, clinically-relevant audit and research (as appropriate), and relevant administrative duties.

The post holder will be based at the Vincent Square Eating Disorder Service, 260 Harrow road, London, W2 5ES
and our clinic at Roxborough Road in Harrow, HA1 1NS
. Depending on service need, you may be expected to work flexibly across these sites Service provision within this scope may at times involve travelling to different sites within the catchment area.

The role covers assessment, care planning, intervention (with individuals and groups) and building strong relationships with partners in the community.

• To provide assessments of clients referred to the team, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources
• To diagnose patients eating and related psychiatric problems
• To formulate and implement plans for treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence based models for eating disorders
• To be responsible for implementing interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, within and across teams employed individually and in synthesis
• To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options, taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual.
• To integrate (with the psychological formulation) an understanding of the medical aspects of the eating disorders and associated medical conditions
• To liaise with other clinicians involved in the patients care, in order that appropriate physical checks and interventions are carried out to ensure the patients physical safety
• To understand the role of relevant physical treatments (e.g. nutrition, pharmacology)
• To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans
• To provide psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulations, diagnoses and treatment plans
• To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients, and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care
• To act as care coordinator where appropriate, taking responsibility for initiating planning and review of care plans under CPA (to include clients, their carers, referring agents and others involved the network of care)

• Extensive experience of psychological assessment and evidence-based treatment of clients across a range of care settings, including outpatient, community, primary care and in patient settings.
• Substantial experience of working within a CBT and/or MANTRA or CAT framework with patients who present with problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity.
• Supervised experience of delivering evidence-based therapies for the eating disorders and common comorbid conditions.
• Experience of interdisciplinary working within the NHS.
• Knowledge of the theoretical and evidence base for understanding, formulating and treating the eating disorders.
• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management, frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
• Skills in providing consultation to other…