Central London Community Health Trust
Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
The closing date is 19 November 2026
Job summary
We are looking for a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist with specialist expertise in autism assessment to join the Central London Adult Autism Service.

You will be part of a service providing autism diagnostic assessments, brief post-diagnostic support and professional consultation for adults without a learning disability across Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham.

Working closely with mental health teams, adult social care and other local services, you will help provide compassionate, person-centred and evidence-based care. This is an opportunity to use your specialist assessment skills while contributing to consultation, supervision, quality improvement and the ongoing development of the service.

Main duties of the job
You will:

• Deliver autism diagnostic assessments, including ADOS-2 and ADI-R.
• Reach well-reasoned conclusions that consider differential diagnoses, co-occurring mental health conditions, and masked or late-recognised presentations.
• Communicate assessment outcomes compassionately and in a neuroaffirmative way.
• Provide specialist consultation on autistic presentation and needs to colleagues in mental health, social care and inpatient services.
• Supervise and quality assure the work of pre-qualified staff.
• Manage an allocated caseload and meet agreed activity expectations within the structured clinic model, supported by supervision and job planning.
• Contribute to audit, research and service development.

About us
We are proud to be one of the largest community healthcare providers in the country, with more than 4,500 colleagues caring for over four million people across London and Hertfordshire. Every day, our teams bring their skill, compassion, and determination to the people who depend on us.

What inspires us is at the heart of who we are: when we work together, we can help people move forward in ways that truly matter. Our teams support children as they take their first steps in life, and they stand beside adults as they rebuild strength, confidence, and independence. From newborn health visiting to community nursing, stroke rehabilitation, and palliative care, we are there for people through some of life's most important moments.

Joining Central London Community Healthcare means becoming part of a community that lifts each other up. It means working in an organisation that values compassion, welcomes new ideas, and believes in the potential of every colleague. Your development matters here. Your wellbeing matters. Your voice helps shape the future of the care we provide.

We offer a competitive employment package because the work you do matters. At Central London Community Healthcare, you will join an inclusive organisation that invests in its people, supports development, and helps you thrive while delivering high-quality care.

Details
Date posted: 06 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £58,133 to £65,261 a year per annum, inclusive of HCAS
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 5 months
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 824-INNER-8404191
Job locations: 215 Lisson Grove, London, NW8 8LW, United Kingdom

Job description
Job responsibilities
Successful applicants will be required to demonstrate alignment with the Trusts values & the behaviours aligned to those values - Accountability, Inclusion, Compassion, and Empowerment, alongside fulfilling the duties detailed in the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

Person Specification
Education/Qualification
Essential
Doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology, or HCPC-approved equivalent. Current HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical or Counselling).

Desirable
Further postgraduate training relevant to autism, neurodevelopmental practice or mental health. (0/2)

Experience
Essential

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings, e.g. outpatient, community, primary care, and in-patient settings.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly of emotive situations and distressing issues, verbal abuse, and the threat of physical abuse.
• Working with autistic people, or with people with neurodevelopmental differences or complex mental health needs.

Desirable

• Experience of working in autism services and conducting autism assessments
• Trained in formal autism assessment tools (e.g., ADOS-2, ADI-R).
• Experience of supervising assistant psychologists or other staff, and/or of teaching and training
• Experience of facilitating groups

Skills
Essential

• High-level written and verbal communication of sensitive information to a range of audience, including diagnostic reports of a high standard.
• Understanding of the needs, preferences and challenges of autistic adults, framed neuroaffirmatively.
• Administration, scoring and interpretation of standardised psychological and neurodevelopmental assessments, integrating complex information into formulation and diagnosis.
• Understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion, including how culture, language and gender affect recognition and expression of autistic characteristics.
• Knowledge and application of clinical governance, risk management and safeguarding, and of legislation and national and local policy relevant to adult autism and mental health, including NICE guidance (CG142)

Desirable

• Ability to communicate in a community language spoken in the boroughs served. (0/2)
• Doctoral-level research design and methodology; audit, service evaluation and data analysis.

Key Attributes
Essential

• Person-centred, flexible and compassionate; sensitive to cultural diversity; advocates for disadvantaged service users
• Autonomous management of a clinical caseload, prioritising competing demands within a framework of supervision.
• Effective multidisciplinary and cross-agency working across health, social care and third sector.

Desirable

• Commitment to continued learning about autism, including from autistic voices and lived experience.

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: Central London Community Health Trust
Address: 215 Lisson Grove, London, NW8 8LW, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://clch.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Principal Clinical Psychologist, Dr Catherine Cheung, catherinecheung@nhs.net, 02081023889

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