Head of Psychotherapy Cassel Hospital

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Main area Head of Psychotherapy Cassel Hospital Inpatient and Outreach services Grade Band 8C Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 26.25 hours per week Job ref 222-SF-741

Site Cassel Hospital Town Richmond Salary £85,641 - £97,746 per annum pro rata inclusive of HCAS (Outer) Salary period Yearly Closing 07/07/2026 23:59

West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.

Job overview

Head of Psychotherapy – Inpatient and Outreach Services

Cassel Hospital, 1 Ham Common, Richmond TW10 7JF

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Head of Psychotherapy to join Cassel Hospital Inpatient and Outreach Services, part of West London Forensic Services. This is a part‑time post (26.25 hours per week), offering the chance to provide senior clinical and operational leadership within a highly specialist psychotherapy service that values reflective practice, depth of formulation, and compassionate care.

The post holder will be a key member of the senior management team, providing leadership to the psychotherapy service, including line management of individual and group psychoanalytic psychotherapists. You will act as a vital link between the Psychotherapy Department and the wider Cassel Hospital leadership team.

You will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of high-quality services against agreed performance standards, contributing to governance, and supporting the development and implementation of operational policies.

The role also involves representing the service at local, regional, and national level, supervising and supporting clinical practice, and contributing to training and service development.

Main duties of the job

1. Contribute to the leadership responsibility for the clinical governance and operational running of the Cassel Hospital, ensuring risk and operational policies are updated as required.
2. Provide training, support and supervision to clinicians within the department and clinical/line management supervision.
3. Provide a specialist psychoanalytic psychotherapy service for patients with severe, complex and persistent mental health needs from a multi‑problem background, including screening, assessment, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, risk management and referral to mental health and other services as required.
4. Provide specialist psychotherapy training, supervision, guidance and consultation to other professionals, directly contributing to the formulation and treatment plans of individual patients.
5. Contribute to service performance responsibilities, working with the Trust data and performance team on the submission of data and key performance indicators.
6. Represent the service trustwide.
7. Maintain electronic systems for referrals, appointments, activity and outcome monitoring for performance management, including continuous audit and evaluation of service; support others in their use of these systems.
8. Provide efficient, effective and highly specialist individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy, including assessment, treatment and discharge/follow‑on care planning for a caseload of patients with severe, complex and persistent mental health needs from a multi‑problem background.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Qualification in psychoanalysis/psychoanalytic psychotherapy accredited by the BPC or equivalent.
• Qualification in a core profession e.g. medical, psychology, social work, nursing, or teaching.
• Good relevant honours degree or a recognised equivalent.
• Academic qualification to Masters or Doctorate level.

Experience

• Extensive experience in the role of highly specialist practitioner, carrying own caseload in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and working independently and autonomously.
• Experience in the specialist assessment and treatment of patients with personality disorders in inpatient and/or outpatient settings.
• Experience of working with patients drawn from a wide range of diagnostic groups.
• Experience in the clinical supervision of other psychoanalytic psychotherapists, either in training or qualified.
• Experience of multi‑agency co‑operation/liaison and risk management.
• Extensive experience of working in the NHS or other public or voluntary sector care and treatment services.
• Experience of managing clinical colleagues.
• Experience in the management of aspects of a psychotherapy service; taking on delegated responsibility for the operational management of a service for periods of time.
• Experience of delivering training in the theory and practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy and related topics to trainees and colleagues in related professions.
• A proven record of continuous professional development.
• A personal analytical psychotherapy or psychoanalysis of at least three times per week frequency and of sufficient intensity and duration to be able to work according to psychoanalytic principles with the most difficult and demanding cases.
• Experience of group, family and/or marital therapy.
• Significant experience of working with a range of other therapeutic models.
• Significant experience of working in a multidisciplinary team.
• Writing and delivering clinical and theoretical papers.
• Publications in relevant academic journals.
• Experience in undertaking research and service audit projects.

Knowledge/skills

• Comprehensive knowledge of psychoanalytic theory regarding development, models of the mind, unconscious processes and psychopathology.
• Comprehensive knowledge of psychoanalytic theories of technique.
• Comprehensive knowledge of adult mental health problems, including familiarity with psychiatric diagnoses.
• A comprehensive understanding of organisational and team dynamics.
• Organising and managing a caseload of patients who are suffering from the most severe, complex and enduring mental health problems autonomously.
• Maintaining a containing and thoughtful stance in the clinical work with patients, families and couples where there may be a high level of distress, verbal aggression or chaotic activity.
• Assessing and monitoring high levels of risk, and deciding on appropriate intervention as necessary.
• Understanding and interpreting unconscious processes in a timely and sensitive manner.
• Working in an often stressful environment with high expressed emotion in a contained and thoughtful manner, and the capacity to note and recover from failures in this area.
• Familiarity with other psychotherapeutic models of treatment.
• An awareness of mental health provision in the statutory and voluntary sectors.
• Knowledge of legislation and NHS policies and their implications for clinical practice, professional management and service development.

Other

• Applying psychoanalytic thinking to work in the NHS and within the context of a therapeutic community.
• Working collaboratively with other members of staff in a multidisciplinary team.
• Communicating effectively with managers, colleagues, referrers and outside agencies in both written and verbal form, including the preparation of reports and treatment plans.

As an employee of West London NHS Trust, you have a responsibility to maintain a sound understanding of, and a commitment to uphold the National Health Service values and principles set out in the NHS Constitution.

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.