Senior Clinical Counselling Psychologist with Research

Contract: Fixed-term contract for 1 year (with the possibility of extension of up to a further 12 months)

Hours: Part time (28 hours per week)

Location: London

Salary: £44,270 - £51,353 per annum (£55,338 - £64,192 FTE)

Closing date: 16th November 2026

Expected date of interviews: 26th November in person in the London centre

Freedom from Torture has an exciting opportunity for a clinical /counselling psychologist which combines research activities with clinical work. For the research part of the role, you will play a central role in delivering an innovative mental health research programme funded by a major UK research funder. The programme will explore whether artificial intelligence can be used as a safe, ethical and feasible therapist assistant for survivors of torture with managing distressing memories. Survivor co-design is central to the programme, ensuring that people with lived experience across diverse cultures, languages and backgrounds meaningfully shape innovation in mental health.

For the clinical part of the role, you will work with an innovative and friendly multidisciplinary team at our London Centre to: provide a psychological therapy service to service users who are survivors of torture and organised violence; to meet the strategic objectives of Freedom from Torture (FfT); to work in alignment with the human rights ethos of FfT.

About the role

This role includes both research and clinical responsibilities. The relative contribution of each will depend on the stage of the research project and the co-design elements.

The researcher part of the role supports the delivery of a major externally funded health research programme involving multiple organisations, international collaborators and diverse stakeholder groups. The programme is co-designed with survivors and includes clients, interpreters and clinician participants. It brings together expertise from universities, charities, clinicians, researchers, technologists and people with lived experience.

A defining feature of this programme is its commitment to survivor leadership and co-design. Survivors of torture will play an active role in shaping, informing and governing the research throughout its lifecycle. The successful candidate will therefore work closely with survivor advisors, co-design groups and governance structures to support meaningful participation and ensure that lived experience perspectives are fed into the decision-making structures. This commitment to co-design is central to the ethos, methodology and success of the programme.

This role is the central contact and coordination point for the research project operating within clinical services. It includes: ensuring survivors and clinical teams are updated on the research; active recruitment of survivors, clinicians and interpreters in the study; ensuring all participants are fully informed and have fully consented; facilitating date collection; ensuring all ethical and methodological processes are followed including data screening and data cleaning to remove sensitive information.

The clinical part of the role includes a range of responsibilities which includes:

• To provide individual/couple and/or group therapy sessions to survivors of torture and organised violence and manage an appropriate caseload, ensuring that regular reviews, risk assessments and outcome measures are undertaken.
• To assess the service users' needs and create an appropriate, jointly agreed treatment plan which is reviewed regularly with the service user and in collaboration with the clinical team. To offer a range of psychotherapeutic interventions based on client goals and greatest impact.
• Being an effective role model and leader to encourage, develop and enhance skills of others.
• Provide management of risk or safeguarding concerns that may arise and escalating any concerns as appropriate to management or designating safeguarding leads.
• Line management and supervision for clinical staff, volunteers and Clinical or Counselling Psychology trainees if appropriate.

About you

This is an important role within Freedom from Torture. To be successful in this role you must have a high level of commitment to maintaining excellent standards of client care and service delivery.

You will be qualified in a relevant discipline with accreditation and membership of a professional body. You will have an understanding and knowledge of torture and the impact of exile on individuals.

You will be knowledgeable concerning relevant mental health legislation and understand at least one evidence-based approach to trauma therapy and be able to provide relevant assessments.

You will have a passion for research and be committed to rigorously implementing research methodology, ethical processes and governing processes.

In return, we offer a competitive package, with a generous 30-day annual leave entitlement, and 6% employer pension contribution.

Freedom from Torture is committed to showing the salary for all advertised roles and not negotiating salaries for roles, in light of evidence that this contributes to structural inequality.

Our policy is that all appointments will be at the start of the salary range but successful candidates will have the opportunity to move up the scale over time. The progression up the salary range is reviewed on an annual basis and subject to affordability. For this role, the salary range is as advertised.

To view the Job Description and Person Specification, please click the link below.

To be considered for this role it is mandatory that at the point of application you must provide a CV and a cover letter addressing the job description and person specification. You must also provide proof of your professional accreditation status relevant to the role.

Freedom from Torture is dedicated to healing and protecting people who have survived torture. We provide therapies to improve physical and mental health, we medically document torture, and we provide legal and welfare help. We expose torture globally, we fight to hold torturing states to account and we campaign for fairer treatment of torture survivors in the UK.

We campaign for national and global change, using evidence from our services and survivor voices to protect and promote survivors' rights and hold torturing states to account. We are proud to play a significant role in the global anti-torture movement. Survivors, active and empowered, are at the centre of all of our work.

Freedom from Torture is committed to its responsibilities under safeguarding and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure, as well as a need for full employment history and up to date employment references.

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.)

Freedom from Torture is an equal opportunity employer. People with lived experience of torture or asylum, from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ individuals and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications.

No agencies please.