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Job overview
We are offering an exciting opportunity for an experienced Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist to join CAMHS.
The role will provide a qualified specialist child and adolescent psychotherapy service to children and young people with mental health problems across all sectors of care as part of a multi-disciplinary CAMHS Team.
Main duties of the job
This role provides highly specialist psychotherapeutic assessment and therapy to service users and their families/carers and advice and consultation on their care to non-psychotherapist colleagues and the professional network involved in their support. The post holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service’s policies and procedures. They will utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and research. They will contribute to and implement policy changes in line with the objectives set for the service and in collaboration with the service’s general management.
The post holder will provide advice and consultation to other members of the team on psychotherapeutic interventions.
The post holder will provide clinical and professional supervision to trainees, less experienced psychotherapists and non-psychotherapists.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Provide highly specialist psychoanalytically-informed psychotherapeutic assessments of children and young people referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources
Formulate and implement plans for the formal treatment and/or management of the child/ young person’s problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings
Be responsible for implementing a range of psychotherapeutic interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, grounded in the principles and techniques of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. These will include long and short term interventions as appropriate to need
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, family or group
To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of children and young people whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans
Provide highly specialist expertise, advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to children and young people’s formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan
Person specification
Previous Experience
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and formulation of complex mental health presentations including Trauma presentations
- Experience of working psychologically with children and young people who have complex mental health problems, including trauma and personality disorder
- Experience of teaching, training and supervision
- Experience of skills in group work
- Experience of work with care-givers/families
- Maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
- Experience of working in an NHS community mental health settings in secondary and tertiary care
Desirable
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology or psychotherapy in different cultural contexts
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings
- Valid drivers licence and the ability to drive to different bases
Desirable
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour
Education and Qualifications
Essential
- ACP‑recognised pre‑clinical training to Master’s level (or equivalent).
- Post‑graduate doctoral‑level training in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy at an ACP‑accredited training school.
- To hold a professional registration with the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP)
- Evidence of compliance with ACP Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements.
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
Knowledge, Skills and Professional Competencies
Essential
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessment and intervention for with children and young people with mental health presentations
- Knowledge of clinical caseload management within a team setting
- Well-developed skills in the ability to work and communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and to other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
Desirable
- Knowledge of legislation and NICE guidance in relation to this client group
- Skills in providing consultation and supervision to other professional and non-professional groups and assistants
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust in London, London, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Psychologist role. The advertised salary is £57,528 - £64,750 per annum pro rata. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 07 Jul 2026.
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