Job overview
HPFT's Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service (CYPMHS – formerly known as CAMHS) has been at the forefront of national developments in CYPMHS, including CAPA and CYP-IAPT, and Hertfordshire is an i-Thrive accelerator service. The HPFT CYPMH service includes four community based ‘tier 3’ teams, a crisis assessment/treatment team (C-CATT), a DBT service, an Eating Disorder Team, an inpatient unit (Forest House) and a Targeted Team for looked after children. We offer a range of psychological therapies across these teams. We have close links with other agencies including the local ‘tier 2’ CYPM service, school link workers, Mental Health Support Teams, and children's social services.
As a service, we are keen to promote continuing professional development (CPD) and research opportunities. We offer placements to trainees within all psychological therapies and have strong links with local training courses. We value clinical supervision, both peer group and individual. We are an innovative and dynamic service, working as a multi-disciplinary team to address new challenges, and we are looking for an enthusiastic Systemic Psychotherapist to join us in going forward.
Main duties of the job
As a senior clinician in the team, you would work closely with the Consultant Psychologist and the Quadrant Leadership Team to lead the clinical work within the wider team as well as manage your own core and specialist caseloads, whilst taking an active role in developing systemic psychotherapy provision in the team and the wider service. You would have close links with the professional lead for systemic psychotherapy and would join the systemic psychotherapy professional network within HPFT CAMHS. Locally, you would be working within a multidisciplinary team.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- The post-holder will be a member of the multi-disciplinary clinic team and will provide a high standard of service to children, adolescents and their families/carers and to professionals from other organisations.
- They will be responsible for assessing and treating children, young people and their families/carers in relation to a range of highly complex emotional, psychological and behavioural problems
- The post holder will be responsible for the continued development of the specialist systemic psychotherapy resources within the clinic and for the work undertaken by them.
- Providing clinical and professional supervision to less experienced systemic psychotherapists, students and systemic psychotherapists trainees within their local quadrant MDT and also across quadrants as necessary and as agreed with the Consultant Lead Family and Systemic Psychotherapist.
- The post-holder will offer Core and Specialist/Specific work (according to CAPA definitions) within the quadrant, and Specialist/Specific work as part of a CYPMHS-wide therapeutic team as appropriate
- The post-holder will lead on the provision of a specific model of evidence-based therapeutic intervention across the CAMHS clinics (for example Specialist provision - in line with CAPA model - of Systemic Therapy, Child Psychotherapy, CBT, IPT).
Person specification
Analytical Skills
Essential
- Ability to prioritise case referrals, assess and discharge effectively
- Understanding of Risk Assessment and Management.
- Ability to assess reports and clinical information and provide clear and concise information tailored for different audiences
- Skills in professional supervision to meet UKCP requirements: skills in offering live supervision or both systemic psychotherapists and multi -disciplinary colleagues.
Communication Skills
Essential
- Substantial experience of multi-disciplinary team working and interagency collaboration
- Highly developed skills to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, at an ageappropriate level, complex and highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to children, adolescents, their families, carers, and professionals within and outside the NHS, including reports for courts and case conferences
- Skills in providing consultation to professional and non-professional groups
- Sufficient knowledge of other modalities to engage appropriately with colleagues and their work with clients
- General knowledge of the literature and research concerning mental health interventions with Children and adolescents.
- Ability to work with children and young people whose behaviour is personally challenging
- Ability to establish and maintain professional relationships and boundaries with young people.
- Ability to think clearly and express self.
- Highly developed ability to work and communicate effectively with others in order to convey complex and clinically sensitive information to family members of all ages, and to a wide range of lay and professional persons, within and outside the NHS.
- Ability to use supervision effectively and to work collaboratively with supervisor, setting appropriate goals, in accordance with professional ethical guidelines and Trust policies.
Knowledge, Training Experience
Essential
- Post-graduate qualification in appropriate mental health/social welfare profession (e.g. nursing, psychology, psychiatry, social work) or equivalent, and demonstrable practice over a minimum of 4 years.
- Masters/Doctoral level qualification in Systemic Psychotherapy or equivalent.
- Minimum of three years post-qualification experience as a systemic psychotherapist.
- Experience of working with children and/or adolescents and families in a relevant mental health or social welfare setting or equivalent.
- Registration with UKCP
- Additional specialist training in mental health (e . g .Eating Disorders, PTSD, ADHD, self -harm) and evidence of continuing professional development
- Knowledge of and skill in using a wide variety of systemic theories and interventions and the ability to use these appropriately in relation to client need and work setting
- Knowledge of research design and methodology consistent with systemic practice to at least Masters level.
- General knowledge of the literature and research concerning mental health interventions.
- Formal training in provision of supervision.
- Post graduate qualification in systemic supervision.
Areas of Experience and Knowledge
Essential
- Experience of self-harm assessment and intervention with both individual child/adolescent and their families
- Knowledge and experience of a range of clinical interventions with Children/Adolescents, their carers and professional networks
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
- Experience of service quality monitoring (e . g . clinical audit, evaluative research etc.).
- Awareness of current relevant legislation and National Service Frameworks and their implications for clinical practice
- Experience in providing consultation to professionals outside CYPMHS
- Experience and knowledge o f CYP -IAPT and Thrive
- Experience of providing a specific model of evidence -based therapy within Specialist CYPMHS as a Specialist/Specific intervention
- Awareness of Child Protection Procedures
- IT Skills
Desirable
- Experience of working as a senior member of a multi -disciplinary team and/or Herts - wide CYPMHS service and/or with wider professional networks and agencies.
- Experience of leading the development and provision of a psychological therapy service within a CYPMHS MDT
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Principal Family and Systemic Psychotherapist with Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust in Hatfield, East of England, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Psychologist role. The advertised salary is £68,852 - £79,638 per annum, pro rata (5% HCAS included). The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 04 Aug 2026.
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