Job overview
We are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for a highly skilled, motivated, and innovative Principal Systemic & Family Psychotherapist to join our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the London Borough of Ealing. This is a key senior role within a well-established, multidisciplinary CAMHS service, offering the opportunity to contribute to high-quality care for children, young people, and their families. We welcome applications from experienced Family Therapists who are passionate about collaborative, family-focused care and committed to improving outcomes for young people. West London CAMHS features one of the largest groups of Systemic Family Therapists in the UK and you will join a vibrant and well-connected family therapy community working across a range of teams within the service. This is an excellent opportunity to take on a senior clinical leadership role and develop your expertise and make a meaningful difference to the lives of children, young people, and families in West London.
Main duties of the job
The post is based in Ealing Adolescent Team, supporting the leadership and clinical delivery and is a member of the Borough Management Team, representing the team and the profession The role is a key member of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT), contributing to discussions and the formulation of young people’s presentations. The post holder will carry out highly specialist assessments of children and young people with severe and complex mental health presentations and provide formulation, help inform diagnosis where applicable, and make recommendations for interventions. In addition, he/she will offer a range of individual, family and group therapeutic interventions and be experienced in managing the presenting risks of young people attending the Service. The Principal Systemic Family Therapist in Ealing CAMHS, plays an integral part in shaping and delivering systemic interventions, as well as supporting the continued development of family therapy practice. They have oversight of the family therapy clinics and the systemic and NVR offer within the Borough and provide professional oversight and clinical supervision alongside supervision of supervision
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached.
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person specification
Experience
Essential
- Extensive post-registration experience which includes experience of working in a supervisory and leadership role
- Extensive 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 and across the age range of 0-18, including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
- Substantial experience of working with Children and Young People in mental health crisis.
- Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
- Experience of teaching and training.
- Experience of multi-agency working.
- Significant experience of delivering professional, clinical and management supervision to qualified mental health practitioners.
- Experience of and commitment to service development.
Desirable
- Experience of the application of mental health knowledge and skills in different cultural contexts.
Other skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by their professional body.
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- 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.
- Commitment to provide support to children, their families/carers and linked professionals and maintain high levels of aspiration for the population referred to the service.
- Commitment to working flexibly and collaboratively with team colleagues and to support innovative ways of working.
- To approach clients with empathy and adaptability and to be open to development of new approaches to work with clients.
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
Desirable
- Knowledge and skills in specialist assessment and intervention with specific groups (e.g. looked after children, learning disabilities, neurodevelopmental disorders, adolescent mental health, trauma, anxiety and mood disorders).
- Knowledge of application of therapeutic models to children who have special educational needs and neurodevelopmental conditions.
- Experience of delivering NVR-based interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining formulations drawing upon NVR principles and systemic approaches.
Qualifications
Essential
- Post-graduate training in systemic family therapists as accredited by IFT or AFT.
- Professional registration with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
- Qualification in a relevant profession such as social work, nursing, psychology or the equivalent (e.g. criteria laid down by UKCP for APEL route to qualification as Family Therapists)
- Post -Qualification Training in systemic supervision.
Desirable
- Completion of Foundation and Advanced level NVR training
- Further training in one or more therapeutic approaches e.g. CBT, DBT, EMDR
Knowledge & Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
- Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by their professional body.
Desirable
- Knowledge and skills in specialist assessment and intervention with specific groups (e.g. looked after children, learning disabilities, neurodevelopmental disorders, adolescent mental health, trauma, anxiety and mood disorders).
- Knowledge of application of therapeutic models to children who have special educational needs and neurodevelopmental conditions.
- Experience of delivering NVR-based interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining formulations drawing upon NVR principles and systemic approaches.
WhatsApp job alerts
Get instant WhatsApp alerts for Band 8 Psychology roles in Southall
Create your Job Clerk account first. We'll collect your alert preferences during onboarding and help you turn on WhatsApp notifications for matching healthcare roles.
Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Principal Systemic Family Therapist with West London NHS Trust in Southall, London, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Mental health professionals role. The advertised salary is £72,719 - £83,505 per annum inclusive. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 04 Aug 2026.
Before you apply, compare the job description with the person specification and mirror the employer's essential criteria in your supporting information. Use the vacancy title, employer, location, salary, contract type, closing date and posted date (21 Jul 2026) to decide whether this role fits your current NHS job search. If the employer can close applications early, prepare the application before the stated deadline rather than waiting for the final day.
For more context, review related Job Clerk pages for the same profession, band or location where they exist, then use the application-support guides to tailor your statement and prepare for interview.