B8a Family Therapist

NHS; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 58,000 - 65,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Great flexible working opportunities

Lease car scheme and Home Electronics

Generous annual leave and pension

Health and well-being programmes

Job summary

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool is seeking a part-time Band 8a Family Therapist to join the Sefton CAMHS and Sunflower House teams. As a senior member of the team you will supervise staff, develop systemic thinking, provide training, and contribute to research, with travel to Sunflower House as needed.

The post offers flexible working, a generous benefits package, and a commitment to equality and diversity; applicants from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are

Qualifications

• Lead and coordinate systemic psychotherapy/family therapy assessments.
• Provide supervision and training to trainees and staff.
• Travel to Alder Hey Hospital Sunflower House as required.
• Contribute to research, audit, and service development.
• Maintain professional standards within NHS guidelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead systemic therapy within Tier 3 specialist CAMHS.
• Provide assessment and intervention with young people and families.
• Offer supervision and consultation to teams and trainees.
• Ensure discharge planning and handover are completed.
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines.

Skills

Systemic therapy

Family therapy

Supervision

Multidisciplinary working

Education

Masters/Diploma in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy

UKCP registration

Job description

Main area Specialist Systemic Therapist / Family Therapist Grade Band 8a Contract Permanent: part time post Hours

• Part time
• Flexible working

30 hours per week (potential evening work) Job ref 411-NEI-26-8314619

Employer Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Sefton CAMHS Burlington House Town Liverpool Salary £57,528 - £64,750 pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 12/10/2026 23:59

B8a Family Therapist

Band 8a

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is a provider of specialist health care and has a presence in community outreach sites and, in collaboration with other providers, our clinicians help deliver care closer to patients’ homes by holding local clinics at locations from Cumbria to Shropshire, in Wales and the Isle of Man. The Trust also provides inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs at our Sunflower House building newly relocated, and opened on the hospital site.

We currently have more than 4,000 staff working across our community and hospital sites. We’re also a teaching and training hospital providing education and training to around 540 medical and over 500 nursing and allied health professional students each year.

As black and minority ethnic (BME) employees are currently under-represented in this area, we particularly welcome applications from members of our BME communities. All appointments will be made on merit.

You can expect a warm welcome at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, our staff are friendly and welcoming. We listen to each other and work together to embed our Trusts values and behaviours. At Alder Hey we appreciate our staff and reward them with an outstanding benefits package including:

• Great flexible working opportunities
• Lease car scheme and Home Electronics Scheme
• Generous annual leave and pension scheme
• Extensive staff health and well-being programmes

Job overview

This post will be split across Sefton CAMHS and Sunflower House. Sunflower House (Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Tier 4 inpatient ward) are seeking a part time highly skilled Family Therapist to support the children, young people and families that use the service.

As a senior member of the team, you will be expected to support staff in developing their systemic thinking and practice through teaching, consultation, and supervision, ensuring families accessing the service are provided the best possible care. The role will include supervision of trainee and qualified Systemic Family Practitioners and training supervision of SFP and for Family Therapy will be supported.

Expected travel to Alder Hey Hospital Sunflower House .

Main duties of the job

• The post holder will be the therapy lead for systemic psychotherapy/family therapy within Tier 3 specialist CAMHS.
• They will be a specialist practitioner in systemic practice and will provide assessment and intervention with young people and their families/carers based on systemic psychotherapy principles and techniques.
• They will offer systemic consultation to the network informed by systemic principles.
• They will offer supervision and consultation to the teams and related trainees in agreement with the Clinical lead.
• They will work autonomously within professional guidelines.
• They will contribute to and at times lead on aspects of defined research, audit, policy and service development.

Working for our organisation

This is an exciting opportunity for a highly skilled Family Therapist to join the Sefton Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. The Family Therapist will be a member of the specialist, multi-disciplinary service and will be supported through supervision by a senior member of the team on a regular basis.

Alder Hey is an equal opportunities employer, and our workforce is currently under-represented from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and people with disabilities. We would welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds as our ambition is that our workforce is fully reflective of the communities that we serve.

Alder Hey is signed up to the disability confident scheme and we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the vacancy

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical:

• To lead and coordinate specialist systemic psychotherapy/family therapy assessments.
• To formulate and devise intervention plans and provide systemic family therapy interventions using a range of discipline specific models appropriate to the service.
• At the request of the case manager to join internal and external network meetings to provide a systemic perspective.
• To continuously evaluate treatment/therapy options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the child, young person or family.
• To contribute to wider multidisciplinary team discussions regarding the relationship between the different systems around the referred child and family and to bring a systemic perspective to links between the patterns that the family engage in and the patterns that may evolve in the wider team.
• To contribute to multi-disciplinary referral and allocation meetings as part of the multi-disciplinary team.
• To maintain an appropriate specialised caseload of systemic family therapy cases/interventions.
• To provide specialist systemic advice; guidance; information and consultation to enable colleagues in the multi-disciplinary team to have access to systemically based frameworks for the understanding and care of cases referred to the service, through the dissemination of research and theory in relation to systemic psychotherapy.
• To work effectively and sensitively with issues of gender, sexuality, disability, class and age.
• To attend both internal and external CPA reviews and offer updates on progress in on-going family therapy and ensure appropriate discharge planning and handover processes are implemented.
• The post holder is expected to receive regular clinical supervision in line with the guidelines laid down by the Association for Family Therapy (AFT).

Person specification

Skills

• Knowledge of and specialist 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 Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical &/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS. Specialist skills in providing supervision and consultation to other professional groups. Ability to work in inpatient/family settings, managing the highly complex emotional relationships within and between the component parts of the family-hospital system in ways, which maximise the potential for therapeutic outcomes. Ability to multi-task at different levels of context; while leading a systemic psychotherapy session. This includes using a one way screen, video equipment, reflecting team approach and working with professionals from different backgrounds.
• Specialist skills in offering live supervision to colleagues from other professional backgrounds. Evidence of additional training in supervision and consultation.

Knowledge

• development/ mental health issues Ability to work with a racially and culturally diverse community in a wide variety of contexts including highly specialist skills for working therapeutically in family homes Up-to-date knowledge of relevant legislation, ethical issues and strategic frameworks including The Children Act 1989 and Mental Health Act 1983, and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management
• Knowledge of adult mental health. Knowledge of Current psychological evidence base and best practice in working with adults. Masters/Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology consistent with systemic psychotherapy

Others

• Excellent interpersonal skills. Appreciation of the interface between personal and professional lives, high level of self-awareness and knowledge of principles of self-care. Ability to assess and manage risk. Knowledge and experience of Clinical Governance work Experience of teaching and training others. Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by AFT/UKCP
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations in public, professional and academic settings. Completed audit or other Clinical Governance projects

Qualifications

• Post-graduate qualification in relevant mental health/social welfare profession and demonstrable practice over a minimum of three years. Masters/Diploma level qualification (or its equivalent) in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy, accredited with UKCP. The Maintenance of UKCP Registration by attendance on short or long training courses to meet AFT CPD requirements.
• Training in teaching systemic psychotherapy Post-qualification training in one or more additional specialised areas of therapeutic practice

Experience

• Minimum three years practice in relevant first profession Experience of specialist systemic assessment, formulation and intervention with clients across a range of care settings, Experience of working with a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, Experience of exercising clinical responsibility for systemic care and treatment, within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan. Experience of working in a multi- disciplinary team Experience of working with a range of childhood disorders at the acute and chronic stage. Experience of self-harm assessment and intervention with both individuals and their families Experience of risk assessment and risk management
• Experience of working with people (children and families) of all ages. Experience of teaching, training &/or supervision. Experience of the application of systemic psychotherapy in different cultural contexts. Experience of systemic therapy in inpatient settings

We reserve the right to close vacancies without notice when we have received a sufficient number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.
Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will contact you using this regarding your application. All candidates will be notified via email whether or not they have been shortlisted.
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are committed to creating a well-managed, flexible working environment that supports staff and promotes their welfare and development. We actively promote equality and diversity and operate a Zero Tolerance policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment.

Should you require any support during your application or require alternative formats of our vacancies, please contact recruiting manager of vacancy or the recruitment team at [e-mail] or call 0151 282 4599

Please declare within the supporting information if artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in your application.

Please note, the selection processes at Alder Hey Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right skills and values, please be advised that the use of AI in applications are monitored. We remain vigilant against candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.