Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 43,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is seeking a compassionate Band 7 ACP registered Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist to join the large Child Psychotherapy team in a short-term post.

You will work with babies, children, adolescents and families across outpatient and inpatient care, within multi-professional teams, applying a psychoanalytic framework to understand body-mind links and trauma.

Qualifications

• Band 7 ACP registered required.
• Experience in an acute hospital setting or closely related environment preferred.
• Ability to work with children, adolescents and families from infancy to 24 years.
• Excellent teamwork with medical and mental health colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist assessments for children and young people (0–24) in medical settings.
• Deliver short- and longer-term psychotherapy within a psychoanalytic framework.
• Liaise with medical teams and MDTs to integrate psychological care.
• Offer consultations and reflective practice to clinical staff where appropriate.

Skills

Compassionate care

Multidisciplinary collaboration

Strong communication

Job description

We are looking for a compassionate and skilled band 7 ACP registered
Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist to join our large and supportive Child Psychotherapy team at UCLH.
Due to the very short-term nature of this post we are looking for a candidate with previous experience of working in an acute hospital setting, or a setting very closely related to this work.
This is varied and meaningful therapeutic work with patients from infancy to young adulthood (0-24) who are under medical care here as both outpatients and inpatients. You will bring a flexible and creative approach to working therapeutically with babies, children, adolescents, families and the complex medical teams around them. A strong ability to work well within multi-professional teams and with children and families in highly distressing and uncertain situations is essential.
We are looking for somebody who can hold the experience and needs of
the child/young person at the centre of clinical decision making while
working across complex systems. A clinician who can hold a psychoanalytic framework alongside a genuine interest in multi-disciplinary approaches to understanding the links between the body and the mind (including where there is trauma and/or neurodivergence) and with a commitment to their own ongoing learning and development. You will be able to communicate clearly and sensitively with a range of professionals and patients
We are a team of 6 ACP Child Psychotherapists and 3 ACP trainees. We
sit within the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychological Medicine at
UCLH, made up of psychiatry, clinical psychologists and mental health
nurses. The team is well-established, and the work of child psychotherapy is valued and widely understood amongst our medical colleagues. There is a strong tradition of multi-professional working and close collaboration with medical colleagues to work towards sensitive and holistic ways of
supporting patients with complex, chronic and life limiting medical
conditions.
The Paediatric and Adolescent Division is large and busy. It includes
secondary care paediatric clinics for our local communities; and several
tertiary specialties including specialist services for children and young
people with cancer; and a specialist service for complex adolescent health conditions (TRACCS).
You will provide specialist assessments, liaison work, short term and
longer-term psychotherapy to children and young people receiving
outpatient and inpatient medical care. You will also support the treatment of children and young people through offering consultations and reflective practice where appropriate to medical teams. While members of the psychotherapy team are closely linked to specific MDTs and clinical specialties, we also ensure that all members have a varied caseload from across the department.
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world-class research.
We provide first-class acute and specialist services across eight sites:

• University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)
• National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
• University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
• Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
• University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
• The Hospital for Tropical Diseases
• University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street

We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women’s health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.
We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.
For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Vicky Lynch Job title: Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist Email address: [e-mail]

For Further Information About The Role Please Contact

Vicky Lynch, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist
[e-mail]
Interviews scheduled for: Monday 26th October