Child Psychotherapist

NHS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 56,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in London seeks a Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist for a one-year fixed-term contract. The successful candidate will deliver assessments and psychoanalytic therapy, work closely with families, and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to address complex mental health issues in children. Extensive experience and accredited training in psychotherapy are essential. The role provides a competitive salary and the opportunity to make a significant impact on young people's mental health services.

Qualifications

• Postgraduate accredited training in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy.
• Eligibility for full membership of Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP).
• Pre-qualification professional experience working with children and families.

Responsibilities

• Provide assessments and psychoanalytic treatment for children and families.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to support young people.
• Contribute to the service's continued improvement and accessibility.

Skills

Communication skills

Analytic skills

Child and adolescent psychotherapy methods

Collaboration skills

Education

Accredited training in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy

Good relevant honours degree

Tools

IT and internet research skills

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist to join the Hammersmith and Fulham CAMHS Child and Family Team for a one-year fixed-term contract (4 sessions at Band 7) to cover a career break.

We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with substantial experience working within multi-disciplinary, multi-agency, and culturally diverse settings. The successful candidate will be skilled in working with children and families who present with high levels of complexity, and will be confident in delivering both thorough assessments and effective therapeutic interventions.

In this role, you will provide psychotherapy assessments and specialist psychoanalytic treatment, including Short-Term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (STPP) and parent work, alongside a range of more generic clinical duties.

The needs of young people and their families will be central to your work. You will collaborate closely with service users and colleagues to ensure the service continues to meet the needs of the local population. Given the cultural diversity of Hammersmith and Fulham, you will contribute actively to ensuring that the service remains accessible, inclusive, and responsive.

Main duties of the job

The post would suit someone who is passionate about delivering high-quality, effective services to young people and their families, and who values collaboration with multidisciplinary and multi-agency partners in addressing the complex challenges facing child and adolescent mental health services.

In this role, you will provide an efficient, effective and comprehensive child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapy service to children and young people presenting with severe, complex and persistent mental health difficulties, as well as to their families and carers. You will work closely and collaboratively with CAMHS colleagues and the wider professional network supporting each young person.

As a member of the multidisciplinary team, you will also offer consultation to external agencies and play an active role in promoting the discipline and practice of child psychotherapy within Hammersmith and Fulham CAMHS.

About us

West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.

Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ 4,500 staff, of whom 56% are BME. Our turnover for 2023-24 is £426m.

The Trust is rated as 'Good' overall by the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as 'Outstanding'.

The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative

Job 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

Qualifications

• Good relevant honours degree, or a recognised equivalent.
• Other related professional qualification or equivalent.
• Postgraduate accredited training in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy.
• Eligibility for full membership of Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP).
• Keyboard skills (physical skills)

Experience

• Pre-qualification professional experience with children, adolescents and families (e.g. clinical/educational psychology, teaching, social work).
• Experience of work with complex family situations where there is a threat of abuse and breakdown.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups with 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 in working in multi-disciplinary, multi-agency, multi-cultural context.
• Experience of work with therapeutic groups of children.
• Substantial experience of work with families where the parents are mentally ill.
• Experience of assessment and intervention with individuals with neurodevelopmental difficulties.
• Experience of professional teaching and training.

Knowledge

• Good knowledge of relevant theories, practices and research in the field of child and adolescent development and psychotherapy and ability to apply them to relevant work situations.
• Evidence of continuous professional development as recommended by the ACP.
• Knowledge of adult mental health problems.
• Knowledge of research methodology.
• Specialist areas of knowledge based on further training and experience.

Skills

• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with patients, staff, administrators and managers about highly complex and sensitive matters in situation of potential conflict or psychological/emotional pain, and where mental health problems affect relationships.
• Capacity to listen to other points of view effectively about highly complex issues through reports, publication or public presentation.
• Good level of analytic skills and understanding of unconscious processes and their impact on the individual, group and institutional processes.
• Ability to remain still and maintain intense concentration in clinical settings with children, adolescents, parents/carers and families where there may be high level of distress, verbal and physical aggression or chaotic activity.
• Ability to integrate available highly complex clinical information into a coherent formulation and to apply it in treatment and clinical management.
• Ability to monitor and assess risk and act accordingly.
• Writes clear records and observes policies, procedures and guidelines.
• Ability to plan and organise own workload and time.
• Ability to plan, co-ordinate and organise aspects of service activities.
• IT and internet research skills.
• Ability to conduct audit and research.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues to plan, evaluate, monitor and develop services.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£56,276 to £63,176 a yearper annum inclusive pro rata