Clinical Psychologist 8a

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust; Hoddesdon; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

A specialized mental health trust based in Hoddesdon is looking for a Clinical Psychologist to join their team working with children and young people. The role entails complex assessments and treatment within a supportive environment, promoting mental health and wellbeing. Candidates must have HCPC registration and relevant experience in managing child mental health issues. The position offers a competitive salary between £55,690 and £62,682 per year, alongside additional benefits.

Qualifications

• HCPC registration is required.
• Experience working with moderate to severe mental health issues.
• Specialist training in CAPA and CYP-IAPT.

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload for assessment and consultation with children.
• Act as care coordinator for clients' treatment plans.
• Work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary team.

Skills

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

Ability to communicate complex information

Experience with Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Good presentation and teaching skills

Education

Relevant training and professional registration

Post-doctoral training in psychological practice

Job description

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical Psychologist 8a

The closing date is 07 November 2025

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work in an 8a role as a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist within our Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS, formerly known as CAMHS) multidisciplinary team. The role involves delivering a high-quality service provision that promotes and improves the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people and their families in the East of Hertfordshire, with our three bases, predominantly Hoddesdon but may be required to cover Welwyn Garden City and Bishop Stortford.

You will have HCPC registration and provide a highly specialist child and adolescent service within the context of the principles of CAPA (The Choice and Partnership Approach) and CYP-IAPT, providing both core work and specific/specialist work. HPFT has been at the forefront on national developments in CYPMHS, including CAPA and CYP-IAPT.

CYPMHS East is a caring, supportive and hard‑working team which prides itself in working in collaboratively with young people and stakeholders in service delivery. There are opportunities to take a lead in areas of service delivery.

You will have strong links with professional colleagues in the wider CYPMHS. In addition to the inpatient unit, our CYPMHS includes a Tier 4 Home Treatment Team, four community clinic Tier 3 teams, a Targeted Team for looked after children, a specialist Eating Disorder Team, a Crisis Team and a DBT team.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for a caseload of complex assessment, treatment and consultation work with children and their families/carers/networks who have mental health issues. They will work as a member of the multidisciplinary team providing interventions in line with the principles and practice of CYP-IAPT. They will work in ways which are sensitive to and appropriate for the needs of families from a wide range of racial, cultural and religious backgrounds. They will undertake risk assessment and risk management for all children and adolescents, including the protective and risk factors in the network of significant relationships.

They will act as care coordinator, where appropriate, ensuring provision of a care plan, taking responsibility for initiating, planning and review of the client’s care, ensuring the work of others involved and communicating effectively with the child / the carer / professional as appropriate, monitoring the progress of multi‑disciplinary interventions.

About us

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust is one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ from the Care Quality Commission.

Our family of over 4,000 members of staff provide health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. Everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:

Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.

Job responsibilities

• Work in ways which are sensitive to and appropriate for the needs of families from a wide range of racial, cultural, and religious backgrounds. This includes the ability to understand and offer therapeutic interventions to a variety of family setups, including single parents, same‑sex couples and their families, extended families, and people with mental health difficulties.
• Have good working relationships with multi‑disciplinary colleagues.
• Maintain close working relationships with child therapy colleagues and other psychological therapists, both locally and CAMHS‑wide.
• Promote and maintain good working relationships with colleagues in all areas of the quadrant and build good relationships with clients, their families, carers and other external agencies as required.
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines and under the supervision of a more senior psychologist and take an important role in the provision of specialist psychology services.
• 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.
• Maintain adequate clinical notes as well as reports for internal use and external agencies, as well as maintaining good communication with referrers and other professionals involved with young people attending the clinic.

Person Specification

Knowledge/Training/Experience

• Relevant training and professional registration as per person spec.
• Post‑doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice including CBT.
• Post‑registration experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment with clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature.
• Specialist training in an appropriate area and knowledge of CAPA and CYP‑IAPT.
• Experience in neuropsychological assessment training in supervision of clinical/counselling psychologists.

Experience and Knowledge

• Assessed experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of children/adolescents with a wide range of presentations of varying severity – typically at least 2 years post‑qualification experience or other evidenced experience.
• Experience working with moderate to severe mental health problems across a wide range of client groups, including managing highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse.
• Demonstrate further specialist clinical experience and training within Child and Adolescent Mental Health, through a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a clinical/counselling psychologist over a minimum of 18 months, or an agreed alternative.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
• Abilities to provide consultation to other professional and non‑professional groups.
• Good general knowledge of the literature and research concerning mental health interventions with children, particularly the clinical effectiveness of such interventions.
• Knowledge of Child Protection Procedures.
• Experience exercising full clinical responsibility for a client’s psychological care and treatment both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan.
• Good presentation and teaching skills and ability to use multimedia materials for formal presentations to large groups.
• Experience working within a multi‑cultural framework.
• Experience of service quality monitoring e.g. clinical audit, evaluative research, etc.
• Experience of having published in either peer‑reviewed academic or professional journals and/or books.

Communication Skills

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to communicate 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.
• Ability to work therapeutically with young people and their families.
• Ability to work as a fully participating member of a multi‑disciplinary team and respect and value other members’ contributions.
• Positive problem‑solving approach.

Physical Skills

• Car driver (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 which prevents you from driving).
• IT skills; include use of Microsoft Office and Outlook.

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.

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

£55,690 to £62,682 a year (pro rata) + 5% of basic salary (min £1,258 max £2,122)