Clinical Psychologist or Psychotherapist - Young People's Hostels

NHS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in London seeks a Clinical Psychologist or Psychotherapist to provide essential trauma-informed support to vulnerable young people in hostels. The candidate will engage with individuals under 25, addressing complex emotional and psychological needs. Responsibilities include assessing young people's mental health, delivering therapy tailored to their circumstances, and supporting hostel staff to create a psychologically informed environment. This is an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of marginalized youth in the community.

Benefits

28 days annual leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Employer Pension Contributions

Weekly clinical supervision

Protected CPD time

Qualifications

• Recent clinical experience providing psychological therapy with youth.
• Ability to engage with young people from diverse backgrounds.
• Experience with community settings and flexible interventions.

Responsibilities

• Provide psychological assessment and therapy to young people in hostels.
• Develop trust-based relationships with vulnerable clients.
• Consult with hostel staff to enhance support mechanisms.

Skills

Trauma-informed practices

Psychological assessment

Community-based interventions

Crisis management

Culturally responsive therapy

Education

Postgraduate training in clinical or counselling psychology

Registered with HCPC or relevant professional body

Qualified in recognized psychological therapy

Job description

Clinical Psychologist or Psychotherapist - Young People's Hostels

This is an exciting opportunity for a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist or Psychotherapist to deliver impactful, trauma-informed psychological support to young people living in hostels across Camden. Funded by Comic Relief, the role focuses on working with young people aged under 25 who have experienced homelessness, displacement, migration, care experiences, and significant social adversity.

You will work creatively in community settings, offering flexible, psychologically informed interventions tailored to young peoples needs and circumstances. This includes assessment and delivery of brief and moderate-length therapies, alongside consultation and reflective support to hostel staff. The work is relational, outreach-focused, aiming to reduce barriers to access and promote emotional wellbeing where young people live. The postholder will work collaboratively with hostel staff to help develop more psychologically informed environments.

Based at the Brandon Centre a well-established charity with over 50 years experience supporting young peoples mental health you will be part of a supportive, multidisciplinary team that values reflective practice, equality, and innovation. The role offers high-quality supervision, CPD, and the chance to contribute to a forward-thinking, community-based service making a real difference to the lives of some of the most marginalised young people in London.

Main duties of the job

The postholder will deliver high-quality psychological assessment and therapy to young people aged under 25 living in hostels across Camden, working flexibly in community settings. They will offer brief and moderate-length interventions tailored to individual need, informed by trauma-aware and culturally responsive practice.

The role involves building trusting relationships with young people who may be hard to engage, managing clinical risk, and supporting emotional wellbeing in the context of homelessness, migration, care experience and social exclusion. Alongside direct clinical work, the postholder will provide consultation, reflective input and psychologically informed guidance to hostel staff and partner agencies.

They will work closely with colleagues within a multidisciplinary service, contribute to case discussions and outcome monitoring, and maintain high standards of clinical recording and safeguarding. The role also includes active engagement in supervision, CPD and service development, helping to shape an innovative, community-based mental health offer for vulnerable young people.

About us

The Brandon Centre is a well-established North London charity with over 50 years experience of providing high-quality, accessible mental health support to young people under the age of 25. Our services respond to a wide range of adolescent challenges and are grounded in a psychoanalytic understanding of adolescent development.

We are known for our compassionate, inclusive, and innovative culture. We have a strong commitment to improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people through direct and indirect work (e.g. parenting programmes, staff consultation and training). Our multidisciplinary teams bring together psychologists and psychotherapists who value collaboration, curiosity and thoughtful engagement with complexity.

We place a strong emphasis on supervision, professional development and staff wellbeing, and actively support flexible, community-based ways of working. Benefits of working at the Brandon Centre include generous annual leave, an employee assistance programme, employer pension contributions, weekly individual clinical supervision and protected weekly CPD time, including reflective practice and training. Staff are encouraged to contribute to service development and innovation within an organisation where their values, expertise and voice genuinely matter.

Job responsibilities

A.OUTLINE OF POST AND PRINCIPAL CONTRACT TERMS

Job Title: Clinical or Counselling Psychologist /

Child & AdolescentPsychotherapist / Adult Psychotherapist Homeless Young People

Grade: Band7 equivalent

Contract: 24-monthsfixed term

Hours: 21hours or 0.6FTE (based on a 35-hour week).Includes attendance at team meetings onTuesdays from10.00amto 1.30pm, to include some evening work up to 7:30pm on two days.

Locations: CommunityLocations in the London Borough of Camden;Brandon Centre

Reportsto: Clinical Director

Accountability: The post holdershall be accountable to the Council of Management of the Brandon Centre throughthe Clinical Director

B.JOB SUMMARY

This isan exciting opportunity for a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist, or Psychotherapist,with a strong interest in community-based work with young people who haveexperienced displacement, trauma, and social adversity. The post focuses onsupporting young people living in hostels in Camden, including care leavers,young people experiencing homelessness, and those who were previouslyunaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Thepostholder will work creatively and flexibly, drawing on psychologicalknowledge and therapeutic skills to meet a wide range of needs. Hostels havebeen identified in partnership with the London Borough of Camden based onlevels of need. Interventions will vary in length and format, ranging fromone-off consultations to brief (up to 6 sessions) and moderate-durationinterventions (approximately 1216 or 1620 sessions), depending on the youngpersons presentation and circumstances.

Inaddition to direct clinical work, the role may include consultation, reflectivepractice, and training for hostel staff, as required. The post is funded by agenerous grant from Comic Relief and offers a valuable opportunity tocontribute to innovative, trauma-informed psychological support within acommunity setting.

BRANDON CENTRE OVERVIEW

The principal objective of the Brandon Centre,since it was founded in 1969, has been to provide a professional, accessibleand flexible service which responds to the psychological and social needs ofyoung people under the age of 25.

Services include:

• Counselling and psychotherapy for young people
• Systemic integrative treatment forfamilies
• Parenting programmes
• Consulting and trainingto other charities working with young people

Benefitsof working at the Brandon Centre include:

• 28 days annual leave pro rata
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Employer Pension Contributions
• Weekly individual clinical supervision
• Weekly CPD session (1 hour: Balint Group /Reflective Practice / External training)

D. PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Clinical tasks

1. To providehighly developed and specialised assessments of the psychological and emotionalwellbeing of young people under the age of25 living in selected hostels in Camden.

2. To provideassessments of young people based upon the appropriate use, interpretation andintegration of complex data from a variety of sources including self-reportmeasures, rating scales, observations, and guided clinical inquiry methods withyoung people, and where appropriate, family members and others involved in theyoung persons care.

3. To makedecisions about treatment options for young people, considering boththeoretical and therapeutic models and complex factors concerning historicaland developmental processes that have shaped the young person. This willinclude the recognition and understanding of the impact of race, religion, age,disability, gender, class, culture, ethnicity and sexual orientation on theyoung person.

4.To provide continuingpsychotherapy or decide on appropriate intervention, either through referringto another professional in the service or if necessary, making a referral to anotherappropriate agency.

5. Toundertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and toprovide both general and specialist advice for other professionals onpsychological aspects of risk assessment and management.

6. To provide consultation to key workers of young people as clinicallyappropriate.

7. To provideexpertise and specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation toother professionals contributing directly to a young persons formulation andtreatment plan.

8. To maintain clinical records and to keep all client informationconfidential in accordance with statutory and professional standards. Wheneverthere is the possibility that the confidentiality of these records might beaffected to discuss it with their manager.

9.To liaise with GPs,referrers and other professional workers as appropriate, with the consent ofthe young person.

10.To provide reports and communicate in ahighly skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment,formulation and treatment plans.

11. To participate in weekly case discussions with the multidisciplinaryteam in the psychotherapy service.

12. To manageand prioritise own caseload in relation to the needs of the service.

Monitoring and evaluation

1. To participate in the monitoring and evaluation activities in theservice.

2. To become familiar with the range of feedback and outcome measures usedin the service, and to integrate them into clinical practice.

Supervision, training and teaching

1. To engage in regular clinical supervision and support with casemanagement from the service lead and other senior colleagues, whereappropriate.

2.To usesupervision as required by the post-holders respective professional bodyregulations and the requirements of the service.

3.Togain highly specialist experience and skills relevant to the post and/or theservice as agreed with the service lead.

IT responsibilities

1. To use computers to write reports and record data.

2. To use email to communicate with other professionals as required.

3. To use the database to record feedback and outcome measures andunderstand the graphical presentation of data for patient outcomes.

4. To be aware of and use password protection and data protection whenrecording or sending identifiable information within or across services.

General responsibilities for all Brandon Centre staff

Allemployees of the Brandon Centre are required to observe legislation, BrandonCentre Policies, standards and guidelines relating to confidentiality, informationgovernance, risk management, safeguarding children, safeguarding adults, equalopportunities, data protection, freedom of information, health and safety,infection control, and the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (previously known asthe Hygiene Code).

Confidentiality and data protection

AllBrandon Centre employees are required to ensure that personal data and personalinformation concerning service users and staff is protected at all times, tomaintain confidentiality in accordance with the Brandon Centres policy onconfidentiality and information governance, and data protection legislation.

Staffarerequired to obtain, process and/or use personal information in a fair andlawful way, to hold personal information only for the specific registeredpurpose, and to only share or disclose data to authorised persons ororganisations following the strict guidelines and principles as outlined inBrandon Centre policies as instructed.

All Brandon Centre employees are expected to sign aconfidentiality agreement on taking up their post at the Centre.

Safeguarding of children and adults

All staff have a responsibility to safeguard andpromote the welfare of all children and adults that they come into contact withduring the course of their work at the Brandon Centre. The post holder willreceive the appropriate level of training, both at induction and on an ongoingbasis. She/he is responsible for ensuring that they are familiar with,understand and always work within the safeguarding policies of theorganisation.

Healthrecords, record keeping and record management

All staff have anobligation to ensure that patient records (both paper and electronic) aremaintained in accordance with Brandon Centre policies, to facilitate clinicalcare and effective administration, and to ensure that confidentiality isprotected at all times. All staff are advised to compile records on theassumption that they are accessible to patients in line with the Access toHealth Records Act 1990.

Equality and Diversity

The Brandon Centre is committed to equality inemployment and service delivery. Its Equal OpportunitiesPolicy aims to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives lessfavourable treatment on the grounds of sex, race, colour, religion, maritalstatus, sexuality, age or disability and is not placed at a disadvantage byconditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justified. All those working for Brandon Centre are expected toactively promote equality and diversity in all aspects of their work.

Health and Safety

Employees mustbe aware of the responsibilities placed on them under the Health and Safety atWork Act (1974), and to ensure that agreed safety procedures are carried out tomaintain a safe environment for employees, patients and visitors.

Infection Control

The post holder will ensurecompliance with the Brandon Centres Infection Prevention and Control policiesand procedures, and the Health and Social Care Act 2008, ensuring that the riskof healthcare-associated infection to service users and staff is minimised.

Wastedisposal

All staff must ensurethat waste produced within the Centre is disposed of in such ways that controlrisk to the health or safety of staff and the public alike in accordance withrelevant legislation and procedures contained within the policy.

Smoke-free environment

There is a nosmoking policy in operation in the Brandon Centre. In accordance with this policy, smoking ispositively discouraged and is not permitted on the premises.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• 1) UK recognised postgraduate training in clinical or counselling psychology, child & adolescent psychotherapy qualified to doctorate level or with equivalent experience.
• 2) Registered as clinical/counselling psychologist with the HCPC, or child & adolescent psychotherapist / adult psychotherapist registered with relevant professional body (e.g. ACP; BACP; UKCP; BPC).
• 3) Additional formal training since qualification in a recognised psychological therapy.

Knowledge and Skills

• 1) Awareness of issues and interest in the provision of psychological therapies with young people under the age of 25 in a community setting.
• 2) Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management.
• 3) An ability to offer brief and moderate duration therapies (6 / 12-16 / 16-20 sessions) to young people, considering their treatment goals.
• 4) An ability to conduct risk assessments with young people and families and develop risk management plans.
• 5) An ability to formulate and provide treatment within at least one model of psychological therapy and to adapt the model to work with adolescents and young people.
• 6) An ability to administer and interpret psychometric and self-report data from young people and others, and to use this information alongside other clinical information to inform formulation and intervention.
• 7) Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to adolescents/young people, carers and professionals involved in their care.
• 8) An awareness of relevant legislation and its implications for clinical practice.
• 9) Skills in providing consultation/training to other professional and non-professional groups.
• 10) Knowledge of the psychologically informed environments (PIE) model.

Experience

• 1) Clinical experience providing psychological therapy with children, adolescents and young people with a range of mental health difficulties in a community setting.
• 2) Experience of psychological / psychotherapeutic assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and young people with a wide range of mental health problems, of varying severity and complexity.
• 3) Experience, understanding and sensitivity to working in a multi-cultural community.
• 4) Pre-qualification experience of working with adolescents and young people as a youth worker or social worker, or in a similar capacity, which involves supporting young people who experience personal, familial, educational or social difficulties.
• 5) Post-qualification experience at Band 7 or above (specialist level) in a community setting that offers services to adolescents and young people.
• 6) Understanding and experience of issues related to refugee care.
• 7) Understanding and experience of issues related to homeless young people.
• 8) Experience of working in hostels.
• 9) Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team.
• 10) Experience of service monitoring and evaluation.

Knowledge and Skills

• 1)Awareness of issues and interest in the provision of psychological therapies with young people under the age of 25 in a community setting.
• 2)Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management.
• 3)An ability to offer brief and moderate duration therapies (6 / 12-16 / 16-20 sessions) to young people, considering their treatment goals.
• 4)An ability to conduct risk assessments with young people and families and develop risk management plans.
• 5)An ability to formulate and provide treatment within at least one model of psychological therapy and to adapt the model to work with adolescents and young people.
• 6)An ability to administer and interpret psychometric and self-report data from young people and others, and to use this information alongside other clinical information to inform formulation and intervention.
• 7)Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to adolescents/young people, carers and professionals involved in their care.
• 8)An awareness of relevant legislation (e.g. safeguarding) and its implications for clinical practice.
• 9)Skills in providing consultation/training to other professional and non-professional groups.
• 10)Knowledge of the psychologically informed environments (PIE) model.

Other requirements

• 1) Able to prioritise, work independently, and on own initiative.
• 2) Ability to work well under pressure and/or in times of crisis.
• 3) Flexibility, creativity, and preparedness to be innovative in a developing organisation.
• 4) Ability to be reliable, cooperative and consistent both as an independent clinician and in team settings.
• 5) Ability to demonstrate commitment to own personal & professional development.
• 6) Computer literate (e.g. MS Office and Video Calling Software)
• 7) Ability and willingness to work in-person in community settings including until 7:30pm.

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.