Highly Specialist Systemic Psychotherapist

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 66,000 - 73,000; Part time

Job summary

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust is recruiting a Highly Specialist Systemic Psychotherapist for Springfield University Hospital in London. The post supports adults with eating disorders in an in-patient setting with a focus on systemic family therapies and staff development.

The role requires UKCP registration and a post-graduate mental health qualification, with training in supervision.

Qualifications

• Qualified Systemic Family Psychotherapist registered with UKCP.
• Post-graduate qualification in mental health with relevant practice.
• Clinical supervision training and AFT supervisor registration.

Responsibilities

• Develop systemic family therapies for in-patient adults with eating disorders.
• Participate in assessment and care planning for ward admissions.
• Facilitate psycho-educational workshops for patients and carers.
• Support staff to implement care plans via systemic interventions.
• Contribute to ROMs and audit processes.
• Provide systemic therapy to carers and patients using various approaches.
• Attend MDT meetings and care planning reviews.
• Run reflecting teams to foster systemic thinking across staff.

Skills

Systemic therapy

Multidisciplinary teamwork

In-patient care

Education

UKCP-registered Systemic Family Psychotherapist (UKCP)

Post-graduate qualification in relevant mental health

Job description

Highly Specialist Systemic Psychotherapist

NHS AfC: Band 8a

Main area CAMHS Grade NHS AfC: Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 22.5 hours per week Job ref 294-CAMHS-8259319-AZ

Site Springfield University Hospital Town London Salary £66,274 - £73,496 per rata inclusive of Inner London HCAs Salary period Yearly Closing 10/09/2026 23:59 Interview date 15/09/2026

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We provide a full range of local mental health services to the Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth London boroughs, as well as specialist forensic mental health services, including specialised services such as national deaf adults and CAMHS inpatients and OCD.

We are committed to providing high quality integrated health and social care for local people with mental health problems in South West London and more specialist mental health services for people throughout the UK. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ however we aim to be ‘outstanding’.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values; being consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is "making life better together".

When you join us, you’ll be part of something special - an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a family therapist within our leading-edge adult eating disorder services. The service supports both the direct work with adults and their families on the adult specialist eating disorder unit and supports with the integrated eating disorder care pathways. We are looking for an experienced family therapist who is interested in working in this fascinating area. Please note you do not need to have experience in eating disorders as we will provide support and training to develop this specialist knowledge.

The successful candidate will work closely with the multi-disciplinary team on the ward in the delivery of evidence based psychological systemic therapies.

Main duties of the job

Avalon ward is a 15-bedded unit for adults suffering with severe eating disorders, often at a very low weight and there is a high level of co-morbidity with other conditions. The team is a recovery focused service, working with patients on the goal of discharging safely back to their local community services where they can continue to work towards recovery. The team is made up of nurses, healthcare assistants, psychiatrist, dieticians, occupational therapists, social worker, psychologists and peer support workers.

The ward receives adult patients from both the local Eating Disorders Service as well as from other outpatient services nationally across the UK and Northern Ireland.

Working for our organisation

Unless expressly stated in the job advert this role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a varietyofbenefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Support the development of the delivery of evidence based systemic family therapies adapted to an in-patient setting for adults with eating disorders.
• Participate in assessment and care planning for people admitted to the ward.
• Facilitate psycho-educational workshops and parent/carer support groups.
• Support nursing & healthcare assistant staff to implement care plans through the dissemination of systemic frameworks and interventions.
• Support management of ROMs and audit.
• Offer systemic family therapy to carers and clients using a range of systemic interventions and family therapy for anorexia nervosa.
• Attend all multi-disciplinary meetings and care planning reviews.
• Run systemic consultations across the MDT and contribute to thinking about the patients and their families from a systemic psychotherapy perspective.
• Set up and run reflecting team groups to develop systemic thinking across the staff groups.

Person specification

Training & Qualifications

• Qualified Systemic Family Psychotherapist registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) via the College of Family Couple and Systemic Therapy,
• post-graduate qualification in relevant mental health/social welfare profession with demonstrable practice over a minimum of four years, OR additional short training and post-qualification experience in mental health consolidated over a minimum of two years
• Clinical Systemic Supervision Training
• Registration as Clinical Supervisor by Association for Family Therapy (AFT)

Experience

• Substantial experience in relevant first profession
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity including a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
• Experience of multi disciplinary team working
• Experience of inter agency working
• Experience of safeguarding and Child Protection experience and skills in risk assessment, management and intervention with individuals, their families and/or social networks
• Experience of working with eating disorders
• Experience of leading case reviews
• Experience of working in the NHS

At South West London St Georges Mental Health Trust we are committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Committed Employer, and welcome applications from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We are Members of Stonewall Diversity Champions and Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.

As part of the Trust's commitment to Equalities and Diversity, the Trust supports the establishment of Staff Networks groups to promote diversity in the workplace:

• BME (Evolve) Staff Network
• DiverseAbility
• Mental Health Staff Forum
• Women's Staff Network
• LGBTQIA+

We are committed to supporting the Armed Forces Community and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

We provide reasonable adjustments to the interview process for any candidates with a disability.

Please note:

• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3 rd party e-recruitment system
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That your employment is offered subject to successful completion of a Probationary Period depending on your Band (except medical roles)
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including job applications, sponsorship arrangements, or employment offers. The contact details published on our official website are the Trust’s authorised contact channels and should be used for all recruitment communications, job applications, and verification of employment offers.

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.