Senior Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS mental health service in Greater London is seeking a skilled Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist to join its Emotional Disorders Team. The role involves delivering highly specialist assessments and therapies for young people facing mental health challenges. Successful candidates will have a postgraduate qualification and experience in psychodynamic approaches. This position offers career development opportunities through clinical leadership and supervision in a supportive environment committed to evidence-based practice.

Qualifications

• Must have experience working with children and adolescents with mental health difficulties.
• Knowledge of psychodynamic theories and methodologies is essential.
• Strong assessment and formulation skills required.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist psychotherapeutic assessments and interventions.
• Contribute to the supervision of trainees and less experienced clinicians.
• Work within a multidisciplinary team to develop care plans.

Skills

Psychoanalytic assessments

Psychodynamic therapies

Clinical leadership

Supervision of trainees

Collaboration with multidisciplinary teams

Education

Postgraduate qualification in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy

Job description

Overview

This is an exciting opportunity for a highly skilled and motivated Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist to join a large, multidisciplinary CAMHS service within Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL). Based in our Westminster CAMHS' Emotional Disorders Team, the post holder will offer specialist psychoanalytic/psychodynamic assessments and therapies, contribute to generic CAMHS functions and provide expert consultation across the professional network.

Responsibilities

You will work with children and adolescents presenting with depression, anxiety disorders, trauma-related difficulties, self-harm, suicidal ideation and co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions. The post offers opportunities to contribute to clinical leadership within psychotherapy, to supervise trainees and clinicians where appropriate, and to help shape service development within a supportive and reflective team environment.

The post holder will provide a highly specialist Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy service to children, young people and families experiencing mental health difficulties, working as an integral member of the Westminster CAMHS Emotional Disorders Team (EDT). They will deliver specialist psychotherapeutic assessments, formulations and interventions for young people and their families or carers, and offer expert psychodynamic consultation and advice to multidisciplinary colleagues and the wider professional network.

Alongside their specialist role, the post holder will contribute to generic CAMHS functions, including initial assessments, urgent assessments, risk assessment and management, duty participation and care coordination, applying psychoanalytic understanding to the broader range of therapeutic work undertaken in CAMHS. They will support the formulation and management of complex clinical presentations, developing evidence-based intervention plans and contributing to multidisciplinary decision-making.

The role includes providing consultation across partner agencies to promote psychologically informed approaches, and contributing to the supervision and development of trainees and less experienced clinicians, as appropriate to service need. The post holder will utilise research, audit and service evaluation skills to support service development and the implementation of evidence-based practice, working collaboratively with senior clinicians and managers.

About CNWL and Westminster CAMHS

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) provides Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) across five boroughs - Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea, and Westminster - as well as specialist services to regional and national partners.

This post is based within Westminster CAMHS's Emotional Disorders Team, which forms part of a large and well-established CAMHS service of approximately seventy staff, including psychiatrists, child psychotherapists, psychologists, family therapists, nurses and other mental health professionals. The Emotional Disorders Team provides assessment and treatment for young people presenting with depression, anxiety disorders (including OCD, social anxiety and trauma-related presentations), self-harm and suicidal ideation, and supports those with co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD.

Westminster is an exceptionally diverse borough, and many families face significant social, cultural and environmental challenges. The post holder will contribute to highly specialist assessments, formulations and treatment planning for young people with complex mental health needs, within a service committed to collaborative, culturally attuned and evidence-based practice.

The post holder will join a group of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists within the service and will contribute to the psychodynamic provision of the Emotional Disorders pathway.