Senior Mental Health Practitioner - Children & Young People

Devon Partnership NHS Trust; Exeter; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading health care provider is seeking a full-time Senior Mental Health Practitioner in Exeter. This role involves delivering specialist mental health assessments and interventions for young people facing challenges like anxiety and depression. The successful candidate will work in a team, providing individual and group therapies, and guide junior staff. Applicants must hold a relevant degree and professional registration. The role offers training opportunities and a supportive working environment.

Benefits

Regular clinical supervision

Supportive team environment

Training opportunities

Qualifications

• Professional qualification in psychology, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, or equivalent.
• Substantial experience managing complex caseloads with young people.
• Recognized qualification in therapeutic interventions for mental health.

Responsibilities

• Conduct mental health assessments using a strengths-based approach.
• Develop and implement care plans based on evidence.
• Work collaboratively with a multi-disciplinary team.

Skills

Mental health assessment

Therapeutic interventions

Collaboration

Safeguarding

Education

Professional qualification at degree level or equivalent

Professional registration/accreditation with a recognised body

Post-graduate qualification relevant to specialism

Tools

Evidence-based therapeutic models

Job description

We are excited to be recruiting a full-timeBand 6 Senior Mental Health Practitionerto join our Exeter and East Devon Mood, Emotions, and Relationships Pathway within Children and Family Health Devon. This role is offered as a fixed term contract for one year.

You will provide specialist assessment, formulation, and intervention for young people experiencing a range of moderate to severe mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, self-harm, and emotional dysregulation. You will play a key role in delivering evidence-based, person-centred care to young people and their families/carers, working collaboratively within a team to provide early and effective intervention.

Your role will involve working directly with young people, offering individual and group-based therapeutic interventions, supporting families and carers, and working closely with partner agencies such as schools, social care, and other health professionals. You will also provide consultation, supervision, and training to junior staff, students, and partner agencies to support workforce development.

We offer:

• Regular clinical supervision and peer support to ensure ongoing professional development.
• A supportive, inclusive team environment that values collaboration and innovation.
• Training opportunities to enhance your skills and career progression.

Main duties of the job

• Conduct specialist mental health assessments using a strengths-based, person-centred approach to understand the unique needs of each young person.
• Develop and implement tailored care plans based on evidence-based interventions, including CBT, DBT-informed approaches, and systemic family work.
• Provide individual and group-based interventions for young people experiencing difficulties with mood, emotions, and relationships.
• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, collaborating with psychologists, therapists, nurses, and social workers to ensure a coordinated approach to care.
• Offer consultation, training, and support to colleagues, families, and partner agencies, contributing to a shared understanding of young peoples mental health needs.
• Support junior staff and trainees, providing supervision and guidance to enhance their professional development.
• Ensure safeguarding and risk management procedures are followed, promoting the safety and well‑being of children and young people.
• Maintain accurate clinical records and contribute to service development through audit, evaluation, and quality improvement initiatives.

This role is ideal for a motivated and compassionate professional who thrives in a collaborative environment and is passionate about delivering high-quality mental health support for children, young people, and families.

About us

Successful applicants will be employed by Devon Partnership Trust (https://jobs.dpt.nhs.uk/locations/working-here )

Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) comprises an Alliance of NHS organisations working together to improve health outcomes for children and young people in Devon.

CFHD provides integrated care and treatment for children and young people across physical and mental health. We are working closely with other organisations and providers to ensure we deliver locality and county-wide based integrated access to all of our services, based on the i-Thrive Framework, in response to consultation with our service users and communities.

CFHD works closely with our local universities of Plymouth, Exeter & the Peninsula Medical School where we support students in clinical training placements and in addition support our own staff to undertake post graduate training.

We would like the people who work for Children and Family Health Devon to be understanding, patient and respectful. They should be trustworthy and make us feel safe and comfortable. It is important that they use their skills and experience to listen carefully in a non-patronising and non-judgemental way. When staff are positive and friendly, they help to create an environment that is informal and without pressure.

Our vision is to be a successful, vibrant partnership that benefits the communities we serve.

Job responsibilities

Full Vacancy details can be found on the attached Job Description/Person Specification. Please refer to your suitability to the post in your supporting information from the role requirements or person specification.

Information regarding the Managing Mood, Emotions and Relationships Pathway:

In this pathway, Senior Mental Health Practitioners work within a strong multi-disciplinary team, providing assessments and therapy to children with severe, chronic and enduring mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety-based disorders and Trauma.

You would work with children, young people and families to understand their experiences and presenting concerns in order to provide an appropriate evidence-based intervention and work closely with other agencies to support the best outcomes.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• A professional qualification at degree level or equivalent e.g. Psychological profession, Nursing, Social Work, Occupational Therapy, or equivalent.
• Professional registration/accreditation with a recognised body, e.g. NMC, HCPC, Social Work England, UKCP, BABCP
• Recognised qualification in evidenced based therapeutic, mental health interventions for children/young people and their families/carers
• Post graduate qualification relevant to specialism

Experience

• Substantial experience of managing an extensive and complex caseload and working with children/young people presenting with a range of complex mental health presentations.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency environment.
• Experience of delivering model based psychological therapy
• Participation in user involvement in services.
• Mentoring students in line with professional requirements

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Ability to be mobile across a geographical area in a timely manner and in accordance with service need.

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.