Systemic Family Therapist

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust; City Of London; On-site; GBP 56,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading mental health organization is seeking a Systemic Family Therapist to join their Tier 4 CAMHS Service. The role involves providing specialist family therapy to children under 13 and their families, utilizing research skills for service development. Candidates should have significant clinical experience, relevant qualifications, and the ability to work within multi-disciplinary teams. Competitive salary offered, with a focus on improving mental health outcomes for youth.

Qualifications

• Significant clinical experience post systemic qualification.
• Experience of audit and working independently.
• Understanding of systemic theory and practice.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist systemic family therapy assessments for children.
• Formulate and implement treatment plans for complex cases.
• Participate in multi-disciplinary team assessments and interventions.

Skills

Skills in working with children and families with mental health and social problems

Analytical skills

Systemically culturally sensitive skills

Parent management training

Education

First related graduate professional qualification (social worker, nurse, psychologist)

MSc Systemic Professional Qualification

Psychology degree

Job description

Go back Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Systemic Family Therapist

The closing date is 24 October 2025

• The post holder will join the multi-disciplinary Tier 4 CAMHS Service in delivering mental health care to children, under 13, and their families.
• The postholder will provide specialist Systemic and Family Therapy to the families and caregivers of our service users.
• The post holder will utilise research skills for audit to support policy and service development; and undertake research within the area served by the service and of relevance to young people their families and carers.
• The post holder will work autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the service's policies and procedures.

Main duties of the job

To contribute to the development, maintenance and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice, through active participation in internal and external CPD training and development programmes in consultation with the post-holder's professional and service manager(s).

To contribute to the development and articulation of best practice in systemic family therapy across the service, by exercising systemic family therapy skills, taking part in regular professional supervision and appraisal and maintaining an active engagement with current developments in the field of systemic family therapy and related disciplines.

To maintain the highest standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing and the responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice of the Association of Family Therapy and Trust policies and procedures.

To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific client group and mental health.

It is a requirement of the post that the post-holder must be Registered with and maintain professional registration with the relevant section of the UKCP at all times. If, in future, the profession becomes regulated by statute, statutory registration by the appropriate body will be required, replacing this existing requirement.

About us

Welcome to CNWL Mental Health Inpatient Services for Children and Young People. Collingham Child and Family Centre is one of six National 7 Day Inpatient settings, that work in partnership with Chelsea Hospital Schools for children aged under 13 years old.

Nestled between High Street Kensington & Earls Court, Collingham is a Tier 4 Children's Mental Health Unit which provides acute inpatient and schooling for young people with a range of with complex mental health needs and behavioural problems.

We're passionate about young people's mental health outcomes, and strive to deliver first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care. At Collingham you will be supporting children and their families to build resilience, better coping strategies and healthy relationships through therapeutic intervention and structured meaningful activity.

Job responsibilities

To provide specialist systemic family therapy assessments for children who may be experiencing severe, highly complex and persistent mental health problems.

To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the formulation and implementation of treatment plans taking into account relevant evidence based research, theory, practice and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes which have shaped the child/adolescent, their parents/carers and family.

To provide specialist systemic therapeutic treatment for children, their parents/carers and families referred to CAMHS, with severe, highly complex and persistent mental health problems.

Toprovide specialist systemic advice, guidance and consultation to professional colleagues within CAMHS and related external agencies who work with children/young people contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.

Tobe responsible for working within the appropriate safeguarding and risk guidelines in relation to own cases. This includes reporting to and liaising with multi-disciplinary service and external agency staff (e.g. Social Services staff, CAMHS colleagues, adult mental health staff, primary health and hospital staff, education staff, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, named child protection worker).

To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on aspects of risk assessment and risk management

To coordinate, where appropriate, the intervention plans in respect of children, taking responsibility for initiating planning and reviews with the young people, their carers, referring agents and others involved in the network of care.

To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care, including providing specialist assessment reports as required, and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of multi-disciplinary care.

Toparticipate in regular review and ongoing discussion of cases in treatment with other members of the multi-disciplinary team and to provide specialist expertise in systemic family therapy techniques. To utilise theory, evidence based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.

To contribute as an independent clinician to a multidisciplinary team assessments and interventions including medical, social work, nursing team and other MDT with a focus on team and joint working.

Person Specification

Previous Experience & Knowledge

• Significant clinical experience post systemic qualification
• Experience and understanding of the needs of a multicultural population
• Providing consultation
• Liaison with a range of professionals
• Research in relation to children and adults with mental health problems
• Teaching and training of systemic principles/skills
• Experience of audit
• Previous experience of working independently
• Experience of parental psychiatric illness
• Understanding of systemic theory and practice
• Evidence base in relation to child mental health
• Legislation and DOH guidelines relevant to children and mental health

Skills

• Skills in working with children and families with mental health and social problems
• Ability to apply analytical skills to multi-layered complex cases
• Systemically culturally sensitive skills
• Ability to provide ongoing treatment in complex, often unstable and frequently changing circumstance
• Capacity to work independently, but have the skills to recognise the need to consult to professional colleagues from the multidisciplinary team and/or other departments within CNWL or to external agencies
• Ability to withstand high levels of emotionally charged situations
• Parent management training

Qualifications

• First related graduate professional qualification ie social worker, nurse, psychologist.
• MSc Systemic Professional Qualification
• Previous related academic achievements i.e. Psychology degree

CPD

• The postholder is expected to have had since qualification ongoing CPD

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.

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

£56,276 to £63,176 a yearPro rata per annum incl. HCAS