Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist
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Job Overview
Specialist Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist
Milton Keynes CAMHS | Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL)
Are you a passionate Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist looking to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children, young people and families?
We are seeking an experienced and motivated Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist to join our friendly, innovative and supportive CAMHS team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in delivering high-quality, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions within a dynamic multidisciplinary service that is committed to improving outcomes for children and young people.
As part of our CAMHS team, you will have the opportunity to work with a diverse range of presentations, contribute to service development and innovation, and help shape the future of mental health care for young people in our community.
Main duties of the job
You will provide highly specialist psychotherapeutic assessment, formulation and treatment for children, young people and their families, working across a range of clinical settings and levels of need.
This is a rewarding and influential role where you will:
- Deliver specialist psychotherapeutic interventions to children, young people and families.
- Work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team to provide holistic, patient-centred care.
- Offer consultation, advice and specialist expertise to colleagues and the wider professional network.
- Contribute to service development, quality improvement, audit and research activities.
- Support the development of psychotherapeutic practice within the service.
- Provide clinical and professional supervision to trainees, early career psychotherapists and other professionals.
- Influence and contribute to the development of policies and clinical pathways that enhance patient care.
The successful candidate will work autonomously within professional and service frameworks while benefiting from excellent peer support, professional leadership and opportunities for continued development.
Working for our organisation
Why Join CNWL?
At CNWL, patients are at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to delivering compassionate, safe and effective care across our mental health, community and specialist services.
By joining our team, you will become part of an organisation that:
- Values innovation, collaboration and continuous improvement.
- Invests in staff wellbeing, learning and career progression.
- Supports clinicians to develop specialist interests and leadership skills.
- Encourages involvement in service transformation, research and quality improvement.
- Offers a supportive and inclusive working environment where every voice matters.
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Whether you're looking to deepen your specialism, expand your leadership experience or help shape the future of CAMHS services, CNWL offers the support and opportunities to help you thrive.
Working at CNWL
With a diverse range of services across mental health, community health, addictions, learning disabilities, eating disorders and specialist care, CNWL provides exceptional opportunities for professional growth at every stage of your career.
We're looking for talented, compassionate professionals who share our ambition to deliver outstanding care and who want to make a real difference to the lives of children, young people and families.
If you're ready to join a forward-thinking CAMHS service and make a lasting impact, we'd love to hear from you.
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
Provide highly specialist psychoanalytically-informed psychotherapeutic assessments of children and young people referred to the team based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources
Formulate and implement plans for the formal treatment and/or management of the child/ young person’s problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings
Be responsible for implementing a range of psychotherapeutic interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, grounded in the principles and techniques of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. These will include long and short term interventions as appropriate to need
Evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group
To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of children and young people whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans
Provide highly specialist expertise, advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to children and young people’s formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan
Person specification
Education And Qualifications
Essential criteria
- ACP‑recognised pre‑clinical training to Master’s level (or equivalent).
- Post‑graduate doctoral‑level training in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy at an ACP‑accredited training school.
- To hold a professional registration with the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP)
- Evidence of compliance with ACP Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements.
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Desirable criteria
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and formulation of complex mental health presentations including Trauma presentations
- Experience of working psychologically with children and young people who have complex mental health problems, including trauma and personality disorder
- Experience of teaching, training and supervision
- Experience of skills in group work
- Experience of work with care-givers/families
- Maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
- Experience of working in an NHS community mental health settings in secondary and tertiary care
Desirable criteria
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology or psychotherapy in different cultural contexts
Knowledge, Skills and Professional Competencies
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological assessment and intervention for with children and young people with mental health presentations
- Knowledge of clinical caseload management within a team setting
- Well-developed skills in the ability to work and communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and to other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of legislation and NICE guidance in relation to this client group
- Skills in providing consultation and supervision to other professional and non-professional groups and assistants
Skills And Abilities
Essential criteria
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings
- Valid drivers licence and the ability to drive to different bases
Desirable criteria
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour
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