Job summary Applications are invited for a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist to join a lively and friendly multi-disciplinary CAMHS team. The service is situated in the London Borough of Bexley, one of the three boroughs served by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. This is located in a recently refurbished building at Park Crescent, Erith, which lies on the border of London and Kent with good transport links, including regular trains from and a nearby Crossrail link from Central London. Bexley CAMHS service is being redesigned according to the THRIVE framework, and this post will be based in the Getting More Help Quadrant and will involve work with a range of young people with complex and enduring mental health problems up to 18. We currently have a vacancy for a Child Psychotherapist to work with a range of CYP from 0-18, including LAC and adopted young people and Under 5s. There are also opportunities for consultations and the development of specialisms in work with schools, local authorities, carers and families. The post is open to a newly qualified child psychotherapist or those due to qualify summer 2025, who are members of the ACP, with experience in child mental health in a multidisciplinary context. The Child Psychotherapy discipline is well established and valued across the Trust with a strong clinical presence most of the different teams across Oxleas and within Bexley CAMHS. Main duties of the job The successful applicant will offer brief, medium and long term treatments (including individual, parent-child, group and parent work) as well as specialist state of mind assessments. They will also undertake initial assessments, case management work and psychoanalytically informed brief psychological interventions and consultations where indicated. The position provides an excellent opportunity for a child psychotherapist to consolidate training and/or post qualifying experience within a supportive and stimulating environment. Regular clinical supervision will be provided to enhance and maintain the Child Psychotherapist's core psychoanalytic skills. There are opportunities within the team and service for innovative work and we are keen to enable clinicians to develop job plans to encourage development of skills and interests. The Child Psychotherapy discipline promotes wider psychoanalytic thinking through a monthly psychoanalytic journal club, a monthly clinical forum and business meeting, termly trust-wide psychotherapy away days and an annual Oxleas Child Psychotherapy conference. We also encourage access to wider CPD opportunities as well as maintaining links with the ACP. All clinicians are encouraged and have opportunities to pursue further trainings to offer additional interventions such as EMDR, IPT and VIG to meet the needs of our clients. About us Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes. We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people. Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values: We're Kind We're We Listen We Care Date posted 06 February 2025 Pay scheme Agenda for change Band Band 7 Salary £51,883 to £58,544 a year pa inc Contract Permanent Working pattern Full-time Reference number 277-6991662-CYP Job locations Bexley CAMHS Erith & District Hospital, Park Crescent Erith DA8 3EE Job description Job responsibilities Key Task and Responsibilities To provide efficient, effective, comprehensive and highly specialist child and adolescent psychoanalytical psychotherapy assessment and treatment for adolescents with severe, highly complex and persistent mental health problems, their carers/parents and families. To provide highly specialist supervision and consultation for multi-disciplinary staff within Bromley CAMHS and to staff of related agencies (health, education, social care, voluntary sector, and youth criminal justice system.) To undertake clinical audit, research and evaluation and to contribute to the development of child psychotherapy as required. To work autonomously within the overall framework of CAMHS and trust policies and procedures. To participate in Directorate wide CPD programme for Child Psychotherapists and attend monthly Child Psychotherapy Directorate meetings. Clinical To provide highly specialist psychoanalytic psychotherapy assessment for adolescents with severe, highly complex and persistent mental health problems, who are at risk of requiring Tier 4 in-patient care and to make decisions about treatment options taking into account relevant evidence- based research, theory, practice and highly complex factors concerning historical and development processes which have shaped the child/adolescent, their parents/carers and family. To provide highly specialist brief, medium or long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy for adolescents with severe, complex and persistent mental health problems. Often these are young people who have not responded to other forms of specialist treatment and who, it is recognised, need a more intensive and in-depth therapy to reach their deep-rooted mental health difficulties. To provide in depth risk-assessments of young people who are a risk to themselves and/or others and to be able to formulate short-term crisis planning, (which may involve some outreach working), in order to provide support that will enable the young person to engage with on-going treatment at a later stage, supported by proactive team discussion and support as well as supervision. To provide, as required, highly specialist psychoanalytic psychotherapeutic assessment and treatment for adolescents and parents/carers who may be vulnerable and may have mental health problems. To contribute, as required, to the process of care planning for young people referred to the Adolescent Team and to manage a complex caseload as care coordinator working within a multi-disciplinary team which includes: psychiatry, psychology, child psychotherapy, nursing, family therapy, social work, and occupational therapy. To monitor clinical progress through regular reviews of psychotherapy treatment. To deliver, as required, highly specialist psychotherapeutic assessment and psychoanalytic psychotherapeutic treatment for families who are hard to engage and who may be highly dysfunctional with complex and persistent problems. To provide highly specialist assessment reports for Social Care and Court where appropriate. To participate and collaborate with other team members to provide specialist clinical services as required e.g. court assessments, parenting assessments, specialist emotional state and cognitive assessments, specialist group work and assessment of trauma and depression. To participate in regular CPA reviews and on-going discussion of cases in treatment with other members of the multi-disciplinary team and where appropriate, co-ordinate and organise network meetings with professionals from other agencies. To be able to engage and work with adolescents while drawing upon a range of theoretical and practical knowledge acquired over a significant period of time (.e.g. developments in psychoanalysis, child and adolescent development, attachment theory, neuro-biology, systems theory, adult psychopathology, mentalization-based theory and thinking.) To exercise autonomous professional responsibility based on the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics of the Association of Child Psychotherapists. Monitoring and Evaluation of Risk To be responsible for working within the appropriate Safeguarding, Deliberate Self Harm, Substance Misuse guidelines, for own cases and the provision of appropriate advice in supervision and consultation. This includes reporting to and liaising appropriately with the multi-disciplinary service and external agency staff (e.g. CAMHS colleagues, and those in education, adult mental health and primary health, hospital staff, the Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, the named Safeguarding worker, the Substance Misuse Nurse and Social Care staff). To be responsible for continually monitoring and evaluating risk to/from children and young people in own caseload and during supervision/consultation discussions, which may be due to Safeguarding concerns, Deliberate Self Harm or other risky behaviour (e.g. running away, substance misuse, causing harm to others and disturbance in very young children where parenting issues may constitute a risk to the young person.) Consultation To provide highly specialist advice, guidance and consultation to professional colleagues (within CAMHS and related external agencies, e.g. social workers, foster carers, educational staff, Youth Justice Service, the police, the courts and solicitors, and voluntary sector workers in the community) who work with adolescents with severe and complex mental health problems. To provide, as required, highly specialist advice, guidance and consultation to adults involved with those young people who are within the Social Care system, e.g. adoptive parents, foster carers, social workers. To contribute directly and indirectly to a specialist psychoanalytically informed understanding to the client group across all settings and including their parents/ carers and families. Research To undertake audits as appropriate within the Specialist CAMHS Service in accordance with clinical governance. To undertake research as appropriate within the service, Directorate and the discipline of Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. To utilise theory, literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other members of the service, Directorate and the Trust and the discipline of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. Communication To maintain effective communication with all partner agencies involved in a child/adolescents care, including, as required, Social Care. Job description Job responsibilities Key Task and Responsibilities To provide efficient, effective, comprehensive and highly specialist child and adolescent psychoanalytical psychotherapy assessment and treatment for adolescents with severe, highly complex and persistent mental health problems, their carers/parents and families. To provide highly specialist supervision and consultation for multi-disciplinary staff within Bromley CAMHS and to staff of related agencies (health, education, social care, voluntary sector, and youth criminal justice system.) To undertake clinical audit, research and evaluation and to contribute to the development of child psychotherapy as required. To work autonomously within the overall framework of CAMHS and trust policies and procedures. To participate in Directorate wide CPD programme for Child Psychotherapists and attend monthly Child Psychotherapy Directorate meetings. Clinical To provide highly specialist psychoanalytic psychotherapy assessment for adolescents with severe, highly complex and persistent mental health problems, who are at risk of requiring Tier 4 in-patient care and to make decisions about treatment options taking into account relevant evidence- based research, theory, practice and highly complex factors concerning historical and development processes which have shaped the child/adolescent, their parents/carers and family. To provide highly specialist brief, medium or long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy for adolescents with severe, complex and persistent mental health problems. Often these are young people who have not responded to other forms of specialist treatment and who, it is recognised, need a more intensive and in-depth therapy to reach their deep-rooted mental health difficulties. To provide in depth risk-assessments of young people who are a risk to themselves and/or others and to be able to formulate short-term crisis planning, (which may involve some outreach working), in order to provide support that will enable the young person to engage with on-going treatment at a later stage, supported by proactive team discussion and support as well as supervision. To provide, as required, highly specialist psychoanalytic psychotherapeutic assessment and treatment for adolescents and parents/carers who may be vulnerable and may have mental health problems. To contribute, as required, to the process of care planning for young people referred to the Adolescent Team and to manage a complex caseload as care coordinator working within a multi-disciplinary team which includes: psychiatry, psychology, child psychotherapy, nursing, family therapy, social work, and occupational therapy. To monitor clinical progress through regular reviews of psychotherapy treatment. To deliver, as required, highly specialist psychotherapeutic assessment and psychoanalytic psychotherapeutic treatment for families who are hard to engage and who may be highly dysfunctional with complex and persistent problems. To provide highly specialist assessment reports for Social Care and Court where appropriate. To participate and collaborate with other team members to provide specialist clinical services as required e.g. court assessments, parenting assessments, specialist emotional state and cognitive assessments, specialist group work and assessment of trauma and depression. To participate in regular CPA reviews and on-going discussion of cases in treatment with other members of the multi-disciplinary team and where appropriate, co-ordinate and organise network meetings with professionals from other agencies. To be able to engage and work with adolescents while drawing upon a range of theoretical and practical knowledge acquired over a significant period of time (.e.g. developments in psychoanalysis, child and adolescent development, attachment theory, neuro-biology, systems theory, adult psychopathology, mentalization-based theory and thinking.) To exercise autonomous professional responsibility based on the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics of the Association of Child Psychotherapists. Monitoring and Evaluation of Risk To be responsible for working within the appropriate Safeguarding, Deliberate Self Harm, Substance Misuse guidelines, for own cases and the provision of appropriate advice in supervision and consultation. This includes reporting to and liaising appropriately with the multi-disciplinary service and external agency staff (e.g. CAMHS colleagues, and those in education, adult mental health and primary health, hospital staff, the Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, the named Safeguarding worker, the Substance Misuse Nurse and Social Care staff). To be responsible for continually monitoring and evaluating risk to/from children and young people in own caseload and during supervision/consultation discussions, which may be due to Safeguarding concerns, Deliberate Self Harm or other risky behaviour (e.g. running away, substance misuse, causing harm to others and disturbance in very young children where parenting issues may constitute a risk to the young person.) Consultation To provide highly specialist advice, guidance and consultation to professional colleagues (within CAMHS and related external agencies, e.g. social workers, foster carers, educational staff, Youth Justice Service, the police, the courts and solicitors, and voluntary sector workers in the community) who work with adolescents with severe and complex mental health problems. To provide, as required, highly specialist advice, guidance and consultation to adults involved with those young people who are within the Social Care system, e.g. adoptive parents, foster carers, social workers. To contribute directly and indirectly to a specialist psychoanalytically informed understanding to the client group across all settings and including their parents/ carers and families. Research To undertake audits as appropriate within the Specialist CAMHS Service in accordance with clinical governance. To undertake research as appropriate within the service, Directorate and the discipline of Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. To utilise theory, literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other members of the service, Directorate and the Trust and the discipline of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. Communication To maintain effective communication with all partner agencies involved in a child/adolescents care, including, as required, Social Care. Person Specification Qualifications Essential Full member of Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) or trainee due to qualify and register in 2023 Relevant honours degree or recognised equivalent Doctorate Level ACP accredited training in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy or trainee due to qualify and register in 2023 Desirable Other related professional qualifications Experience Essential Experience of relevant patient groups presenting high levels of complexity and difficulty Desirable Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency, multicultural context Experience of working with families, including foster and adoptive families, parents, carers and networks Experience of consulting to other professionals in relation to the emotional needs of children and adolescents Skills, Abilities and Knowledge Essential Good knowledge of relevant theories, practices and research in the field of child and adolescent development and psychotherapy Desirable Working knowledge of adult mental health difficulties Evidence of continuous professional development Person Specification Qualifications Essential Full member of Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) or trainee due to qualify and register in 2023 Relevant honours degree or recognised equivalent Doctorate Level ACP accredited training in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy or trainee due to qualify and register in 2023 Desirable Other related professional qualifications Experience Essential Experience of relevant patient groups presenting high levels of complexity and difficulty Desirable Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency, multicultural context Experience of working with families, including foster and adoptive families, parents, carers and networks Experience of consulting to other professionals in relation to the emotional needs of children and adolescents Skills, Abilities and Knowledge Essential Good knowledge of relevant theories, practices and research in the field of child and adolescent development and psychotherapy Desirable Working knowledge of adult mental health difficulties Evidence of continuous professional development 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. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab). UK Registration Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window). Additional information 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. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab). UK Registration Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window). Employer details Employer name Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust Address Bexley CAMHS Erith & District Hospital, Park Crescent Erith DA8 3EE Employer's website http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)