CAMHS Senior Clinical / Counselling Psychologist

at  NELFT NHS Foundation Trust

We are very excited to share that our Waltham Forest Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (WF CAMHS) has an opportunity for an existing or aspiring Band 8a Senior Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join our large and established team.

The post holder will work across the following parts of our service:

• Our Neurodevelopmental Pathway : providing assessment and formulation of autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (for 0.6WTE / 3 days)
• Our Emotional Difficulties Pathway : providing assessment, formulation, and interventions for children and young people with a range of moderate to severe mental health difficulties (e.g. anxiety, low mood/depression, OCD, trauma) and/or their networks (for 0.3WTE / 1.5 days)

We welcome pre-application conversations. Working from home is possible on days that do not require face-to-face contacts (many colleagues work in a hybrid way). We may also consider working compressed hours.
You will be part of a large, supportive multi-disciplinary CAMHS team that has significant psychology presence. Our friendly Psychology & Allied Professions meet face-to-face once a week and include 10 clinical and counselling psychologists, 3 CBT therapists, trainee psychologists, 3 assistant psychologists, and a PBS practitioner. The Emotional Difficulties and Neurodevelopmental Pathway MDTs also each meet twice per week (combination of virtual and in-person).
As senior psychologist you would work closely with the Lead Psychologist and be supported to lead coordination within an area of psychology, which could include e.g. our Cognitive Assessment clinic, CYP IAPT/BABCP accreditation liaison, trainee course liaison.
As a senior clinician you will hold a caseload of children and families with complex needs, including supporting children who may be on the edge of inpatient admission. You will have a commitment to collaborative working and actively supporting and liaising with other health, education, and social care professionals in line with a trauma-informed, evidence-based, and inclusive model of practice within the service. You will be passionate about ensuring the child’s voice is central to the work we do and work in partnership with families/carers and other agencies to achieve the best possible outcomes for the child. You will actively contribute to our MDT and professional meetings and appropriately support others in doing so, especially those whose voices may generally be less heard. You will supervise and line manage Band 7 Psychologists and other junior members of the team, and provide consultation to the wider service. You will promote co-production with those with lived experience and contribute to service development.
We pride ourselves on a compassionate, trauma-informed, evidence-based, and inclusive approach that puts both staff wellbeing and CYP at its centre. This is a great time to join NELFT, as we have had significant investment in senior leadership of psychological professions across the Trust and expect ongoing commitment to developing and retaining high quality staff through CPD, supervision and an annual psychological professions conference. The Trust also has various committees as part of our commitment to promoting equality and diversity (e.g. LGBTQ+, EDI, and disability, amongst others), which frequently provide free training and regular meetings. As part of our trauma-informed approach, we strongly encourage good work/life balance, compassionate and approachable leadership, and collaborative team decision-making whenever possible.
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
High-Cost Area Supplement
This post attracts payment for High-Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,313 and a maximum payment of £5,436 per annum pro rata).
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer closely to this when completing your application.
We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Any development needs to help you succeed in the role, can be discussed at the interview stage

Please refer the Job description for details