We are very excited to share that our Waltham Forest Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (WF CAMHS) has an opportunity for an experienced Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join our large and established team.
You would provide clinical and operational leadership to the Emotional Difficulties Pathway (EDP) as HCPC-registered Practitioner Psychologist (Band 8b Principal Clinical / Counselling Psychologist). The pathway provides 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. It is currently made up of around 40 multi-disciplinary professionals, including psychology & allied professionals, family therapy, psychotherapy, nursing, and medics. You would work closely with the Consultant Psychiatrist for the pathway, and would be supported operationally by the Head of Service and clinically supervised by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist.
You would be part of the Senior Waltham Forest CAMHS Management Team, including 8 other Pathway Leads and 4 Consultant Psychiatrists. You would chair weekly MDT EDP team meetings as well as contribute to regular senior management meetings, cross-borough London CAMHS Leads meetings, and Waltham Forest Professions Leads meetings. You would lead the coordination, auditing, and development of the EDP, including referral processes, allocation of work, case flow, waitlist management, and evaluation of interventions provided across different disciplines. You would oversee and report on pathway targets and may also need to respond to incidents, complaints, and GDPR requests. You would proactively and compassionately champion initiatives and change to improve standards, in line with the wider London CAMHS transformation vision. You would 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.
Starting with Us
NELFT places great importance on new starters being properly welcomed into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks, including mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process, new starters will also have the opportunity to meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend several 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 also attracts payment for High-Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,714 and a maximum payment of £5,941) (pro rata for part time staff).
Use of AI
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Waltham Forest CAMHS has a vibrant group of Psychologists & Allied Professionals who are valued by the wider team and who meet face-to-face once a week. The group includes just under 20 clinical and counselling psychologists, CBT therapists and trainees, trainee psychologists, assistant psychologist, and a PBS practitioner.
You would directly clinically supervise and line manage more junior staff members. You would be expected to offer extensive expert consultation across the service and through inter-agency network meetings. You may also undertake highly specialist assessments to contribute to the clinical leadership and oversight for mental health assessments and interventions and to formulate areas of strengths and needs based on good practice and evidence. You may hold a very small caseload of young people and assess and work with complex risk and other safeguarding concerns. You would coordinate the allocation of 1:1 therapeutic work, the running of groups, and completion of cognitive assessments, including the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), and Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS).
We pride ourselves on having a compassionate, trauma-informed, evidence-based, and inclusive approach that puts both staff wellbeing and children and young people at its centre. NELFT has had significant investment in senior leadership of psychological professions across the Trust and expects 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.
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