Job Summary
We are looking to recruit an enthusiastic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist who has ACP registration to work in this supportive multi-disciplinary Specialist CAMHS team based in South Hertfordshire.
We are open to receiving applications from candidates who are currently completing their final year of training with relevant experience.
We are looking for someone who is passionate about delivering psychotherapy intervention to young people and will work alongside a senior psychotherapist, as well as the wider multi discipline team. You will be supported to consolidate your training and be given a firm foundation to enable you to establish yourself within your professional role.
HPFT CAMHS service is leading in transforming care for young people and their families and now has a CAMHS Home Treatment Team, a CAMHS DBT Service, and has a dedicated CAMHS Section 136 Suite. We also host our own Tier 4 Inpatient Unit for young people, Forest House Adolescent Unit, which has worked to reduce inpatient admissions and improve community care for young people in crisis.
Main duties of the job
As the C&A Psychotherapist you will be expected to:
- Undertake a range of roles providing assessment and therapeutic intervention to children, young people and their families who present with moderate to severe mental health difficulties.
- You will be given allocated time for a psychotherapy specific caseload as well as offering core work. The specific work will include psychotherapy cases, parent work and where appropriate state of mind assessments.
- Work within the context of CAPA, Thrive and CYP-IAPT and work closely with a range of colleagues in social care, schools and other partner
Person Specification
Knowledge/Training/Experience
Essential
- Relevant professional registration as per person spec
- Evidence of CPD
- registered with the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP)
Desirable
- Specialist training in an appropriate area and knowledge of CAPA and CYP-IAPT
Experience and Knowledge
Essential
- Post qualification experience in a CAMHS team or related area, or several years’ experience prior to qualification, with experience of working with moderate to severe mental health problems and knowledge of a range of clinical interventions with children/adolescents and their carers/families.
- Experience of multi-disciplinary team working, and inter-agency collaboration and some knowledge of social care services and legislation
- Knowledge of child development, child and adolescent mental health and an understanding of a range of theoretical approaches
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
- Abilities to provide consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
- Good general knowledge of the literature and research concerning mental health interventions with children, particularly the clinical effectiveness of such interventions
- Knowledge of Child Protection Procedures
Desirable
- Experience of service quality monitoring e.g. clinical audit, evaluative research, etc
Communication Skills
Essential
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Ability to communicate orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/ or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
- Ability to work therapeutically with young people and their families
- Ability to work as a fully participating member of a multi-disciplinary team and the ability to respect and value other members contributions
- Positive problem solving approach
Physical Skills
Essential
- Car driver (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 which prevents you from driving)
- IT skills; include use of Microsoft Office and Outlook
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.
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).
Closing Date: 21 December 2025
