Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 12 May 2025

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to join the HPFT CAMHS South and shape service delivery.

You will be based in a multi-disciplinary community CAMHS covering the South quadrant of Hertfordshire. There are two main sites, one in Watford and one in Borehamwood. CAMHS South is a welcoming and developing team that prides itself on providing excellent evidence-based interventions.You will have the opportunity to work alongside side other systemic psychotherapists, child psychotherapists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and psychiatry.

You will have HCPC registration and provide a highly specialist child and adolescent service within the context of the principles of CAPA (The Choice and Partnership Approach) and CYP-IAPT, providing both Core work and Specific/Specialist work including contributing to provision of a specific model of evidence-based therapeutic intervention across the CAMHS South clinics.

You will also have strong links with professional colleagues in the wider CAMHS. In addition to the inpatient unit, our CAMHS includes a Tier 4 Home Treatment Team, four community clinic Tier 3 teams, a Targeted Team for looked after children, a specialist Eating Disorder Team, a Crisis Team and a DBT team.

Main duties of the job

To be responsible for a caseload of complex assessment, treatment andconsultation work with children, adolescents and their families, withproblems of behavioural, emotional, psychological or mental health issues, providing Core work (as defined by CAPA) and in addition contributing to Specific/Specialist work (as defined by CAPA) as agreed with Community CAMHS Managers and Professional leads.

To operate as a member of the multidisciplinary team providing child andadolescent mental health services for the quadrant, in line with theprinciples and practice of CYP-IAPT.

To work in ways which are sensitive to and appropriate for the needs offamilies from a wide range of racial, cultural and religious backgrounds.

About us

Hertfordshire NHS Partnership Trust are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from theCare Quality Commission

Our family of over 4,000 members of staff provide health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. Everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:

Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.

Date posted

28 April 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£53,755 to £60,504 a year per annum, pro rata (Inclusive of 5% HCAs)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

367-CYP-8649-F

Job locations

Peace Children's Centre

Peace Prospect

Watford

WD17 3EW


Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical Responsibility

  • To assess, plan and implement programmes of care for individualchildren and young people, carers and families with complexbehavioural, emotional, psychological or mental health issues.
  • To undertake risk assessment and risk management for all childrenand adolescents, including the protective and risk factors in thenetwork of significant relationships.
  • To be responsible for a defined caseload selecting and usingappropriate interventions to meet care plan objectives and goalsprivileging core skills as appropriate.
  • To develop, implement and manage specialised interventions withinthe child/young persons context, employing evidence based practice.
  • To evaluate and adjust practices based on feedback.
  • To act as care coordinator, where appropriate, ensuring provision of a care plan, taking responsibility for initiating, planning and review of the clients care, ensuring the work of others involved and communicating effectively with the child/ the carer/ professional as appropriate, monitoring the progress of multi-disciplinary interventions.
  • To carry out assessments and interventions jointly with co-workersfrom the multi-disciplinary team as appropriate.
  • To contribute and develop skills in Clinical Governance.
  • To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and localpolicies and issues in relation to both the specific client group andmental health

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical Responsibility

  • To assess, plan and implement programmes of care for individualchildren and young people, carers and families with complexbehavioural, emotional, psychological or mental health issues.
  • To undertake risk assessment and risk management for all childrenand adolescents, including the protective and risk factors in thenetwork of significant relationships.
  • To be responsible for a defined caseload selecting and usingappropriate interventions to meet care plan objectives and goalsprivileging core skills as appropriate.
  • To develop, implement and manage specialised interventions withinthe child/young persons context, employing evidence based practice.
  • To evaluate and adjust practices based on feedback.
  • To act as care coordinator, where appropriate, ensuring provision of a care plan, taking responsibility for initiating, planning and review of the clients care, ensuring the work of others involved and communicating effectively with the child/ the carer/ professional as appropriate, monitoring the progress of multi-disciplinary interventions.
  • To carry out assessments and interventions jointly with co-workersfrom the multi-disciplinary team as appropriate.
  • To contribute and develop skills in Clinical Governance.
  • To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and localpolicies and issues in relation to both the specific client group andmental health

Person Specification

Knowledge/Training/Experience

Essential

  • Relevant training and professional registration as per person spec
  • Post -doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice including CBT
  • Post registration experience of specialist psychological assessmentand treatment with clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature

Desirable

  • Specialist training in an appropriate area and knowledge of CAPA and CYP-IAPT
  • Experience in neuropsychological assessment training in supervision of clinical/counselling psychologists

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

  • Assessed experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of children/adolescents with a wide range of presentations of varying severity. This would usually include at least 2 years post qualification experience, or other evidenced experience.
  • Experience of working with moderate to severe mental health problems with a wide range of client groups across the whole life course with presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity includingmaintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
  • Demonstrate further specialist clinical experience and training within Child and Adolescent Mental Health, through a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a clinical / counseling psychologist over a minimum of 18 months, or an agreed alternative
  • 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
  • Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for client's psychological care and treatment both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan
  • Good presentation and teaching skills and ability to use multi -media materials for formal presentations tolarge groups
  • Experience of working within a multi -cultural framework

Desirable

  • Experience of service quality monitoring e.g. clinical audit, evaluative research, etc
  • Experience of having published in either peer reviewed academic or professional journals and/or books

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
Person Specification

Knowledge/Training/Experience

Essential

  • Relevant training and professional registration as per person spec
  • Post -doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice including CBT
  • Post registration experience of specialist psychological assessmentand treatment with clients with a range of psychological needs of a complex nature

Desirable

  • Specialist training in an appropriate area and knowledge of CAPA and CYP-IAPT
  • Experience in neuropsychological assessment training in supervision of clinical/counselling psychologists

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

  • Assessed experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of children/adolescents with a wide range of presentations of varying severity. This would usually include at least 2 years post qualification experience, or other evidenced experience.
  • Experience of working with moderate to severe mental health problems with a wide range of client groups across the whole life course with presenting problems that reflect the full range of clinical severity includingmaintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
  • Demonstrate further specialist clinical experience and training within Child and Adolescent Mental Health, through a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a clinical / counseling psychologist over a minimum of 18 months, or an agreed alternative
  • 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
  • Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for client's psychological care and treatment both as a professionally qualified care coordinator and also within the context of a multidisciplinary care plan
  • Good presentation and teaching skills and ability to use multi -media materials for formal presentations tolarge groups
  • Experience of working within a multi -cultural framework

Desirable

  • Experience of service quality monitoring e.g. clinical audit, evaluative research, etc
  • Experience of having published in either peer reviewed academic or professional journals and/or books

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.

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

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Peace Children's Centre

Peace Prospect

Watford

WD17 3EW


Employer's website

https://www.hpft.nhs.uk/careers/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Peace Children's Centre

Peace Prospect

Watford

WD17 3EW


Employer's website

https://www.hpft.nhs.uk/careers/ (Opens in a new tab)


For questions about the job, contact:

CAMHS Community Manager

Zoe Renner

zoe.renner@nhs.net

Date posted

28 April 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£53,755 to £60,504 a year per annum, pro rata (Inclusive of 5% HCAs)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

367-CYP-8649-F

Job locations

Peace Children's Centre

Peace Prospect

Watford

WD17 3EW


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

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