Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

CAMHS Specialist Psychologist (Clinical/ Counselling)

The closing date is 08 February 2026

Job summary

The role includes the following: providing a qualified clinical psychology (or equivalent) service for children, young people and their families up to 18 years old; providing specialist psychological assessment and therapy; undertaking goal-based case management; contributing to supervision of assistant psychologists, trainees and other professionals; and offering advice and consultation on clients' psychological care to non-psychologist colleagues within and outside the organisation.

The Generic Team is a highly experienced multidisciplinary team comprised of psychiatry, family therapy, art therapy, psychotherapy, nursing, social work, children's wellbeing practitioners, and psychology at various levels of seniority. The service is in the process of an exciting re-design and development to align with the Thrive framework.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will hold a key role as a psychologist within a strong, friendly psychology discipline, and working within an MDT. There are opportunities for supervision of Trainee Clinical Psychologists and Assistant Psychologists as well as providing consultation to multi-disciplinary colleagues. There are opportunities for service development and quality improvement work, as well as the development of leadership skills.

The post holder will provide evidence based specialist psychological assessment, formulation and therapeutic interventions for young people and families accessing the service.

The service is underpinned by CYP IAPT principles and the successful candidate will support and assist the core aims of this in the service. This can involve exciting and creative participation work, training opportunities and service development.

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 Fair
  • We Listen
  • We Care

Details

Date posted

09 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£53,751 to £60,651 a year Yearly

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

277-7720271-CYP

Job locations

Greenwich CAMHS Highpoint House

Shooters Hill

London

SE18 3RZ


Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical:

  • To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to CAMHS based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
  • To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
  • To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, both as an autonomous individual clinician and in synthesis with colleagues in MDT, while adjusting and refining psychological formulations by drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
  • To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options by taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
  • To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically-based care plans.
  • To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
  • To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically-based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies.
  • To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients, including as a duty clinician covering crisis presentations at A&E. To provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical:

  • To provide specialist psychological assessments of clients referred to CAMHS based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the clients care.
  • To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a clients mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the clients problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy, across the full range of care settings.
  • To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, both as an autonomous individual clinician and in synthesis with colleagues in MDT, while adjusting and refining psychological formulations by drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses.
  • To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options by taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual, family or group.
  • To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically-based care plans.
  • To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
  • To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically-based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies.
  • To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients, including as a duty clinician covering crisis presentations at A&E. To provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management.

Person Specification

Training & Qualification

Essential

  • Doctorate and relevant UK registration

Desirable

  • Other relevant qualification(e.g MSC, Post Grad diploma)
  • Training in specialist therapy relevant to the post

Training in supervision

Essential

  • Experience of working with children and young people in NHS settings

Desirable

  • Experience of delivering teaching/training

Knowledge and skills

Essential

  • Appropriate skills and knowledge of risk assessment/management in the client group
  • Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management

Desirable

  • Demonstrates knowledge of how to apply research and audit specific to the post
Person Specification

Training & Qualification

Essential

  • Doctorate and relevant UK registration

Desirable

  • Other relevant qualification(e.g MSC, Post Grad diploma)
  • Training in specialist therapy relevant to the post

Training in supervision

Essential

  • Experience of working with children and young people in NHS settings

Desirable

  • Experience of delivering teaching/training

Knowledge and skills

Essential

  • Appropriate skills and knowledge of risk assessment/management in the client group
  • Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management

Desirable

  • Demonstrates knowledge of how to apply research and audit specific to the post

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

Greenwich CAMHS Highpoint House

Shooters Hill

London

SE18 3RZ


Employer's website

http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Greenwich CAMHS Highpoint House

Shooters Hill

London

SE18 3RZ


Employer's website

http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Principal Clinical Psychologist

Melissa Aitken

melissa.aitken@nhs.net

02032605211

Details

Date posted

09 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£53,751 to £60,651 a year Yearly

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

277-7720271-CYP

Job locations

Greenwich CAMHS Highpoint House

Shooters Hill

London

SE18 3RZ


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)