South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

The closing date is 07 September 2025

Job summary

This is an exciting new post offering opportunities for an experienced b7 psychologist or a newly qualified psychologist to work across the whole of Croydon CAMHS and obtain exceptionally varied experience of front line referral services, assessment and intervention work with children presenting with a range of complex mental health difficulties and supervision of Assistant psychologists. The post is split between the Croydon Single Point of Contact team (SPOC) which oversees all incoming referrals to CAMHS - and the specialist treatment team.The post-holder will undertake initial psychosocial assessments, risk assessments and contingent planning for children and young people referred to the Croydon CAMHS and support a team of assistant psychologists undertaking initial assessments of children and adolescents referred for Autism diagnostic assessments, to reach decisions on assessment pathways.

The CAMHS specialist treatment team, offer assessments and interventions to children and young people with moderate to severe mental health problems and the post holder will hold a case load within that team, offering specialist interventions including CBT.

Main duties of the job

Supporting the work of SPOC:

1- processing new referrals on behalf of the teams in Croydon CAMHS.

2- Making and supporting others to make meaningful clinical contacts with children, young people, and their families. This contact may include initial psychosocial assessments, supporting decision making in relation to pathways for further assessments and interventions and offering brief psychoeducational interventions. In some cases it will involve redirecting the referrals to appropriate services outside of CAMHS.

3- liaising with referrers ( GPs , schools, social workers, A&Es, etc)

4- working with the MDT in the identification of the right care pathways for the children and young people referred.

5- participating in clinical decision meetings.

6- participating in their own supervision and supervising junior staff.

7- liaising with other agencies as appropriate.

Supporting the Treatment team:

  1. Providing assessments and evidence based interventions for children and young people with moderate to severe mental health problems.
  2. As required to provide specialist neuropsychological/cognitive assessments.
  3. Offering a Psychology perspective within the multidisciplinary team
  4. Supporting Assistant psychologists in the treatment team and where appropriate supervising a Clinical Psychologist in training.
  5. Contributing to all aspects of the MDT working, including participation in audits and service related projects.

About us

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It's important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer

Some of our benefits are highlighted here:

  • Generous pay, pensions and leave,we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
  • Work life balance,flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
  • Career development,There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
  • Car lease,our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
  • Accommodation,our staff benefits from keyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
  • NHS discounts,with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.Other benefits include:
  • Counselling services
  • Wellbeing events
  • Long service awards
  • Cycle to work scheme
  • Season ticket loan
  • Childcare vouchers
  • Staff restaurants

Details

Date posted

26 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£53,751 to £60,651 a year per annum inclusive of Outer HCAs

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

334-CLI-7362658

Job locations

Christopher Wren House

113 High Street

Croydon

CR0 1QG


Job description

Job responsibilities

Conducting initial psychosocial assessments , risk assessments and agreeing contingent plans with children and young people

Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care

Taking responsibility for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment

A good understanding and some experience of the following: Group, individual and family work, multi-disciplinary work, clinical governance and audit and the process of clinical supervision in CAMHS

A good working knowledge of the following: Mental health disorders in children and adolescents

Difficulties common to Looked After Children e.g. attachment difficulties

Key legislation relevant to CAMHS setting: The Children Act 1989, 2004 .All applicants will require a professional training and relevant CAMHS experience in combination with professional registration with one of the following statutory bodies: the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) , Health Professional's Council (HPC), Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)ental Health Act 1983, Human Rights Act 1998 and Mental Capacity Act 2005

Job description

Job responsibilities

Conducting initial psychosocial assessments , risk assessments and agreeing contingent plans with children and young people

Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care

Taking responsibility for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment

A good understanding and some experience of the following: Group, individual and family work, multi-disciplinary work, clinical governance and audit and the process of clinical supervision in CAMHS

A good working knowledge of the following: Mental health disorders in children and adolescents

Difficulties common to Looked After Children e.g. attachment difficulties

Key legislation relevant to CAMHS setting: The Children Act 1989, 2004 .All applicants will require a professional training and relevant CAMHS experience in combination with professional registration with one of the following statutory bodies: the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) , Health Professional's Council (HPC), Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)ental Health Act 1983, Human Rights Act 1998 and Mental Capacity Act 2005

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • oEntry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration. Applications from those expecting to qualify in 2025 will be considered. (A/I)

Experience

Essential

  • experience of working in a Community CAMHS service as a practitioner or trainee.
  • Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care
  • Taking responsibility in collaboration with supervisor for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment
  • Experience of undertaking neuropscyhological/cognitive assessment

Desirable

  • Experience of working as a case manager in child and adolescent mental health sector
  • Evidence of good practice in child and adolescent mental health assessments, assessments of behaviour and performance, family functioning
  • Working with families in a multi-racial urban environment

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to work under pressure
  • Ability to be 'reflective' in therapeutic practice and adapt practice from this reflection
  • Demonstrate an ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team
  • Good written and verbal presentation skills

Desirable

  • Skill in using a specific therapy in practice

Knowledge

Essential

  • A good working knowledge of Mental health disorders in children and adolescents
  • A good working knowldege of key legislation relevant to CAMHS setting
  • Assessment of risk and management of risk factors
  • The principles underlying confidentiality and information sharing
  • The principles of clinical governance and practice

Desirable

  • Relevant research and its application to assessment, treatment and case management of CAMH disorders
  • Research informed and evidence based methods of assessment, treatment and case management
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • oEntry-level qualification in Applied Psychology (professional Doctorate, or combination of MSc plus PG Diploma level additional training) that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration. Applications from those expecting to qualify in 2025 will be considered. (A/I)

Experience

Essential

  • experience of working in a Community CAMHS service as a practitioner or trainee.
  • Working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care
  • Taking responsibility in collaboration with supervisor for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment
  • Experience of undertaking neuropscyhological/cognitive assessment

Desirable

  • Experience of working as a case manager in child and adolescent mental health sector
  • Evidence of good practice in child and adolescent mental health assessments, assessments of behaviour and performance, family functioning
  • Working with families in a multi-racial urban environment

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to work under pressure
  • Ability to be 'reflective' in therapeutic practice and adapt practice from this reflection
  • Demonstrate an ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team
  • Good written and verbal presentation skills

Desirable

  • Skill in using a specific therapy in practice

Knowledge

Essential

  • A good working knowledge of Mental health disorders in children and adolescents
  • A good working knowldege of key legislation relevant to CAMHS setting
  • Assessment of risk and management of risk factors
  • The principles underlying confidentiality and information sharing
  • The principles of clinical governance and practice

Desirable

  • Relevant research and its application to assessment, treatment and case management of CAMH disorders
  • Research informed and evidence based methods of assessment, treatment and case management

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

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Christopher Wren House

113 High Street

Croydon

CR0 1QG


Employer's website

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


Employer details

Employer name

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Christopher Wren House

113 High Street

Croydon

CR0 1QG


Employer's website

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


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Sue Goode

sue.goode@slam.nhs.uk

02032280000

Details

Date posted

26 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£53,751 to £60,651 a year per annum inclusive of Outer HCAs

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

334-CLI-7362658

Job locations

Christopher Wren House

113 High Street

Croydon

CR0 1QG


Supporting documents

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