Job overview
The N&S CAMHS Adolescent At-risk & Forensic Service (AAFS) is a national and specialist service within the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. AAFS are delighted to be recruiting a 1 WTE Band 7 Specialist Practitioner Psychologist to join our team on a 9-month fixed term basis.
This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a responsive, specialist service for young people and families who present with high risk alongside complex mental health needs and neurodiversity. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to consolidate skills in formulation, intervention, and risk management within a skilled and supportive clinical team.
Main duties of the job
The post holders will provide a specialist clinical service to the Adolescent At-risk & Forensic Service, National and Specialist CAMHS. Main duties include:
• Highly specialist assessments of young people with complex mental health needs, high-risk behaviours (e.g., self-harm, aggression, sexual offending) and/ or risk of exploitation (sexual and criminal). Assessments include structured risk and neuropsychological assessments.
• To provide direct and indirect evidence-based psychological interventions for young people, their families and the systems around them.
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
• To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.
• To undertake service evaluation, audit and research.
• To work as an autonomous professional within professional guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by the policies and procedures of the service.
Working for our organisation
About our locations:
Michael Rutter Centre, Maudsley Hospital
We are located off Denmark Hill on DeCrespigny Park which less than 5 minutes from the train station (zone 2) and is within walking distance from the beautiful green spaces of Ruskin Park and the vibrant high-street that offers great shopping opportunities and with a wide range of restaurants.
We will be relocating to our new building, the Pears Maudsley Centre, in the summer of 2026. It is situated on the Maudsley site, conveniently located near the train station.
Flexible working:
As one of the few Trusts in London we are proud to offer flexible working as part of our new ways of working, and we are happy to talk flexible working at the interview stage. In this role you will be able to work Monday to Friday in the time frames from 09:00 to 17:00. (This may include working early mornings or late evenings and some Saturdays as part of the core working hours/working pattern for this post)
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holders will provide a specialist clinical service to the Adolescent At-risk & Forensic Service, National and Specialist CAMHS. We are a friendly and supportive team committed to professional and personal development. We are committed to addressing inequality in access, experience and outcomes for children and staff from diverse backgrounds and take an anti-racist approach. Our team is made up of clinical psychologists, a forensic psychologist, a social worker, clinical psychology trainees, MSc placement students, and assistant psychologists. We are actively involved in research and have close links with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, Doctoral Training Programme in Clinical Psychology. We recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce and the positive impact this has on our staff and our service users. We welcome and actively encourage applications from those with lived experiences of mental health and care services and from black and minority groups.
Main duties include:
• Highly specialist assessments of young people with complex mental health needs, high-risk behaviours (e.g., self-harm, aggression, sexual offending) and/ or risk of exploitation (e.g., sexual and criminal). Assessments include structured risk and neuropsychological assessments.
• To provide direct and indirect evidence-based psychological interventions for young people, their families and the systems around them.
• To contribute to enabling other staff, service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment.
• To provide clinical supervision and consultation as appropriate.
• To undertake service evaluation, audit and research.
• To work as an autonomous professional within professional guidelines and codes of conduct and guided by the policies and procedures of the service.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. Professional Doctorate or combined MSc plus diploma that has been accepted by the HCPC for purposes of professional registration as a Clinical or Forensic psychologist. (A/I)
2. Additional training beyond entry level qualifications in a specialised area of psychological practice (CBT/ DBT). This could be a diploma or short course. (A/I)
Desirable criteria
3. Post qualification training and experience in clinical and forensic risk assessment and management (e.g., AIM-3, SAVRY)
Experience
Essential criteria
4. Experience of assessment and treatment of clients with a range of complex needs and risk behaviours(A/I)
5. Experience working with adolescent offending or young people at risk of harm / exploitation(A/I)
Desirable criteria
6. Experience using DBT/AIM/systemic approaches (A/I)
Understanding and Knowledge
Essential criteria
7. Theoretical knowledge relevant to work with young people who display, or who are at risk of, youth violence, fire-setting, harmful sexual behaviour, exploitation and the evidence base for relevant treatment approaches (A/I)
8. Knowledge of mental health and CAMHS assessment including clinical psychometrics. (A/I)
9. Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care. (A/I)
Skills
Essential criteria
10. To deliver therapy across cultural and other differences. (A/I)
11. To be skilled in the use of risk assessment measures, risk formulation (including wider context and complexity) and management (A/I)
12. To deliver a range of evidence-based interventions with child, parent/ carer and systems in at least one model of psychological therapy (i.e. CBT, DBT) (A/I)
Skills
Essential criteria
13. To deliver therapy across cultural and other differences. (A/I)
14. To be skilled in the use of risk assessment measures, risk formulation (including wider context and complexity) and management (A/I)
15. To deliver a range of evidence-based interventions with child, parent/ carer and systems in at least one model of psychological therapy (i.e. CBT, DBT) (A/I)
Abilities
Essential criteria
16. Ability to work effectively within a team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles. (A/I)
17. Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, or with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour. (A/I)