Job overview
• We are seeking two motivated and skilled Peer Supporters to join the Parenting Well with Psychosis Project (PWP), a 3-year partnership funded by the Maudsley Charity as part of their Living Well with Psychosis Programme. This is a new exciting opportunity to make a difference and shape future service delivery.
• One role is 30 hours (0.8wte) and one is 22.5hours (0.6wte)
• The PWP project aims to bridge the gap between CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and Adult Mental Health services by bringing together the Helping Families Team and SLAM’s Early Intervention Psychosis teams across Croydon, Lewisham, Lambeth, and Southwark, with the goal of providing integrated care and support for parents with first episode psychosis.
• Partnership working between Peer Supporters, lived experience networks, service users and clinicians in project development, delivery and evaluation
• Supporting the coordination and delivery of evidence-based parenting interventions for parents with mental illness.
• Delivery of co-developed professional training in “Think Family” principles, focusing on the needs of children and young people impacted by parental mental illness
• Coordinate and deliver specialist parenting group intervention called Being a Parent-Enjoying Family Life.
• You will be a compassionate and motivating team member.
• You will contribute to the project evaluation, service development, intervention development and research
Main duties of the job
· You will use your interpersonal skills and qualities to support and guide parents who are receiving care from Early Intervention services.
· You will work alongside parents to encourage them to think about and prioritise their own needs as a parent alongside that of their families.
· You will provide practical support and emotional encouragement to families to access meaningful activities in their homes and communities to help create supportive, sustainable networks to help them work towards achieving sustainable, long-term recovery.
· You are invited to use your own experience of being a parent, who has experienced mental health difficulties, to help the parents feel understood, to help give them a sense of hope, and encourage them to see change is possible. You will be supported to reflect on how best to share your own lived-experience to ensure you feel safe and confident at work.
· You will work alongside the Steering group to help strengthen the membership and mission of the project.
· Contribute to creating culturally-sensitive frameworks to ensure Black and other communities are invited to contribute meaningfully to the project.
· Contribution to service evaluation, audit and research
· Contribution to reporting to Maudsley Charity and Stakeholders.
Working for our organisation
About our locations: Maudsley Hospital (headquarters)
Helping Families Team are based in the Michael Rutter Centre on the Maudsley Hospital site. Our Trust headquarters is located at Denmark Hill less than 5 minutes from the train station (zone 2) and is within walking distance from the beautiful green spaces of RuskinPark and the vibrant high-street that offers great shopping opportunities and with a wide range of restaurants. We provide services across the boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon and Southwark. (Due to move to the Pears Maudsley Children and Young People (PMCYP) at the Maudsley Hospital in early 2026)
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 8am to 6pm giving you the very best of good work life balance. (This may include working early mornings, later evenings or Saturdays as part of the core working hours/working pattern for this post)
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
• The Parenting Well with Psychosis Project has been funded by the Maudsley Charity’s Living Well with Psychosis Programme which funds initiatives and research to improve the treatment and support the recovery of people affected by psychosis. The Charity also has a focus on work that supports families and carers and addresses inequalities in the experiences of racialised communities with mental health services.
• The post holders’ contracts are funded till September 2028. This may be extended for up to 6 months.
• Social deprivation, discrimination and racial trauma are all linked to an increased likelihood of developing a psychotic illness. In southeast London, rates of psychosis are up to two times higher than the UK national average, some of the highest rates in Europe with Black men and women disproportionately affected both in prevalence and in their experience of mental health services and treatment.
• The team will be an example of the Trust Think Family Strategy in practice where integrated care and partnership working are fundamental to whole family assessment, intervention and change.
• The post-holder will develop excellent working partnerships with the four Early Intervention services across the Trust
• The program emphasizes diversity and inclusion, promoting access to parenting resources for marginalized communities. The project will commit to ensuring families from local Black communities, who are disproportionately affected by a diagnosis of psychosis, are invited to contribute to the design, delivery, evaluation as well as be in receipt of the programme as part of their care plan.
• We employ the Family Partnership Model as a framework to create partnerships, to promote respectful and honest engagement with families and professionals.
• Support the development and delivery of the Think Family professional training focusing on empowering practitioners to consider the needs of children and young people impacted by parental mental illness.
• If trained, co-delivery of Being a Parent-Enjoying Family Life parenting groups, an evidence-based, 10-week parenting group intervention for parents dealing with mental health difficulties co-delivered by peer supporters and clinicians. The intervention will empower parents by building family resilience, supporting them to mentalise their experiences of being a parent and increasing their confidence in parenting their children.
• Attend group and individual clinical supervision and team reflective practice.
• To enable service users and carers from diverse backgrounds to flourish by working to create a psychologically safe environment
• Contribute to the evaluation of the project alongside the team and service users.
• To follow systems that are in place to support the Parenting Well team
• Be able to follow National and Trust child and adult safeguarding guidance
• To contribute to various stages of the project implementation and evaluate through focus groups, interviews, and quantitative measures, with the aim of fostering long-term change and integrated care across mental health services.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. Educated to GCSE or equivalent level/or evidence of competency specifically in English and Maths.
2. Peer Support Training
Desirable criteria
3. Experience of Recovery College courses
4. Training in Parenting Interventions
Experience
Essential criteria
5. Personal experience of mental health difficulties and recovery
6. Experience of using mental health services (for example a community mental health team / promoting recovery team, home treatment team, inpatient stay, emergency department, talking therapies, etc)
7. Willing to positively share your own life experiences, with service users, carers, and colleagues
8. Experience of working as a Peer Support Worker with people with mental health difficulties
Desirable criteria
9. Experience of delivering peer support services
10. Experience of being a parent or carer
Knowledge/Skills
Essential criteria
11. Able to demonstrate an understanding of the Values of Peer Support
12. To be able to share lived experience in way that is safe and useful
13. Ability to demonstrate knowledge of personal recovery and boundaries
14. Evidence of good interpersonal skills and an ability to form relationships with service users, staff, friends, and families/carers
15. An understanding of oppression and racism, and a commitment to working in an anti-racist and anti-oppressive way
Desirable criteria
16. Awareness of complementary support services
17. General awareness of NHS mental health provision and local voluntary sector organisations (A/I)