Go back South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Under 5’s CAMHS Specialist
The closing date is 08 March 2026
New investment afforded by the national Family Hub/Start for Life programme allows us to build on the good practice we have developed through Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) and to offer this exciting opportunity.
Want to play your part in helping improve the lives of babies and young children? This role will enable you to gain experience of working in a CAMHS service to support parents or carers to strengthen their relationship with their baby before birth and up to the age of 5. You will be well supported in the PAIRS team as the staff are warm, supportive, highly skilled and committed. Innovation and creativity are strongly encouraged, and you will be joining a multidisciplinary team who are committed and passionate about the work they do and developing the service they deliver.
You must be able to work independently and have good clinical / therapeutic and case management skills. Lambeth is an inner city, ethnically diverse community so a good understanding of diversity issues is essential.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for two enthusiastic and dedicated Under 5s CAMHS Specialists to work within PAIRS. The successful candidates will be clinically confident in carrying out mental health and risk assessments, group work with parents/carers/young children and supervision. The successful candidates will possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills and be committed to providing a high standard quality of care. The candidates will also contribute within the Start for Life Program towards the development of Lambeth CAMHS Under 5's community service.
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 & Care Professional's Council (HPC), Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), or The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
About us
Lambeth CAMHS employs staff from a variety of disciplines, including creative arts, child psychology, psychiatry, nursing, psychotherapy & family therapy. The service is organised into three sections & delivered from a number of community & hospital sites across the borough. Teams include a generic multidisciplinary Tier 3 services, for Children and Adolescents, as well as a number of specialist teams & services including Youth Offending Team, Children Looked After, Parent and Infant Relationship Service (PAIRS) and the Neurodevelopmental Team.
The Trust is 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 from 9a.m. to 5p.m. with occasional slightly earlier starts or later finishes in line with service needs - which will allow a good work-life balance.
Job responsibilities
You will complete assessments and treatment in accordance with the clinical and evidence-based models that are delivered within the service.
You will provide specialist parent & child and group interventions to children and families with mild, moderate, to complex presentations.
You will be required to keep up to date clinical records.
You will have some specific responsibilities for operational procedures e.g. referral response and processing.
You will work in partnership with Social Services, Parental mental Health/Perinatal, Adult Mental Health, Childrens Centres, Child Health and key partner to support integrated practice and service delivery
You will clinically and/or professionally supervise, advise or manage junior members and trainees of the team.
You may be required to contribute to audit or progress reports on specific aspects of the service developments.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* 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 & Care Professional's Council (HPC), Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), or The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). Relevant professional training will include: First level nursing qualification/registration RMN or RSCN or HV with related CAMHS experience or any as follows: First level qualification in Occupational therapy, Clinical or Counselling Psychology, Social work, or equivalent with related CAMHS experience.
* Qualification as a Systemic Psychotherapist (Family Therapist) with relevant CAMHS experience.
* First level qualification in art, play, drama, music therapy or psychotherapy (leading to a registered qualification with one of the above statutory bodies) with related experience in the psychological aspects of caring for children and adolescent with mental health problems/needs.
* Infant Observation Training
* Training in Clinical supervision
Experience
* Experience of receiving clinical supervision across a range of client needs
* Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and lived experience.
* Significant post-qualification/graduation experience including experience of individual and group therapy with people with complex mental health needs
* Experience in carrying out specialist child and adolescent mental health assessments and treatments for under 5s population.
* Experience of running/observing therapeutic parenting groups
Knowledge and Skills
* Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to effective team functioning and holding team roles.
* Ability to maintain concentration and to remain in restricted positions for long periods during observations, assessments and psychological interventions, and to deal with unexpected interruptions or changes during these
* 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
* Training in VIG, Circle of Security, Watch, Wait and Wonder
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.
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
£56,276 to £63,176 a year per annum inc of HCAs
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