Specialist CAMHS Practitioner - Under 5s

Job Overview

Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Bi-Borough Under 5s service is looking for a Specialist CAMHS Practitioner to join our friendly, supportive, and experienced multi-disciplinary specialist mental health service. We are looking for an enthusiastic and skilled clinician to provide specialist support to the Under 5s team.

The inner boroughs Under 5s CAMHS Service is commissioned to provide brief parent-infant and parent-child specialist practitioner support to families with infants and young children. The team a psychoanalytically informed service.

We are looking for an Specialist CAMHS Practitioner with an experience of and passion for Under 5s work. You will be part of our successful service and help us to expand our reach and supporting family Hubs, making relationships with families and local stakeholders. You will offer interventions and support to families and consultation to professionals and parents. We accept and encourage applications from people qualifying in Summer 2026.

We’re passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient’s own home. Wherever you wish to work and whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.

To find out more about working CLICK HERE for one of our CAMHS video.

Main duties of the job

The role involves a creative and passionate approach to service development, and offers the opportunity of being part of a pioneering initiative. We are looking for clinicians with sound understanding of infant mental health, and who are open to growing and developing in this field.

We are advertising a 0.4 (2 days week), with the possibility to extend, band 7 post for the Boroughs of Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster. The post will suit psychologists, family therapists, health visitors and other similar professionals with an interest and experience of working in infant mental health. VIG training is desired.

The service aims to provide an accessible, destigmatising, culturally sensitive infant/young child mental health perspective through:

• consultation to parents and professionals
• specialist assessment
• 6 session brief work with Under 5s and their families, using evidence-based treatment
• interagency partnership working
• teaching and training in infant mental health and early attachment.
  
  

Working for our organisation

Working for our organisation

Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust is a prominent mental health trust offering high quality children’s mental health services across 5 boroughs of London. The Trust supports staff wellbeing, reflective practice and monthly team reflective groups in CAMHS teams.

CAMHS has a strong multi-disciplinary approach and thrives on innovative practice to meet the local population needs. The post provides an excellent opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in clinical practice and leadership via regular clinical supervision, being part of Quality Improvement (QI) projects, CPD opportunities as well as multi-disciplinary working within an experienced wider service of Family Therapists, Psychotherapists, Nurses, Child Wellbeing Practitioners, Psychiatrists and Clinical / Counselling Psychologists

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• To provide comprehensive specialist assessments, including risk assessment of children, young people and their families/carers referred with moderate, complex and severe mental health problems/behaviours.
• To use a range of assessment techniques including observations, standard measures and questionnaires, direct work and interviews with parents and professionals in order to collate information required to complete a functional analysis assessment.
• To formulate and to be responsible for implementing in partnership with other agencies working with the child/young person a positive behaviour plan/ intervention.
• To communicate in a sensitive manner assessment outcomes/formulations and positive behaviour support plans.
• To evaluate the implementation and impact of the intervention.
• To write confidential behavioural support plans, reports for case conferences, and education that may have wide ranging implications for children, young people and their families.
• To be available to carry out urgent assessments. Assessments and interventions will be conducted in clinic settings.
• To provide consultation and appropriate training to other professionals working with the children referred to the service in order to ensure implementation of behavioural support plans.
• To act as care coordinator for an identified caseload and to be responsible for the coordination of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of therapeutic packages of care provided by the multidisciplinary team.
• To act as care coordinator in accordance with CPA guidelines within the CAMHS community setting.
• To ensure that the needs of the client group is paramount and be aware of and adhere to NICE Guidelines relating to Child Protection.
• To ensure acceptable levels of safety (regarding potential verbal and physical aggression from disturbed clients) for self and to advise other colleagues when necessary. To adhere to the lone worker policy and update training in breakaway techniques when necessary.
• To maintain accurate clinical records in accordance with service standards and to record and maintain patient data in local database systems (System 1) and the trust wide electronic database.
  
  

Person specification

Training And Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Professional training and qualification in one of the following professions: - Family systemic therapists, - clinical nurse specialists, - parent-infant psychotherapists, - health visitors, - psychologists (or equivalent)
• Professional training or post-qualifying specialisation in Infant/Early Years Mental Health
• Full membership of a regulatory professional body.
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in Under 5s, infant observation, VIG training, VIPP training.
  
  

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of mental health assessment and treatment of children and their parents as a member of a multidisciplinary team located in community, primary care, outpatient or inpatient setting.
• Experience working with families with problems that reflect the complexity of Tier three CAMHS or equivalent.
• Experience working with families from diverse cultural backgrounds
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with Children under 5
• Experience in the use of routine outcome measures (ROMs).
  
  

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to liaise and communicate with a variety of clinical and non-clinical professionals (team around the child) and agencies.
• Skills in the use of complex methods of mental health assessment, intervention and management.
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Knowledge of legislation in relation to children and adolescents including child protection procedures and policies.
• Ability to tolerate anxiety without recourse to premature action whilst appreciating the role of the supervisor.
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of NHS, Social Care and Education Structures, National policies and frameworks.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional groups
• Skills providing psychotherapeutic consultation to parents and carers
• Knowledge of research methodology and outcome research design and ability to critically interpret research findings.
• Knowledge/understanding of child development
  
  

Other

Essential criteria

• Ability to uphold and promote CNWL’s core values (Compassion, Respect, Empowerment and Partnership).
• Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multidisciplinary setting.
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Ability to teach and train others and present psychotherapeutic, systemic and infant mental health perspectives within public, professional and academic settings