Principal Clinical Psychologist

Principal Clinical Psychologist

The closing date is 15 July 2026

This role is an exciting opportunity to lead an established specialist CAMHS Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) service in South West London and St George's NHS Trust. The multidisciplinary team works with young people and their families across Sutton, Merton, Wandsworth, Kingston and Richmond, providing intensive evidence-based therapy for those with emotion dysregulation, self-harm and other self destructive behaviours in an outpatient setting.

Training in Prolonged Exposure therapy for trauma will be offered to the successful applicant.

Applicants will have:

• Training and experience delivering DBT
• Experience working with children and young people in a variety of community settings, particularly with those presenting with complex high risk, emotional dysregulation and self harm
• Experience in multi disciplinary settings and accustomed to interagency working
• Knowledge of Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and Procedure
• Experience with trauma and disordered eating presentations is desirable
• Experience with service evaluation or research is desirable

Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Dr Oliver Schauman, Consultant Clinical Psychologist , and/or Lucy Trotman, Team Manager, to discuss the post.

Job responsibilities

• Ensure the systematic provision of a high quality specialist psychological therapies service including clinical psychology, child psychotherapy and systemic family psychotherapy to children, young people and their families/carers within the designated clinical service area.
• Supervise and support the psychological assessment and therapy provided by other psychology and psychotherapy staff and other clinical members of the team.
• Work autonomously within professional guidelines and exercise responsibility for the systematic governance of psychological practice within the service area, coordinating assessment, treatment and therapy resources across teams.
• Utilise research skills for audit, policy and service development and propose and implement policy changes within the designated clinical service area.
• Practice clinically within a designated setting, upholding high standards of psychological and psychotherapeutic assessment, treatment and care.
• Be a source of advice and guidance in relation to risk management and safeguarding.
• Be responsible for the clinical governance structures that support and guide multi disciplinary colleagues providing psychological therapies in community settings in designated service areas (supervision, PADR processes, CPD, training needs, recording standards).
• Directly provide clinical supervision to psychology and/or psychotherapy colleagues, and professional supervision to colleagues from a range of psychology and psychotherapy disciplines.
• Ensure the quality of child mental health work is reflected in clinical records and data, contributing to efforts to maximise the benefits of the electronic clinical record system.
• Provide coordinated service leadership in designated areas in collaboration with Clinical Leads and Team Managers, advising on service developments.
• Coordinate with Team Managers and Clinical Leads in managing clinical performance concerns.
• Promote synergy and connection between local authority, third sector and health services to foster joined up care and maximise available mental health resources for children, young people and their carers.
• Promote service user involvement in shaping services.
• Promote equality of access to healthcare and awareness of how social difference can influence treatment outcome and service user experience.

Person Specification - Training & Qualifications

• Qualified Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, Qualified Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, or Qualified Systemic Family Psychotherapist.
• Appropriate professional registration (e.g. Practitioner Psychologist under the Health Care Professions Council, Child Psychotherapist with the Association of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists, or UKCP via the College of Family Couple and Systemic Therapy).
• Intensive DBT training.
• Post doctoral / graduate training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice with children and young people.
• Clinical training as part of a CYP IAPT collaborative in a recognised evidence based approach (CBT, Parenting Skills or other).
• Accreditation with the Society for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.

Person Specification - Experience

• Substantial experience of working as a qualified psychologist or psychotherapist at a highly specialist level with children and young people with a wide range of mental and behavioural disorders, including complex trauma and disordered eating.
• Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups across the whole life course and presenting with the full range of clinical severity across a range of care settings (outpatient, community, primary care, in patient and residential).
• Experience of teaching, training and professional and clinical supervision.
• Experience of service development and leadership.
• Experience of representing psychology or psychotherapy within the context of multi disciplinary care.
• Experience of working with mental health needs in multiple cultural contexts.
• Experience of managing the clinical performance of staff.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full time

Salary

£75,328 to £86,114 per annum (inclusive of Inner London HCAs)

Reference number

294-CAMHS AZ-A

Job location

Birches House, Birches Close, Cricket Green

Address

Birches House, Birches Close, Cricket Green