Principal Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist

A Vacancy at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

We are looking for a compassionate and experienced ACP registered Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist to join our large and supportive Child Psychotherapy team at UCLH.

This is very varied and meaningful therapeutic work with patients from infancy to young adulthood (0-24) who are under medical care here as both outpatients and inpatients.

You will bring a flexible and creative approach to working therapeutically with babies, children, adolescents, families and the complex medical teams around them. A strong ability to work well within multi-professional teams and with children and families in highly distressing and uncertain situations is essential.

We are looking for somebody who can hold the experience and needs of the child/young person at the centre of clinical decision making while working across complex systems. A clinician who can hold a psychoanalytic framework alongside a genuine interest in multi-disciplinary approaches to understanding the links between the body and the mind (including where there is trauma and/or neurodivergence) and with a commitment to their own ongoing learning and development. You will be able to communicate clearly and sensitively with a range of professionals and patients.

We are a team of 6 ACP Child Psychotherapists and 3 ACP trainees. We sit within the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychological Medicine at UCLH, made up of psychiatry, clinical psychologists and mental health nurses. The team is well-established, and the work of child psychotherapy is valued and widely understood amongst our medical colleagues. There is a strong tradition of multi-professional working and close collaboration with medical colleagues to work towards sensitive and holistic ways of supporting patients with complex, chronic and life limiting medical conditions.

The Paediatric and Adolescent Division is large and busy. It includes secondary care paediatric clinics for our local communities; and several tertiary specialties including specialist services for children and young people with cancer; and a specialist service for complex adolescent health conditions (TRACCS).

You will provide specialist assessments, liaison work, short term and longer-term psychotherapy to children and young people receiving outpatient and inpatient medical care. You will also support the treatment of children and young people through offering consultations and reflective practice where appropriate to medical teams. While members of the psychotherapy team are closely linked to specific MDTs and clinical specialties, we also ensure that all members have a varied caseload from across the department.

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world-class research.

We provide first-class acute and specialist services across eight sites

• University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)
• National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
• University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
• Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
• University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
• The Hospital for Tropical Diseases
• University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street

We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women’s health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.

We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.

For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.

As a team we are committed to continuing to develop our own thinking and approach. We meet weekly for case-based discussions, have regular peer supervision spaces, and there is a monthly division wide Complex Case Discussion forum.

This is a senior role within the division with lots of opportunities to develop clinical areas of interest and to contribute to service development. We really welcome applications from a colleague who can bring energy and new ideas to this.

Thursdays and Wednesdays are core MDT meeting days.

• The post holder will be a member of the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy team in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychological Medicine based in UCLH, where the paediatric liaison service also includes Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists and Clinical Psychologists.
• To provide specialist psychological assessments and treatment of children, young people, and their families, using individual, parent and family interventions and to support the delivery of psychotherapy services across all areas of the division.
• The post holder will work closely with members of the medical teams and allied health professionals
• The post holder will be expected to attend the multi-disciplinary team meetings, as agreed with the Head of Child psychotherapy, such as the TRACCS service; the paediatric long-covid service, the Paediatric, Teenage and Young Adult Oncology Service.
• To offer consultations to other colleagues at UCLH and provide a senior presence at multi-disciplinary meetings
• The post holder will be expected to attend and contribute to the weekly Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Discipline Meetings.
• In agreement with the Head of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy the post holder will be expected to receive referrals
• To attend the monthly senior divisional management meetings to contribute to service development.

Come and be a part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff*

* UCLH top trust to work at in England - In the most recent NHS staff survey UCLH had the highest percentage of staff who said they would recommend us as a place to work, out of all general acute or acute/community NHS trusts in England – for the third year in a row.

UCLH recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff – To find out more, visit: Flexible working.

To discover more about what makes UCLH a great place to work, visit: Why Choose UCLH?

This advert closes on Monday 21 Sep 2026