Community Psychologist / Psychotherapist - Girls' Project

Job summary
Join Brandon Centre as a Community Psychologist/Psychotherapist within our girls project, She Is Supported (SIS) , and help shape an innovative, community-based mental health offer for girls and young women in Islington.

This is an exciting opportunity to deliver psychologically informed support in trusted youth settings, working alongside partner organisations to improve emotional wellbeing, increase access to mental health support, and strengthen resilience for girls facing multiple disadvantage. You will provide group-based and 1:1 psychological support, offer consultation to youth workers, and help create safe, accessible spaces where girls can explore issues affecting their lives and wellbeing.

We are looking for a compassionate, skilled and thoughtful psychologist/psychotherapist who is committed to trauma-informed, culturally responsive and relationship-based practice. You will join a highly respected organisation with a long history of improving young peoples mental health, and be part of a collaborative partnership that values participation, inclusion and innovation.

If you are passionate about making psychological support more accessible and want to make a meaningful difference in the lives of girls and young women, we would love to hear from you.

Provisional Interview Date and Location: 23/10/2026 - In person at the Brandon Centre.

Main duties of the job
You will provide psychologically informed support to girls and young women within community-based youth settings across Islington. The role includes delivering group sessions on mental health and wellbeing, offering 1:1 support where appropriate, and helping young people access the right support at the right time.

You will work closely with youth workers and partner organisations to bring a psychological perspective into everyday practice, offering consultation, advice and reflective support to staff. You will also contribute to creating safe, inclusive and trauma-informed spaces where girls can build confidence, resilience and emotional wellbeing.

The post involves working across different partner sites, building strong relationships with young people and professionals, responding to emerging needs, and supporting the wider development of the project. You will also contribute to safeguarding, signposting and referrals, and maintain accurate records and outcome information in line with service requirements.

This is an opportunity to use your clinical skills in a flexible, relational and community-focused way, helping to make mental health support more accessible for girls who may not engage with more traditional services.

Due to the nature of this role and the needs of the service users, applications are invited from women only. This is a lawful occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

About us
Brandon Centre has been supporting young peoples mental health and wellbeing since 1969. We are a well-established charity with a strong reputation for providing accessible, flexible and high-quality support to young people and families. Our work combines clinical expertise with a deep commitment to early intervention, inclusion and social justice.

We offer a range of mental health services for young people, alongside specialist projects and partnerships that reach those who may not otherwise access support. Our staff group includes psychologists and psychotherapists, managers, and operational colleagues who work together in a thoughtful, collaborative and caring way.

We are committed to creating a supportive working environment where people feel valued, respected and able to develop. We place a strong emphasis on reflective practice, supervision, safeguarding, professional curiosity and continuous learning. We are also committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, both in the communities we serve and within our organisation.

Working at Brandon Centre offers the opportunity to be part of a mission-driven organisation that is ambitious for young people and committed to making services more responsive, relational and impactful.

Job responsibilities
Job Description and Person Specification
Community Psychologist / Psychotherapist
She Is Supported (SIS) Girls' Project

Female Only Applicants: Due to the nature of this role and the needs of the service users, applications are invited from women only. This is a lawful occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Job title
Community Psychologist/ Psychotherapist

Project
She Is Supported (SIS) Girls' Project

Grade
Band 7 equivalent

Salary
£45,895

Contract
2 years fixed term

Hours
14 hours per week (0.4 FTE)

Working pattern
Regular evening work during term time to attend girls groups, plus occasional attendance at Girls Super Groups, trips and residential activity as required.

Must be able to work during the following days and times:

Tuesday - HRH - 4pm - 6pm
Wednesday - Prospex - 7-9pm
Thursday - Mary's - 5pm-6:30pm

Location
Across community sites in Islington, including Brandon Centre and partner venues used by Highbury Roundhouse, Prospex, and Marys Youth Club

Reports to
Clinical Director, with operational liaison to the SIS Project Manager

Accountability
Clinical Director

A. Job Summary
The postholder will provide specialist community psychology/psychotherapy support within the She Is Supported (SIS) Girls' Project, a partnership with youth organisations delivering open access, girls-only provision in Islington for girls aged 9 to 17. The role is embedded across the partnership and will involve attending community-based girls groups, shaping and leading sessions on mental health and wellbeing topics identified by girls, offering 1-to-1 support, supporting youth workers with psychologically informed practice, and helping to identify and signpost girls who require additional or specialist support.

The SIS model is designed to reach girls experiencing multiple disadvantage, including poverty, trauma, domestic violence, irregular home lives, cultural barriers to accessing mixed provision, refugee and asylum experiences, and neurodivergence. The post-holder will therefore need to work in a flexible, relational, culturally responsive and trauma-informed way, making mental health support accessible within trusted local community spaces.

The post-holder will also contribute to project monitoring, evaluation and reporting, and will work closely with Brandon Centre colleagues and partner youth workers to strengthen psychologically informed practice across the consortium.

B. Brandon Centre Overview
The principal objective of the Brandon Centre, since it was founded in 1969, has been to provide a professional, accessible and flexible service which responds to the psychological and social needs of young people under the age of 25.

Services include counselling and psychotherapy for young people, systemic integrative treatment for families, parenting programmes, and consultation and training for other charities working with young people.

C. Principal Duties and Responsibilities
1. Clinical and therapeutic work

• To provide community psychology/psychotherapy support to girls participating in the SIS project across partner settings.
• To attend and contribute to weekly girls-only groups across the SIS partnership during term time, and to shape and lead mental health and wellbeing sessions in response to themes identified by girls and project staff.
• To deliver developmentally appropriate, accessible and engaging group-based input on topics such as emotions, stress, relationships, self-esteem, body image, identity, safety, and wellbeing.
• To offer 1-to-1 therapeutic or consultative support to girls within the remit of the project, using a flexible and responsive model.
• To undertake specialist assessment and formulation of emotional wellbeing needs based on information from direct contact, observation, self-report, youth worker consultation and other relevant sources.
• To make clinically informed decisions about the most appropriate level of support within the project and when onward referral or signposting is indicated.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for girls presenting with emotional distress, self-harm, safeguarding concerns or other vulnerabilities, and to provide specialist advice to project staff where required.
• To support identification of girls who may require additional or specialist mental health, social care or other support, and to facilitate appropriate signposting or referral pathways.
• To communicate highly sensitive and complex clinical information in a clear, age-appropriate and respectful way to young people, colleagues and other professionals, in line with consent, confidentiality and safeguarding requirements.

2. Consultation, partnership and psychologically informed practice

• To provide consultation, guidance and support to youth workers across the SIS partnership to strengthen psychologically informed, trauma-informed and reflective practice.
• To contribute to the development of a safe, containing and inclusive emotional environment within girls groups.
• To work collaboratively with staff from Highbury Roundhouse, Prospex and Marys Youth Club, recognising the knowledge and expertise held within each community setting.
• To contribute an applied psychology perspective to project development, with attention to participation, voice, access, culture, context, and barriers to engagement.
• To support staff in understanding the emotional, relational and systemic factors affecting girls wellbeing, including the impact of poverty, trauma, discrimination, gendered expectations, social exclusion and family stress.
• To contribute where appropriate to reflective spaces, informal consultation and case discussion with project partners.

3. Participation and co-production

• To work in ways that centre girls voices and experiences in planning and delivery.
• To ensure that sessions and interventions are responsive to girls needs, preferences, developmental stage and cultural context.
• To support the co-development of termly themes and session content alongside girls, youth workers and wider project activity, including Girls Super Groups where appropriate.
• To promote accessibility and participation for girls who may find it difficult to engage with more formal or clinic-based mental health provision.

4. Safeguarding and risk

• To always work within Brandon Centre safeguarding policies and procedures.
• To identify safeguarding concerns promptly and respond in line with organisational and statutory requirements.
• To liaise with the youth service manager and relevant external agencies where safeguarding or high-risk concerns arise.
• To maintain clear professional boundaries and sound judgement in community-based and partnership settings.
• To contribute to the safeguarding culture of the partnership by modelling safe, reflective and accountable practice.

5. Monitoring, evaluation and administration

• To maintain accurate, timely and confidential clinical and project records in accordance with Brandon Centre policies and professional standards.
• To collect and report project data, outcomes, activity information and case examples as required.
• To contribute to monitoring and evaluation processes, including use of feedback and outcome measures where appropriate.
• To work with Brandon Centre colleagues, including the SIS Project Manager and data support staff, to ensure timely reporting and learning from the project.
• To use relevant IT systems for communication, record keeping, data entry and reporting.

6. Supervision, service development and professional responsibilities

• To engage in regular clinical supervision in line with Brandon Centre policy and the requirements of the relevant professional body.
• To contribute to service development and quality improvement within the SIS project.
• To maintain up-to-date knowledge and skills relevant to the role, including child and adolescent mental health, community-based clinical practice, safeguarding, trauma-informed approaches and equality, diversity and inclusion.
• To attend relevant meetings, training and partnership activity as required.
• To work flexibly and collaboratively in a developing project and contribute to a culture of reflection, learning and continuous improvement.

D. General Responsibilities for all Brandon Centre Staff
All employees of the Brandon Centre are required to observe legislation, Brandon Centre policies, standards and guidelines relating to confidentiality, information governance, risk management, safeguarding children, safeguarding adults, equal opportunities, data protection, freedom of information, health and safety, infection control and record keeping.

All staff are expected to actively promote equality and diversity in all aspects of their work and to always maintain the confidentiality and security of service user information.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the postholder may be required to undertake other duties in discussion with their manager. This job description will be reviewed regularly in the light of changing service requirements, and any such changes will be discussed with the post-holder.

Person Specification
Experience
Essential

• Experience of providing psychology / psychotherapy support to children, adolescents or young people in community-based settings
• Experience of assessment and intervention with young people presenting with a range of emotional and mental health difficulties, including complexity and risk
• Experience of group work with young people
• Experience of working in partnership with other professionals, including youth workers, schools, voluntary sector services or multi-agency networks
• Experience of consultation or training with professional or non-professional groups
• Experience of working with young people affected by trauma, poverty, family adversity, social exclusion or barriers to accessing support
• Experience of working in multicultural and diverse community settings

Desirable

• Experience of contributing to service monitoring, evaluation or outcome measurement
• Experience of community psychology, outreach, open access or non-clinic-based mental health provision
• Experience of supporting staff teams through reflective practice or psychologically informed consultation

Qualifications
Essential

• UK-recognised doctoral level training in Clinical Psychology or Counselling Psychology, Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy, Adult Psychotherapy qualified to doctorate level or with equivalent experience.
• Registered as clinical/counselling psychologist with the HCPC, or child & adolescent psychotherapist / adult psychotherapist registered with relevant professional body (e.g. ACP; BACP; UKCP; BPC)

Desirable

• Additional training relevant to clinical work with children, adolescents, groups or families

Knowledge and Skills
Essential

• Knowledge of child and adolescent mental health and emotional wellbeing
• Ability to undertake psychological assessment, formulation and intervention with young people
• Ability to assess and manage risk, including safeguarding concerns, and to develop appropriate safety plans and escalation responses
• Ability to engage girls and young women in a flexible, relational and developmentally appropriate manner
• Ability to deliver psychoeducational, therapeutic or wellbeing-based group sessions in accessible and creative ways
• Ability to provide consultation and psychologically informed guidance to youth workers and partner staff
• Knowledge of trauma-informed, culturally responsive and anti-discriminatory practice
• Understanding of the impact of poverty, gender, migration, racism, social exclusion, neurodivergence and family stress on mental health and access to services
• Ability to communicate complex and clinically sensitive information clearly, both orally and in writing
• Ability to maintain appropriate records and contribute to data collection, monitoring and reporting
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and professional guidance relating to safeguarding, confidentiality, consent and information governance

Desirable

• Understanding of co-production, participation and community-based clinical practice

Personal Qualities and Other Requirements
Essential

• Commitment to Brandon Centre values of compassion, inclusion and respect
• Ability to work independently and manage a varied workload across multiple community sites
• Ability to work collaboratively and constructively within a partnership model
• Emotional resilience and capacity to remain thoughtful and containing in the face of distress, complexity and uncertainty
• Flexible, creative and responsive approach to community-based clinical work
• Commitment to reflective practice, supervision and continuing professional development
• Willingness and ability to work regular evenings and to travel across Islington community venues
• Ability to contribute to an inclusive environment and actively promote equality, diversity and participation

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.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

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.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration.