Applied Psychologist - Counselling

Job summary
Join the Experts at Hand (EaH) Team in Barking and Dagenham with the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) and London Borough of Barking & Dagenham (LBBD)

Are you passionate about making a meaningful difference to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)? Do you want to work at the forefront of integrated health, education and care, shaping a new model of early intervention and inclusion?

North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT), working in partnership with the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham (LBBD) and North East London Integrated Care Board (NEL ICB), are recruiting A CAMHS Psychologist and a Family Systemic Therapist to join our new Experts at Hand (EaH) service. This innovative programme forms a central part of the local SEND Reform Plan and will transform how specialist support is accessed by children, families and educational settings.

Main duties of the job
About Experts at Hand

Experts at Hand is a pioneering multidisciplinary model designed to provide timely access to specialist expertise, helping schools, early years settings and families access support earlier and more effectively. The service aims to strengthen inclusion, reduce unnecessary escalation into statutory pathways and improve outcomes for children and young people aged 025 with SEND.

Working across health, education and local authority services, the EaH (Expert at Hand) team will:

• You will be an integral part of the NELFT CAMHS Team in B&D.
• Provide early advice, consultation and intervention for children and young people with SEND.
• Support schools and settings to build confidence and capability in meeting needs inclusively.
• Deliver individual, group and whole-setting approaches.
• Work as part of an integrated multidisciplinary team alongside education professionals, therapists, psychologists, family support services and other partners.
• Contribute to reducing waiting times and improving access to specialist support.
• Help develop innovative pathways that enable children and young people to thrive within their local communities.

Why Join NELFT in Barking and Dagenham?

As a member of the Experts at Hand team, you will will have the opportunity to:
Shape the Future of SEND Services
Play a leading role in delivering a new model of support that is becoming central to local and national SEND reform ambitions.

About us
NELFT NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health and community services for over 4.9 million people living in the London Boroughs of Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Havering, and across Essex.

We work to ensure our patients, their friends and family, feel confident that their health needs are well met. With an excellent reputation for research and development, our skilled health professionals are at the cutting edge of evidence-based innovation, opening up the possibilities for better ways of working and delivery of care.

Job responsibilities
Work Across Systems

Develop your expertise by working closely with colleagues from health, education, social care and the local authority, gaining a unique understanding of integrated services and population health approaches. You will be a key part of the NELFT CAMHS Team in B&D, working closely with colleagues across NELFT and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (LBBD)

Develop Your Career

NELFT is committed to supporting professional growth through:

• Structured supervision and mentoring.
• Leadership and quality improvement opportunities.
• Service development and innovation projects.
• Access to training and continuing professional development.
• Opportunities to progress into advanced clinical, specialist and operational leadership roles.
• Experience of working within system-wide transformation programmes alongside NHS and Local Authority leaders.

Make a Lasting Impact

Be part of a team dedicated to improving:

• Early intervention.
• Educational inclusion.
• Family experience and confidence.
• Access to therapy services.
• Long-term outcomes and readiness for adulthood for children and young people with SEND.

Who We Are Looking For

We welcome applications from enthusiastic and forward-thinking people, who are team workers and want to make a difference at a local level.

Who are passionate about:

• Early intervention and prevention.
• Inclusive practice.
• Working collaboratively across organisational boundaries.
• Empowering families, schools and communities.
• Innovation and service transformation.

Whether you are an experienced clinician seeking a new challenge or an emerging therapist looking to develop your skills in a supportive and ambitious environment, we would love to hear from you.

About Barking & Dagenham

Barking & Dagenham is ambitious for every child and young person to achieve their full potential. The borough has a strong commitment to inclusive education and partnership working, supported by innovative neighbourhood and family hub approaches and a growing investment in SEND transformation. The Experts at Hand programme is a key part of this vision, bringing together the expertise of NELFT, the Local Authority and wider system partners to create a more joined-up and responsive service for children and families.

Be Part of Something Different

If you want to be part of an ambitious partnership that is redefining, how SEND support is delivered, improving outcomes for children and creating new opportunities for professional growth, then we invite you to join the Experts at Hand team.

Together, we can build a more inclusive future for children and young people across Barking & Dagenham.

Working for Us Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London and Essex. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award-winning equality and diversity initiatives, along with staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest significantly in your development because when you feel valued and supported, we can deliver the highest quality care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been recognised in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and hold a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Through our staff networks and training opportunities, we strive to foster a just and compassionate culture at NELFT.

Our Values 2025 - 2030

Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT. They are:

• We are kind.
• We are respectful.
• We work together with our communities.

These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people. Starting with NELFT NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend a number of drop-in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Goodmayes Hospital. Probationary Period This post will be subject to a probationary period.

High Cost Area Supplement – Outer London (B&D, Redbridge, Havering and Waltham Forest, CEME) This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £4,870 to a maximum of £6,137 p.a. pro rata for part time).

Certificates of Sponsorship Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.

Use of AI

We value applications that genuinely reflect each candidate’s own skills, experience and motivations. We therefore strongly discourage the use of AI-generated content in applications. Applications should be written in your own words and accurately represent your knowledge, skills and experience. We reserve the right to reject an application where we reasonably believe AI has been used to generate or materially contribute to its content.

Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer to this when completing your application.

For an informal chat or to arrange a visit, please contact:

Name: Ronan Fox / Chris Scalzo Job title: Head of Service Children's Integrated Care B&D / Professional Clinical Lead Contact Number: Ronan - View phone number on meeveem.com - Chris - View phone number on meeveem.com Email: View email address on meeveem.com / View email address on meeveem.com

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Successful completion of a post-graduate training in psychological practice (e.g. clinical/counselling psychologist fully registered with the appropriate
• professional or regulatory body (e.g. HCPC) and further qualified to masters
• level or equivalent (degree, diploma and supplemented by specialist training, experience, short courses)
• To be eligible for registration as a full member of the Appropriate
• professional body (e.g. HCPC)

Experience

Essential

• Extensive experience of working with difficult, challenging children/young people requiring skilled and complex interventions.
• Extensive experience of working with children and adolescents with co
• morbid difficulties and special needs. (i.e. combination of organic and emotional deficits, such as autistic spectrum disorders and trauma).
• Extensive experience of working therapeutically with parents/carers/families of children and young people with complex mental health problems
• Experience of using observation & assessment skills (eg. In school and home contexts) to contribute to assessments of children.
• Experience of carrying out generic assessment with other colleagues in the multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of initiating, organising and planning inter agency meetings aimed at setting in place a treatment package tailored to the individual needs of a child/young person.
• Experience of specialist assessment carried out autonomously in order to determine the most appropriate treatment plan from a range of options for the child/young person.

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.

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.