Parent, Infant Wellbeing Practitioner

Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Horizon Team at Lewisham CAMHS. We are seeking to recruit a Band 5 under 5's CAMHS Practitioner. We are the generic service, part of Lewisham CAMHS and provide specialist assessments and intervention for children and young people who are referred to our team.

The Post holder will contribute within the Lewisham Parent and Infant Relationship Service which is part of the Lewisham CAMHS Community Service. You will complete assessments and treatment in accordance with the clinical and evidence-based models that are delivered within the service. You will manage your own caseload and provide specialist parent & child group interventions to children and families with moderate to complex presentation.

Main duties of the job
The role of the Infant Mental Health Practitioner is to support parents or carers to strengthen or build on their relationship with their baby before birth and up to the age of 5.

The post holder will be responsible for assessing and treating children with mental health difficulties presenting within your team context.

In particular the postholder will be trained in the 0-5 pathway and apply this in their clinical therapeutic work.

You will carry out risk assessments on children & young people in your care routinely and work under the supervision of the team manager and senior clinicians to manage these situations effectively.

You will work with other CAMHS practitioners in the service from all disciplines.

You will be confident in providing support, advice and intervention to parents and carers in attachment, anxiety and behaviours that challenge. You will be flexible and creative in responding to the needs of the school population, with excellent support from your team and supervision. You will also be able to adapt to working remotely and prioritising access to services and resources.

About us
Lewisham Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) provides a diagnostic, assessment, treatment, advisory and consultative service for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural disorders, including those at high risk or those with more severe and persistent problems. The service's Specialist Multidisciplinary Teams include: Horizon (generic); Neuro Developmental Team; Symbol (Looked After and Adopted CYP); LYPS (severe and enduring mental health problems); ARTS (at risk forensic); Paediatric Liaison Service; MHST (Mental Health in Schools); CWP (Child Wellbeing Practitioners); Intake; and Crisis. Lewisham CAMHS focuses on providing high quality mental health support to young people locally. We continually identify and address any potentially barriers or inequalities in regards to access to, and input from, our service, as well as continually improving areas of staff wellbeing and equality within the staff group.

This post is clinically based within the generic team (Horizon) and the leadership component extends to the rest of Lewisham CAMHS. Horizon is a dynamic multi-disciplinary team based in the Kaleidoscope Centre in Catford, an award-winning purpose-built building that brings together specialist community services for health, disability, mental health, education and social care.

Details
Date posted: 11 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 5
Salary: £38,488 to £46,852 a year per annum inclusive of HCAS
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 334-CLI-8171559
Job locations: Lewisham CAMHS, Horizon Generic Team, Kaleidoscope, 32 Rushey Green, Lewisham, SE6 4JF, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Successful completion of the Postgraduate Diploma Children & Young People's IAPT Therapy-Infant Mental Health or other relevant 0-5s specialist training

Previous professional training in nursing, social work, education, occupational therapy, counselling or training within a specific psychological therapy

Experience of working within CAMHS or Perinatal Team setting

Evidence of working with infants and their mothers/carers and families with mental health difficulties in mental health or related services

Assessed supervised clinical experience working with children with mental health problems/needs or clear evidence of transferable skills.

Experience of working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care

Experience of liaising and working effectively with the wider network around the child including family educational, social care, and health

Ability to carry out 1:1 therapeutic mental health interventions with infants under 5 and parents.

Ability to conduct group parenting programmes

Ability to work within child health and community settings to increase mental health awareness within the staff group

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Successful completion of the Postgraduate Diploma Children & Young People's IAPT Therapy-Infant Mental Health or other relevant 0-5's specialist training
• Previous professional training in nursing, social work, education, occupational therapy, counselling or training within a specific psychological therapy

Desirable

• Evidence of CPD - Continuous Professional Development in Child and Adolescent Mental Health or Family work training

Experience
Essential

• Experience of working within CAMHS or Perinatal Team setting
• Experience of working in collaboration with supervisor, service user, carers and MDT in assessing needs, planning and implementing care
• Taking responsibility for care delivery in a specific area and maintaining a safe therapeutic environment
• Experience of liaising and working effectively with the wider network around the child including family educational, social care, and health

Desirable

• Experience of working with culturally diverse populations and adapting services to improve access.
• Experience of adapting resources to be able to deliver online

Knowledge
Essential

• A good working knowledge of key legislation relevant to CAMHS setting including but not limited to: The Children Act 1989, 2004 and The Mental Health Act 1983, Human Rights Act 1998 and Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Demonstrate a knowledge of the issues & context surrounding work with infants under 5 and how this can impact on Parent-Infant relationships and parental mental health.

Desirable

• A keen interest and knowledge of infant mental health

skills/abilities
Essential

• Ability to work within child health and community settings to increase mental health awareness within the staff group
• Ability to conduct mental health assessments and screenings of infants Under 5 years.
• Ability to make an assessment of risk and to record and communicate it appropriately and to take appropriate action to mitigate or manage.
• Good written and verbal presentation skills
• Basic IT and data entry skills to enter clinical information into databases.

Desirable

• Demonstrate an ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team.

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.