Trainee Mental Health Practitioner jobs in London

An exciting opportunity for a Trainee (ASC/LD) to join our team as part of the NHS England funded Children and Young People (CYP) Psychological Training Programmes. NHSE covers salary and training costs for a 1-year position, allowing services to employ trainees to support specialist pathways to bridge the gaps in CYP mental health support.

This is an opportunity to apply your learning from weekly teaching into clinical interventions working with clients in the service making a direct impact in the lives of children, young people and their families.

The post-holder will be based within the specialist neurodevelopmental team in Islington Community CAMHS. They will involve work in our diagnostic assessment team, and with our community-based teams, primarily the CAMHS in specialist schools team. The position will be based at the Northern Health Centre but successful candidates will be expected to travel to Anna Freud in Central London (Rodney St, N1 9JH) for teaching during the training year. The position will involve travelling to various sites across the London Borough of Islington.

More information about the course content and the different modalities can be found on the Anna Freud webpage: https://www.annafreud.org/ucl-postgraduate-study/ucl-postgraduate-programmes/child-and-young-person-iapt-therapy-pg-dip/

There is also a useful training FAQ section for prospective candidates: Prospective Trainees_ CYP IAPT Therapy Programme FAQ's.docx - Google Docs

Training Information

This full-time training will begin in January 2027 with around 2.5 days a week for academic work (teaching and personal study), and 2.5 days based at the service seeing clients (children, young people, and carers) related to training assignments. Trainees will be both an employee of the service and an enrolled student with UCL/Anna Freud. Upon completion, qualified trainees will receive a UCL Postgraduate Diploma.

The course start date is 18 th January 2027.

This is a training and employment post. Candidates will need to manage a demanding combination of academic work, self-study and clinical case work.

Application Process

This is a dual application process. In addition to applying for this position with us, you must also complete a UCL application for the Course Team to review. The Course Team will liaise with us on whether you meet the academic requirements for the course during the recruitment process. You will only be offered a UCL training place if you are successful in securing this post and you meet the university training requirements.

Please view the attached document ‘UCL CYP PT Therapy - Application Guidance for Candidates August 2026’ for the university application link and more information on how to apply.

Any queries applicants have on the course i.e. teaching/content can be sent to the course programme team: cyppttherapy@annafreud.org .

Please be aware the information on your application form (name and contact details, qualifications and prior relevant experience) will be shared with the Anna Freud staff team as part of the recruitment process. By submitting your application to this role, you are agreeing to your details being shared with Anna Freud.

Clinical

• Support triage of referrals for neurodevelopmental assessment;
• Participate in diagnostic assessment for autism (and co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions) within a multi-disciplinary team;
• Write diagnostic reports;
• Mental health assessment of autistic and learning disabled children and young people;
• Assessments for suitability for the treatment for which modality specific training is provided;
• Make decisions on suitability of new referrals, adhering to the department’s referral protocols, and refer unsuitable clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as necessary;
• Deliver lower-intensity interventions to autistic and/or learning disabled students across special schools in Islington under the supervision of a qualified clinician;
• Formulate, implement and evaluate therapeutic intervention for clients in line with their training modality and experience;
• Support the delivery of intervention groups to parents/carers and/or teaching staff;
• Involve the system around the child in treatment as appropriate, e.g. parent/carer, school, conveying therapy formulations with sensitivity in easily understood language;
• Work closely with other members of the team ensuring appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place to maintain a stepped care approach.
• Attend multi-disciplinary meetings relating to referrals or clients in treatment, where appropriate;
• Collect and record routine service data including appointment recording, and routine outcome measures.

Training & Supervision

• Fulfilling the requirements of and completing a PG diploma at UCL/Anna Freud including practical, academic, and practice-based assessments, alongside private study;
• Apply learning from the training programme in practice;
• Prepare and present clinical information for all patients on their caseload to clinical and case management supervisors within the service on an agreed and scheduled basis, in order to ensure safe practice and the clinical governance obligations of the worker, supervisor and service are delivered.

Professional

• Ensure the maintenance of standards of practice according to the employer and any regulating, professional and accrediting bodies (e.g., BPS, HCPC, BABCP), and keep up to date on new recommendations/guidelines set by the department of health;
• Ensure that client confidentiality is protected at all times and comply with data management systems and processes including submissions to the training provider;
• Be aware of, and keep up to date with advances in the spheres of care pathway;
• Ensure clear professional objectives are identified, discussed and reviewed with senior therapists on a regular basis as part of continuing professional development;
• Attend clinical/managerial supervision on a regular basis as agreed with Manager;
• Participate in individual performance review and respond to agreed objectives;
• Keep up to date all records in relation to Continuous Professional Development and ensure personal development plan maintains up to date specialist knowledge of latest theoretical and service delivery models/developments;
• Attend relevant conferences / workshops in line with identified professional objectives.

This job description is an outline of the key tasks and responsibilities of the post, and the post holder may be required to undertake additional duties appropriate to the pay band. The post may change over time to reflect the developing needs of the Trust and its services, as well as the personal development of the post holder.