Job Description

Bexley CAMHS has undergone a service transformation to align with the nationally recognised CAMHS Thrive framework. An approach, to help us deliver timely, responsive and needs based mental health interventions for the children and young people in Bexley. As the Senior Art Therapist in Cedar Team, you will lead on the art therapy pathway in our service and provide clinical leadership to our Art Therapists. Within this framework the aim of this post is:

• To provide the CAMHS team with a high quality, evidence based, art psychotherapy service to children, their families, carers and professional networks in keeping with the CYP-IAPT principles.

• To provide highly specialist assessment and therapy to families with children and adolescents who are referred to CAMHS.

• To provide specialist advice and consultation regarding treatment to CAMHS colleagues, external agencies, working autonomously within professional guidelines and within a multi-disciplinary team, contributing to overall service delivery as required.

• To contribute to the development of local and trust wide policy and service initiatives in Art Psychotherapy and the Psychological Therapies directorate. To assist and support the implementation of trust wide policies for the Service and to be responsible for interpreting Art Psychotherapy policies for the service in which the post is based.

Main duties of the job

• To plan, organise and manage own workload, prioritising work as appropriate.
• To be responsible for the clinical supervision and professional management of Art Psychotherapists and trainee Art Psychotherapists in the borough of Bexley
• To manage the workloads of supervisees, within the framework of team policies and procedures and oversee clinical standards
• Inform and advise other professionals and students about Art Psychotherapy through presentations and teaching.
• To be involved in the recruitment of staff, sitting on interview panels and taking part in the selection process as required
• To lead on an agreed area of service development
• To develop, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of Art Psychotherapy Service in Bexley CAMHS, and contribute to the Art Psychotherapy service as a whole.

About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We're Kind
• We're Fair
• We Listen
• We Care

Details
Date posted
23 September 2025
Pay scheme
Agenda for change
Band
Band 8a
Salary
61,631 to 68,623 a year pa pro rata
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Part-time
Reference number
277-7495732-CYP
Job locations
Bexley CAMHS
Park Crescent
Erith
DA8 3EE
Job description
Job responsibilities

• To provide a specialist art psychotherapy assessment for referrals that are of a significant and complex nature in order to formulate and implement plans for the treatment and/or management of a childs or adolescents mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework and employing methods based upon evidence.

• To assess children, adolescents and their families as part of a risk assessment.

• To consult to parents/carers (including foster parents) as part of a treatment plan.

• To act as care coordinator, carrying an identified numbers of Care Coordination caseload of CYP.as required, taking responsibility for initiating, planning and review of care plans and giving consideration to the views of patients, their family, carers, referring agents and other professionals involved in the network of care. This includes organising complex professional network meetings.

• To work in ways which are sensitive to and appropriate for the needs of families from a wide range of racial, cultural and religious backgrounds. This includes abilities to understand and offer therapeutic interventions to a variety of family forms including single parents, same sex couples and their wider family networks, accommodated children and their network of care, children with learning difficulties, and children who are on the Child Protection Register, and parents with mental health difficulties. Competence is required in undertaking systemic therapy with families through the use of an interpreter where families do not yet have sufficient understanding of the English language.

• To provide evidence-based art psychotherapy with clinical autonomy drawing on a range of models and interventions. To practice in a way which is inclusive and considerate of the needs of the individual in the context of their developmental stage and current emotional state.

• To make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about treatment options taking into account highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the child, family or group, and their difficulties.

• To be responsible for implementing a range of art psychotherapeutic interventions for children and adolescents, drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses in reaching a formulation and treatment plan.

Job description
Job responsibilities

• To provide a specialist art psychotherapy assessment for referrals that are of a significant and complex nature in order to formulate and implement plans for the treatment and/or management of a childs or adolescents mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework and employing methods based upon evidence.

• To assess children, adolescents and their families as part of a risk assessment.

• To consult to parents/carers (including foster parents) as part of a treatment plan.

• To act as care coordinator, carrying an identified numbers of Care Coordination caseload of CYP.as required, taking responsibility for initiating, planning and review of care plans and giving consideration to the views of patients, their family, carers, referring agents and other professionals involved in the network of care. This includes organising complex professional network meetings.

• To work in ways which are sensitive to and appropriate for the needs of families from a wide range of racial, cultural and religious backgrounds. This includes abilities to understand and offer therapeutic interventions to a variety of family forms including single parents, same sex couples and their wider family networks, accommodated children and their network of care, children with learning difficulties, and children who are on the Child Protection Register, and parents with mental health difficulties. Competence is required in undertaking systemic therapy with families through the use of an interpreter where families do not yet have sufficient understanding of the English language.

• To provide evidence-based art psychotherapy with clinical autonomy drawing on a range of models and interventions. To practice in a way which is inclusive and considerate of the needs of the individual in the context of their developmental stage and current emotional state.

• To make highly skilled evaluations and decisions about treatment options taking into account highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the child, family or group, and their difficulties.

• To be responsible for implementing a range of art psychotherapeutic interventions for children and adolescents, drawing upon different explanatory models and maintaining a number of provisional hypotheses in reaching a formulation and treatment plan.

Person Specification
Education/Qualification
Essential

• Degree in Art Psychotherapy, MA or equivalent
• Registration to the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) with the British Association of Art Therapists

Desirable

• Evidence of post qualification continuing professional development relevant to field

Experience
Essential

• Extensive experience of working with children & young people presenting with a range of mental health needs
• Supervisory experience with junior and trainee art psychotherapists

Desirable

• Experience of teaching others and holding workshops in relation to field of work

Skills/Abilities/Knowledge
Essential

• Ability to undertake relevant assessments, formulation, risk management & care planning
• Able to demonstrate a highly skilled use of art materials and art therapy equipment
• Demonstrates clinical leadership skills relevant to role

Person Specification
Education/Qualification
Essential

• Degree in Art Psychotherapy, MA or equivalent
• Registration to the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) with the British Association of Art Therapists

Desirable

• Evidence of post qualification continuing professional development relevant to field

Experience
Essential

• Extensive experience of working with children & young people presenting with a range of mental health needs
• Supervisory experience with junior and trainee art psychotherapists

Desirable

• Experience of teaching others and holding workshops in relation to field of work

Skills/Abilities/Knowledge
Essential

• Ability to undertake relevant assessments, formulation, risk management & care planning
• Able to demonstrate a highly skilled use of art materials and art therapy equipment
• Demonstrates clinical leadership skills relevant to role

Skills Required