Job Description
Job Title:
Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist
Service:
Post Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Team
Reporting to:
Adoption & Special Guardianship Team Manager
Location:
Maidstone, some travel in Kent required
Salary Range:
£30,460 - £46,621
Work Pattern:
Minimum 3 days per week, maximum full time
9-5 office hours. The post holder will be expected to work
some evenings and weekends which can be taken as toil.
Contract Type
Permanent
Purpose of the Role:
To provide expert therapeutic interventions to adopters, special guardianship carers and
children once an adoption or special guardianship order is granted. The post holder will
provide group, family and individual interventions to adoptive families; advice and support to
the network around the child, including schools; develop and deliver training for adopters in
areas of child and adolescent development and consultative support to other team members
and social workers in the adoption service teams when required. The post holder would be
required to fully embrace and support Coram Kent County Council and Coram’s vision for
developing a multi-disciplinary team with a team around the child approach within the
national adoption reform agenda.
Main Duties & Responsibilities:

To provide expert clinical interventions to adopters and adoptive children.

To provide expert consultation to the network around the child, including schools

To respond with clinical expertise to adoptive families in times of crisis and/or where
there is a risk of placement breakdown

To deliver medium to long-term psychotherapy to children and adolescents when the
team has the capacity to provide this.

To provide consultative support to other team members and more widely across the
adoption service when required.

To develop and deliver training events to adopters as part of the adoption learning
and development program, from Preparation Groups through the life cycle of the
adoptive child and family.

To provide expert clinical supervision to individual social workers, clinicians and
adoption teams in Kent.


To participate in team meetings to share experience and clinical expertise with team
members to support their work
To provide a flexible approach that includes telephone consultation, home visits, brief
interventions, individual, couple and family work.

To liaise with other key professionals involved in the child and family network of care

To provide advice and support to schools to understand and respond to the needs
and communications of adoptive children and their families.

To develop working relationships with social workers in the assessment teams and
the child care teams so that adopters receive a seamless service.

To put forward proposals for re-shaping the current team in line with Coram Kent and
Coram’s vision – multi-disciplinary team with a team around the child/family approach
and the national adoption reform agenda

To carry out any other duties as requested by Adoption & Special Guardianship
Team Manager
Please note: The priorities may change and will have to be confirmed with the team
manager.
.
Person Specification
Job Title:
Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist
Service:
Post Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Team
Reporting to:
Adoption & Special Guardianship Team Manager
Salary Range:
£30,460 - £46,621
Work Pattern:
Minimum 3 days per week, maximum full time
9-5 office hours. The post holder will be expected to work
some evenings and weekends which can be taken as toil.
Contract Type
Fixed: up to 1 year with six month review
Skills & Experience
 An understanding of the needs of adopters, and children (both locally and nationally)
based on research, and the national adoption reform agenda
 An in depth understanding of how complex needs and early developmental trauma
are communicated from the child to parents and the wider network, and an ability to
communicate and apply this understanding in a wide range of settings.
 Extensive clinical experience with looked after and/or adopted children
 Experience working with schools – either directly or through multi-agency liaison work
 Ability to engage and sustain engagement with complex families
 Clinical training in child and adolescent psychotherapy
 Capacity to take the lead and contribute to developing new services such as a group
program or others as required.
 Ability to communicate well – both orally and in writing
 Able to manage conflicting priorities and pace
 Able to deliver to agreed deadlines
 Knowledge and understanding of clinical governance and risk management
 Able to work within a local government framework
 Some travel will be required in Kent so you will need to be a car driver with access to
a car