Community Psychologist / Psychotherapist - Girls' ProjectNHS

Job summary

Join Brandon Centre as a Community Psychologist/Psychotherapist within our girls project, She Is Supported (SIS), and help shape an innovative, community-based mental health offer for girls and young women in Islington.

This is an exciting opportunity to deliver psychologically informed support in trusted youth settings, working alongside partner organisations to improve emotional wellbeing, increase access to mental health support, and strengthen resilience for girls facing multiple disadvantage. You will provide group-based and 1:1 psychological support, offer consultation to youth workers, and help create safe, accessible spaces where girls can explore issues affecting their lives and wellbeing.

We are looking for a compassionate, skilled and thoughtful psychologist/psychotherapist who is committed to trauma-informed, culturally responsive and relationship-based practice. You will join a highly respected organisation with a long history of improving young peoples mental health, and be part of a collaborative partnership that values participation, inclusion and innovation.

If you are passionate about making psychological support more accessible and want to make a meaningful difference in the lives of girls and young women, we would love to hear from you.

Provisional Interview Date and Location: 23/10/2026 - In person at the Brandon Centre.

Main duties of the job

You will provide psychologically informed support to girls and young women within community-based youth settings across Islington. The role includes delivering group sessions on mental health and wellbeing, offering 1:1 support where appropriate, and helping young people access the right support at the right time.

You will work closely with youth workers and partner organisations to bring a psychological perspective into everyday practice, offering consultation, advice and reflective support to staff. You will also contribute to creating safe, inclusive and trauma-informed spaces where girls can build confidence, resilience and emotional wellbeing.

The post involves working across different partner sites, building strong relationships with young people and professionals, responding to emerging needs, and supporting the wider development of the project. You will also contribute to safeguarding, signposting and referrals, and maintain accurate records and outcome information in line with service requirements.

This is an opportunity to use your clinical skills in a flexible, relational and community-focused way, helping to make mental health support more accessible for girls who may not engage with more traditional services.

Due to the nature of this role and the needs of the service users, applications are invited from women only. This is a lawful occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Job description

Job Description and Person Specification

Community Psychologist / Psychotherapist

She Is Supported (SIS) Girls' Project

Female Only Applicants: Due to the nature of this role and the needs of the service users, applications are invited from women only. This is a lawful occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Job title

Community Psychologist/ Psychotherapist

Project

She Is Supported (SIS) Girls' Project

Grade

Band 7 equivalent

Salary

£45,895

Contract

2 years fixed term

Hours

14 hours per week (0.4 FTE)

Working pattern

Regular evening work during term time to attend girls groups, plus occasional attendance at Girls Super Groups, trips and residential activity as required.

Must be able to work during the following days and times:

Tuesday - HRH - 4pm - 6pm

Wednesday - Prospex - 7-9pm

Thursday - Mary's - 5pm-6:30pm

Location

Across community sites in Islington, including Brandon Centre and partner venues used by Highbury Roundhouse, Prospex, and Marys Youth Club

Reports to

Clinical Director, with operational liaison to the SIS Project Manager

Accountability

Clinical Director

A. Job Summary

The postholder will provide specialist community psychology/psychotherapy support within the She Is Supported (SIS) Girls' Project, a partnership with youth organisations delivering open access, girls-only provision in Islington for girls aged 9 to 17. The role is embedded across the partnership and will involve attending community-based girls groups, shaping and leading sessions on mental health and wellbeing topics identified by girls, offering 1-to-1 support, supporting youth workers with psychologically informed practice, and helping to identify and signpost girls who require additional or specialist support.

The SIS model is designed to reach girls experiencing multiple disadvantage, including poverty, trauma, domestic violence, irregular home lives, cultural barriers to accessing mixed provision, refugee and asylum experiences, and neurodivergence. The post-holder will therefore need to work in a flexible, relational, culturally responsive and trauma-informed way, making mental health support accessible within trusted local community spaces.

The post-holder will also contribute to project monitoring, evaluation and reporting, and will work closely with Brandon Centre colleagues and partner youth workers to strengthen psychologically informed practice across the consortium.

B. Brandon Centre Overview

The principal objective of the Brandon Centre, since it was founded in 1969, has been to provide a professional, accessible and flexible service which responds to the psychological and social needs of young people under the age of 25.

Services include counselling and psychotherapy for young people, systemic integrative treatment for families, parenting programmes, and consultation and training for other charities working with young people.

C. Principal Duties and Responsibilities

1. Clinical and therapeutic work

• To provide community psychology/psychotherapysupport to girls participating in the SIS project across partner settings.
• To attend and contribute to weekly girls-only groups across the SIS partnership during term time, and to shape and lead mental health and wellbeing sessions in response to themes identified by girls and project staff.
• To deliver developmentally appropriate, accessible and engaging group-based input on topics such as emotions, stress, relationships, self-esteem, body image, identity, safety, and wellbeing.
• To offer 1-to-1 therapeutic or consultative support to girls within the remit of the project, using a flexible and responsive model.
• To undertake specialist assessment and formulation of emotional wellbeing needs based on information from direct contact, observation, self-report, youth worker consultation and other relevant sources.
• To make clinically informed decisions about the most appropriate level of support within the project and when onward referral or signposting is indicated.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for girls presenting with emotional distress, self-harm, safeguarding concerns or other vulnerabilities, and to provide specialist advice to project staff where required.
• To support identification of girls who may require additional or specialist mental health, social care or other support, and to facilitate appropriate signposting or referral pathways.
• To communicate highly sensitive and complex clinical information in a clear, age-appropriate and respectful way to young people, colleagues and other professionals, in line with consent, confidentiality and safeguarding requirements.

2. Consultation, partnership and psychologically informed practice

• To provide consultation, guidance and support to youth workers across the SIS partnership to strengthen psychologically informed, trauma-informed and reflective practice.
• To contribute to the development of a safe, containing and inclusive emotional environment within girls groups.
• To work collaboratively with staff from Highbury Roundhouse, Prospex and Marys Youth Club, recognising the knowledge and expertise held within each community setting.
• To contribute an applied psychology perspective to project development, with attention to participation, voice, access, culture, context, and barriers to engagement.
• To support staff in understanding the emotional, relational and systemic factors affecting girls wellbeing, including the impact of poverty, trauma, discrimination, gendered expectations, social exclusion and family stress.
• To contribute where appropriate to reflective spaces, informal consultation and case discussion with project partners.

3. Participation and co-production

• To work in ways that centre girls voices and experiences in planning and delivery.
• To ensure that sessions and interventions are responsive to girls needs, preferences, developmental stage and cultural context.
• To support the co-development of termly themes and session content alongside girls, youth workers and wider project activity, including Girls Super Groups where appropriate.
• To promote accessibility and participation for girls who may find it difficult to engage with more formal or clinic-based mental health provision.

4. Safeguarding and risk

• To always work within Brandon Centre safeguarding policies and procedures.
• To identify safeguarding concerns promptly and respond in line with organisational and statutory requirements.
• To liaise with the youth service manager and relevant external agencies where safeguarding or high-risk concerns arise.
• To maintain clear professional boundaries and sound judgement in community-based and partnership settings.
• To contribute to the safeguarding culture of the partnership by modelling safe, reflective and accountable practice.

5. Monitoring, evaluation and administration

• To maintain accurate, timely and confidential clinical and project records in accordance with Brandon Centre policies and professional standards.
• To collect and report project data, outcomes, activity information and case examples as required.
• To contribute to monitoring and evaluation processes, including use of feedback and outcome measures where appropriate.
• To work with Brandon Centre colleagues, including the SIS Project Manager and data support staff, to ensure timely reporting and learning from the project.
• To use relevant IT systems for communication, record keeping, data entry and reporting.

6. Supervision, service development and professional responsibilities

• To engage in regular clinical supervision in line with Brandon Centre policy and the requirements of the relevant professional body.
• To contribute to service development and quality improvement within the SIS project.
• To maintain up-to-date knowledge and skills relevant to the role, including child and adolescent mental health, community-based clinical practice, safeguarding, trauma-informed approaches and equality, diversity and inclusion.
• To attend relevant meetings, training and partnership activity as required.
• To work flexibly and collaboratively in a developing project and contribute to a culture of reflection, learning and continuous improvement.

D. General Responsibilities for all Brandon Centre Staff

All employees of the Brandon Centre are required to observe legislation, Brandon Centre policies, standards and guidelines relating to confidentiality, information governance, risk management, safeguarding children, safeguarding adults, equal opportunities, data protection, freedom of information, health and safety, infection control and record keeping.

All staff are expected to actively promote equality and diversity in all aspects of their work and to always maintain the confidentiality and security of service user information.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the postholder may be required to undertake other duties in discussion with their manager. This job description will be reviewed regularly in the light of changing service requirements, and any such changes will be discussed with the post-holder.

About us

Brandon Centre has been supporting young peoples mental health and wellbeing since 1969. We are a well-established charity with a strong reputation for providing accessible, flexible and high-quality support to young people and families. Our work combines clinical expertise with a deep commitment to early intervention, inclusion and social justice.

We offer a range of mental health services for young people, alongside specialist projects and partnerships that reach those who may not otherwise access support. Our staff group includes psychologists and psychotherapists, managers, and operational colleagues who work together in a thoughtful, collaborative and caring way.

We are committed to creating a supportive working environment where people feel valued, respected and able to develop. We place a strong emphasis on reflective practice, supervision, safeguarding, professional curiosity and continuous learning. We are also committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, both in the communities we serve and within our organisation.

Working at Brandon Centre offers the opportunity to be part of a mission-driven organisation that is ambitious for young people and committed to making services more responsive, relational and impactful.