Supervision: Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Services, PG Cert

The UCL course covers:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

• Autism & Learning Disabilities (A/LD)

• Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents (IPT-A)

The KCL course covers:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

• Parent Training (PT)

• Systemic Family Practice (SFP)

Both universities also offer training for supervisors of Educational Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) and Children and Young People’s Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP) trainees. In these cases, supervisors will typically attend the same university as their trainee.

Candidates must be experienced mental health professionals, with a minimum of two years’ therapeutic or clinical experience working with children and young people in a CYP mental health setting. They must also demonstrate experience in both delivering and supervising the specific therapeutic approach they are applying to train in (e.g. CBT).

Managers will benefit from staff participation, as high-quality supervision plays a key role in embedding the principles of the CYP IAPT programme across services. Supervisors are also seen as important agents of change within their organisations. Commissioners benefit as well, as effective supervision ensures children and young people receive high-quality care.

Programme delivery

The supervision programme is delivered part-time over one academic year. Teaching takes place at either UCL or KCL, depending on your modality and service location. The programme includes:

• Teaching days that bring supervisors together for shared learning and skills development.

• Modality-specific supervision groups, where participants discuss real cases and review video-recorded supervision sessions.

• Ongoing supervision practice in your own service, typically through weekly individual or group sessions with trainees.

Teaching is a blend of lectures, small-group work, and peer discussion, allowing supervisors to apply learning directly to their clinical context. The smaller group sessions provide a reflective space to explore supervision challenges, receive feedback, and build confidence in supervisory practice.

Who can apply

Applicants must:

• Be experienced mental health professionals with at least two years’ therapeutic or clinical experience working with children and young people in mental health settings.

• Have experience in both delivering and supervising the therapeutic approach they are applying to train in (e.g. CBT).

• Be nominated directly by a CYP-MH service (NHS, voluntary sector, or local authority).

Additional entry requirements:

• A second-class UK Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject, or equivalent professional experience.

• At least two years’ clinical experience with children and young people.

• English language proficiency at UCL Level 2.

Services should nominate a supervisor during their bidding process for CYP PT: Therapy (formerly known as Recruit to Train) funding. If you are interested in a place on the course, please speak with your service lead and ask them to contact cypiapt@annafreud.org to discuss further.

Site supervisors who have not previously completed the training will be eligible to apply for the programme.

How to apply

• Speak to your service lead - they must nominate you during the CYP PT: Therapy funding bidding process.

• If nominated, submit your application directly to the relevant university.

• For more information about course content, structure, and entry requirements, email supervision@annafreud.org.

• For service application queries, contact supervision-workforce@annafreud.org.