Psychologist at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service - 50% to 100%

About the job

Company Description

With more than 13,000 employees representing 160 professions, the Geneva University Hospitals are a nationally and internationally recognised institution. To learn more about our institution, take a few minutes to view our 2025 retrospective by clicking  here .

The  Department of Women, Children and Adolescents  is tasked with providing quality care tailored to the needs of women at every stage of their lives and addressing the health issues faced by newborns, children and adolescents from birth up to the age of 16. It works on developing cutting-edge services and centres of expertise in specialities.

The  Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service  (SPEA) manages inpatient, day hospital and outpatient care for children and adolescents suffering from mental disorders. It provides holistic psychological and child psychiatric care, considering the patient as a whole, including their family and social network. SPEA is a category A training centre for postgraduate medical education.

The service occupies the new premises of the House of Childhood and Adolescence (MEA), which brings together all the service units in a particularly welcoming environment, specifically designed to improve the quality of care for the most vulnerable young patients.

Job Description

As part of your activities, you are attached to the Early Childhood Guidance Unit, which is dedicated to the care of young children (0-4 years) and their families.

You work within the OBB home and/or the Dora house, structures affiliated with the Office of Childhood and Youth, which primarily accommodate particularly vulnerable families. You have the opportunity to offer support in developing parent-child bonds for families at high psychosocial risk.

You conduct assessments and then provide parent-baby support in close collaboration with the teams from OBB or the Dora house (educational team of the FOJ) and the SPEA team (perinatal liaison team of the Early Childhood Guidance Unit dedicated to the care of young children (0-4 years) and their families).

As the post holder, you are responsible for meeting families at the HUG who may join the OBB home or the Dora house. At both the OBB home and the Dora house, you work in collaboration with the team of educators, supporting several dyads, triads or families within the home or the House of Childhood and Adolescence during weekly appointments. You are the lead child psychologist for the dyads or families accommodated (approximately 10 families at the OBB home and 4 at the Dora house). You support and assess the establishment of parent-baby/child bonds during daily care (bathing, changing, feeding, sleeping, interactions/play, etc.) and the baby/child’s skills and development by assisting parents in reading, decoding and responding to their signals.

You support and accompany the parent according to their mental state (postpartum depression, personality disorder, non-decompensated psychiatric disorder, etc.).

Furthermore, you support and assess parenting skills in close collaboration with the multidisciplinary team of the OBB home and the Dora house (psychomotor therapist, adult psychiatrist, paediatrician, educator, specialised nurse, midwife, social worker, as well as the perinatal liaison child psychiatry team of SPEA).

Participation is also required in team meetings, supervisions, and psychosocial networks around the family both within the home and at the HUG.

Finally, on the administrative side, you are responsible for recording follow-up notes of daily observations of the child and the parent-baby relationship for each family in the child’s HUG file. You participate in the preparation and writing of reports as well as billing.

Qualifications

You hold a MAS in psychotherapy (or have been in the MAS training process for at least one year) or an equivalent recognised qualification.

You have experience working with babies and very young children. Knowledge of trauma/complex trauma and attachment theory would be a significant asset.

You are able to cope with stress and have good teamwork skills.

You demonstrate openness to collaborative work with other professionals (e.g., paediatrician) as well as multidisciplinary work.

Additional Information

• Start date: as soon as possible
• Number of positions: 1 to 2
• Activity rate: 50% to 100%
• Job grade: 18
• Contract: renewable one-year fixed-term contract
• Application deadline: 31.06.2026
• Contact for information: Dr F. Hentsch, assistant physician co-responsible for the Early Childhood Guidance Unit, françois.hentsch@hug.ch  or Ms E. Cottingham, head of psychologists, emily.cottingham@hug.ch

Your application file must include a letter demonstrating your motivation, your curriculum vitae, copies of diplomas and certificates required for the position, and the last two work certificates.

This announcement is addressed equally to women and men.

Wishing to engage in the fight against unemployment, the HUG encourages applications coming from the Cantonal Employment Office.

Only applications submitted via the recruitment platform will be considered. Paper and email applications will not be processed.