Job summary
We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic, motivated, and compassionate therapeutic Support Worker to play a core part in delivering skills underpinned by brief psychological interventions within the relatively new Psychological Skills Service (PSS) Central in Huntingdon and Fenland.
The Psychological Skills Service is a Trauma informed service, acknowledging that, the majority of clients referred to the service have experienced some form of trauma in their lives.
The Psychological Skills Service (PSS) is a service for people who experience significant difficulties with their mental health, whilst also managing to keep themselves safe and relatively well without significant support from services.
We're offering an exciting opportunity for a compassionate, motivated Therapeutic Support Worker to join the Psychological Skills Service (PSS). This role involves delivering trauma-informed formulation-driven support work and brief psychological and occupational interventions.
PSS supports individuals with significant mental health challenges who are able to maintain relative wellbeing without intensive service input. Many may have tried therapies like CBT in the past and found them less helpful than expected.
Please add in as part of your supporting statement an answer to the following question's;
Give an example of a time you supported someone with mental health difficulties, who was difficult to engage. What did you do? What did you learn about yourself from this?
Main duties of the job
As a therapeutic support worker, you will fill an important position offering psychologically and occupationally informed support and psychological skills to a group of people previously described as "not ready" for psychological therapy.
In our service rather than exclude we think creatively about what type or level of therapy a person can use. The support work will be based on a psychological, trauma informed formulation that will guide how you work with the service user and help them achieve a variety of things including: physical safety and stability, learn skills to help with symptoms that affect them leaving the house/ interacting with others, teaching stabilization strategies, and strengthening important social and emotional resources. Work will be a mixture of face to face and online.
Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence* and have use of a vehicle. You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.
About us
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health & social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health & wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting & empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services not only via inpatient and primary care setting but also with the community. These services include Children, Adult & Older Peoples mental & physical health, Forensic & Specialist mental health, Learning Disabilities, Primary Care & Liaison psychiatry, Substance misuse, Social care, Research & Development.
To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high calibre candidates that share our vision & values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people & members of our ethnic minorities & LGBTQ+ communities.
Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.
Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.
For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities
- To complete discharge letters of interventions carried out (with training and supervision).To identify when clients need interventions from other services and initiate timely onward referral as indicated.
- To effectively communicate verbally with clients, carers and colleagues usingmotivational interviewing skills and adapting communication style when needed to engage clients and meet their needs. This may involve using skills to adapt strategies where clients have difficulties in communication eg. Hearing loss,diminished sight, cognitive impairment, or neurodiversity adaptations.
- Establish and maintain appropriate working relationships with colleagues, clients, carers and other health care professionals.
- To assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and to work within a legal framework with clients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
- To attend relevant external and internal courses to extend knowledge or gain relevant.
- To maintain a clinical caseload, under supervision.
- To assist the psychology team in the development of individual or group clinical materials or training materials, such as the development of treatment manuals and group interventions.
- To act in a manner that supports a psychologically informed framework for the service.
- To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary and psychology meetings.
- To participate in the services delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities
- To complete discharge letters of interventions carried out (with training and supervision).To identify when clients need interventions from other services and initiate timely onward referral as indicated.
- To effectively communicate verbally with clients, carers and colleagues usingmotivational interviewing skills and adapting communication style when needed to engage clients and meet their needs. This may involve using skills to adapt strategies where clients have difficulties in communication eg. Hearing loss,diminished sight, cognitive impairment, or neurodiversity adaptations.
- Establish and maintain appropriate working relationships with colleagues, clients, carers and other health care professionals.
- To assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and to work within a legal framework with clients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
- To attend relevant external and internal courses to extend knowledge or gain relevant.
- To maintain a clinical caseload, under supervision.
- To assist the psychology team in the development of individual or group clinical materials or training materials, such as the development of treatment manuals and group interventions.
- To act in a manner that supports a psychologically informed framework for the service.
- To attend and contribute to appropriate multi-disciplinary and psychology meetings.
- To participate in the services delivery of accessible and acceptable services to diverse local communities.
Person Specification
Education & Qualifications
Essential
- Psychology degree (2:2 or above; BPS accredited)
- Willingness to undertake training to meet competency framework
- Good general education up to GCSE equivalent
Desirable
- Additional training relevant to supporting adults with mental health difficulties
Experience
Essential
- At least two years experience of one-to-one clinical experience with working age people with mental health difficulties, within a statutory service.
- Experience of supporting service users in problem solving/ grading tasks/ structuring daily routines
- Clinical experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Experience of supporting adults in the community with mental health problems
Desirable
- Experience of working with psychologists or occupational therapists
- Experience of assisting in the delivery of therapeutic groups.
- Experience of working with service users with reading and writing difficulties or English as a second language
Knowledge & Skills
Essential
- High level communication skills
- Ability to communicate sensitive information to service users, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
- Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from service users
Desirable
- oRecognise and accommodate sensory impairments during all communications and the use of personal communication aids.
Other
Essential
- Ability to travel across CPFT locality and have access to a vehicle
Person Specification
Education & Qualifications
Essential
- Psychology degree (2:2 or above; BPS accredited)
- Willingness to undertake training to meet competency framework
- Good general education up to GCSE equivalent
Desirable
- Additional training relevant to supporting adults with mental health difficulties
Experience
Essential
- At least two years experience of one-to-one clinical experience with working age people with mental health difficulties, within a statutory service.
- Experience of supporting service users in problem solving/ grading tasks/ structuring daily routines
- Clinical experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Experience of supporting adults in the community with mental health problems
Desirable
- Experience of working with psychologists or occupational therapists
- Experience of assisting in the delivery of therapeutic groups.
- Experience of working with service users with reading and writing difficulties or English as a second language
Knowledge & Skills
Essential
- High level communication skills
- Ability to communicate sensitive information to service users, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
- Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from service users
Desirable
- oRecognise and accommodate sensory impairments during all communications and the use of personal communication aids.
Other
Essential
- Ability to travel across CPFT locality and have access to a vehicle
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
