Drama therapist

Job description

Job responsibilities

As a clinician, the post holder provides and evaluates assessment and treatment services for adults referred for moderate and severe mental health problems with a level of complexity, and for those experiencing long term mental ill-health. They ascertain risk, needs and suitability for individual, group, other psychological therapies as a whole and specialist arts therapies, communicating with the whole range of other professionals involved.

The post holder works jointly with professionals to deliver assessment and care consultation for the range of interventions, provides individual and group dramatherapy assessments and treatment and care coordination.

To carry out initial assessment for the service.

Analyses and clarifies factors or risk e.g. self-harm, level of functioning, capacity to engage in therapeutic work, unmet needs and support systems to determine the patients need and capacities to undertake the treatment.

To provide specialised assessment with service users referred for the range of psychological therapies jointly with other arts therapies and psychological therapies to determine which service will meet their therapeutic needs.

To make decisions and recommendations regarding the treatment of service user with moderate and severe mental illnesses through investigative assessment processes and to use interpretive skills to understand complex behaviours and psychological function.

To plan, monitor and deliver specialised programmes of care for the treatment of a case load of service users experiencing moderate to severe mental illness, with a level of complexity.

To provide dramatherapy interventions, group or individual as appropriate through sensitive and expert application of arts therapeutic techniques to service users assessed as able to engage in therapeutic work, whether brief or longer term. Standardised outcome measures and evidence-based practice interpretation is part of this.

To work with a time limited structured group model, in consultation with the Specialist Dramatherapist.

To work to agreed activity standards including duration of intervention

To be able to contain at time highly emotive and distressing clinical material (i.e. sexual abuse and other trauma). To enable the service user to disclose painful material, in order to progress the course of treatment where appropriate.

To have the highly specialised skills and understanding to help service users in group and individual treatment, either brief or longer term, to disclose, process and resolve conflicts within themselves and with others.

To fully engage in regular clinical supervision from the Specialist Dramatherapist and professional and line management supervision.

Financial Responsibility

Responsible for ordering materials in consultation with the Specialist Dramatherapist and Manager.

Responsible for sourcing suitable affordable room space and liaising with the venue and line manager regarding costs and payment.

Service Development and Improvement

To contribute to the development and implementation of local protocols and procedures to support delivery of arts therapies including operational issues.

To use outcome measures such as Dialog, CORE and goal-based outcome measure and service user rated measures to evaluate/audit the effectiveness of therapy for clients.

To represent arts therapies at local forums. e.g. practice governance meetings.

Collaborates with the multi-disciplinary team in reviewing the Arts Therapies Service, contributing to service development in liaison with the Manager, Specialist Dramatherapist and Professional Lead.

Contributes to proposals for policy and service development for the MDT. Evaluates options for addressing these and contributes, as agreed with Manager, Specialist Dramatherapist and Professional Lead, in reviewing the service as a whole.

Communications

To communicate often delicate information with service users on individual or group treatment that requires high levels of tact and skill to enable service users to engage and progress in treatment. Need for working with highly developed communication skills to process highly charged emotions and enable service users to work through and complete treatment.

To provide written/electronic records, reports, letters and reviews of assessment, treatment, and termination of services, to professionals and service users, as needed.

To complete and update accurate clinical records including risk assessment and case review, throughout the course of dramatherapy/art therapy provision, for each patient.

Physical Working Conditions and Environment

To ensure that the practice environment is suitably maintained (equipment and rooms) for the services provided and that responsible officers are kept informed of unmet needs, risks and development

To move furniture and specialised equipment as necessary to create safe and clinically effective environments for assessment and treatment.

Information Resources

Regularly inputs data and statistics into central information systems, and regularly operates computers and software, responding to e-mail communication, compiling reports and documents including therapy schedules and programmes.

Compliance in maintaining secure use of IT and other filing systems

Person Specification

QUALIFICATIONS/EDUCATION/TRAINING

Essential

• Good Honours degree in relevant subject and relevant work experience
• M.A. (or equivalent) Dramatherapy
• Registered with Health and Care Professions Council as a Dramatherapist (HCPC)

Desirable

• Full member of BADth (professional body)

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Experience of providing a range of therapeutic interventions including: assessment, inpatient and outpatient work, individual and group work, exploratory and supportive
• Experience of working with people with a range of mental health problems including difficulties regulating emotions, personality disorder and psychosis, and experience of trauma
• Experience of working within an MDT

Desirable

• Experience of engaging younger aged adults
• Experience of/skills in facilitating online dramatherapy

SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/ABILITY

Essential

• A sound understanding of the theoretical issues connected to severe mental health problems, mental health diagnostic criteria and dramatherapy.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Essential

• Ability to communicate effectively in a highly emotive atmosphere, to overcome patients' psychological resistance to personal disclosure and potentially threatening information, e.g. child protection and self-harm
• Good communication skills: verbal & written, including presentations
• Computer competency, including knowledge of electronic care records, email, word processing and audit tools.

ANALYTICAL SKILLS

Essential

• Highly developed knowledge of and skills in assessing clients for arts psychotherapies and/or other treatment interventions, including risk assessment and contributing to diagnosis
• Highly developed skills in the application of psychodynamic formulations and theory to work with individuals, groups and teams
• Able to analyse and consider a variety of complex issues and to adapt the treatment to service user's level of functioning and needs, considering the history and context in which they are a service user, including risk

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

The Orchards Ashley Close Hemel Hempsted, HP3 8EH

Ashley Close

Hemel Hempsted

HP3 8EH

Employer's website

https://www.hpft.nhs.uk/careers/ (Opens in a new tab)