Job summary
Are you a qualified counsellor, looking to work for a cutting edge NHS Talking Therapies service?
Do you have a diploma in person
centred or humanistic counselling and at least two years' post qualifying
experience of working as a counsellor?
Are you experienced in working with people presenting with a range of
common mental health problems?
Are you accredited or a member of one of the counselling professional bodies?
If the answer is yes to these
questions, this could be the job for you.
You will need to be accredited or a member of a recognised counselling or therapy association, such as BACP, NCPS or UKCP. If you are not accredited, you will need to achieve accreditation within a year of being in post. You will have excellent organisational
skills, be IT literate and be willing to work flexibly and adaptively. If you haven't trained in the PCE-CfD
approach you will be willing and able to undertake the recommended training as
part of this role. The training consists
of five taught days, followed by a period of supervised, assessed
practice.
The post will be based in the Torridge TALKWORKS team, located in Bideford and covering the Torridge and Holsworthy areas. You will be working alongside the
existing, established therapists and counsellors. The
service is currently working a hybrid model with generally 60% in base and 40% remotely, using a range of video platforms.
Part time 22.5 hours per week (0.6wte)
Main duties of the job
The TALKWORKS Torridge Team is looking for a counsellor to provide Person Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD). PCE-CfD is a NICE approved evidence-based approach for working with people presenting with depression. PCE-CfD targets the emotional problems underlying depression along with the intrapersonal processes, such as low self-esteem and excessive self-criticism, which often maintain depressed mood. PCE-CfD therapy aims to help people contact underlying feelings, make sense of them and reflect on the new meanings which emerge. This, in turn, provides the basis for psychological and behavioural change.
About us
About Devon Partnership Trust
We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.
We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do
Our values
We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.
We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Job Purpose
The principal purpose of the job is to improve the
psychological health & wellbeing of people within an identified Devon locality.
The post
holder will work as a member of a TALKWORKS team working in an integrated
stepped care NHS Talking Therapies service. The post holder will contribute to increasing the range of therapy choices
available to people with depression by providing Person Centred Experiential
Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD) at step 3 within the stepped care model,
following NICE guidelines. If required, the post holder will successfully
complete a five day course in NICE-recommended PCE-CfD according to the NHS Talking Therapies national
curriculum, provided by the Regional Development Centre, including supervised and assessed practice.
The post
holder will work with people with different cultural backgrounds and ages,
using interpreters when necessary and will be committed to equal opportunities.
Along with colleagues from TALKWORKS, the post holder will act as a
representative of the service to primary care and other interests.
Duties and
Responsibilities
Communication and Working Relationships
- Clients,
family and carers:
To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with clients who may
have specific difficulties in understanding and/or communicating and who may be
hostile, antagonistic or emotionally distressed.
- Multidisciplinary team colleagues: To work closely with colleagues in
the multi-professional TALKWORKS service on a day to day basis.
- Health, social care and employment staff: To communicate with a wide range of
health, social care and employment staff in a highly skilled and sensitive
manner, complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment,
formulation and treatment plans of clients. To act at all
times as a representative of the service to primary care and other interests.
- Senior managers & professional staff: To maintain and build good working
relationships with senior professional staff and managers.
Planning and Organisation
- TALKWORKS: To plan and prioritise own workload within an agreed
activity contract relating to the number of client contacts offered, and
clinical sessions carried out per week, balancing the demands of patient
care, support and guidance of team colleagues and staff from other teams and
agencies, in response to supervision from service managers.
- The multidisciplinary service: Provide information on matters
related to the practice and delivery of PCE-CfD to individuals/groups across
DPT, Primary Care services and other statutory and voluntary agencies.
Responsibility for Judgement and Analysis
- To have significant discretion and work independently within a
defined occupational context making use of supervision. The post holder is responsible for
their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures
and Professional Practice Guidelines, working within clearly defined
occupational procedures.
Responsibility for Patient/Client
Care, Treatment and Therapy
1. Accept referrals via agreed protocols
within TALKWORKS
2. Assess clients for suitability for PCE-CfD.
3. Make decisions on suitability of new
referrals, adhering to the TALKWORKS referral protocols, and refer unsuitable
clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as
necessary.
4. Formulate, implement and evaluate
evidence based PCE-CfD for clients.
5. Adhere to an agreed activity contract
relating to the number of client contacts offered, and clinical sessions
carried out per week in order to minimise waiting times and ensure treatment
delivery remains accessible and convenient.
6. Attend multi-disciplinary meetings
relating to referrals or clients in treatment, where appropriate.
7. Work closely with other members of
the team ensuring appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place
to maintain a stepped care approach.
8. Assess and integrate issues
surrounding work and employment into the overall counselling process.
Policy, Service, Research, Innovation and
Improvement
- Policy
& service: To implement policy led changes to own role and to comment on proposed policy
changes. To participate in and propose changes to working practice in TALKWORKS
- R & D: To participate in research and development undertaken by
the service as required, and to undertake audit and evaluation of clinical
activity
Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and
Other Resources
Responsibility for
Supervision, Leadership and Management
- Leadership & supervision: To contribute to the good functioning of the team and local service under
the direction of the team's Clinical Team Lead and take on delegated task for
the team as required. To supervise counselling trainees and junior counsellors as
required.
Information Resources and Administrative
Duties
- To
complete the requirements relating to data collection within the service.
- Keep
accurate, coherent records of all clinical activity in line with service
protocols using IAPTUs, the digital patient record.
- To be responsible for using an email account to generate,
monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trust conducts much
of its internal communication.
Any Other Specific Tasks Required
- To ensure all clinical care and treatment is carried out
under appropriate supervision and leadership.
- To continuously update the skills and techniques relevant
to their clinical work.
- To ensure the maintenance of standards of practice
according to the employer and any regulating, professional and accrediting
bodies (eg BACP, HPC), and keep up to date with new
recommendations/guidelines set by the Department of Health (e.g National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence).
Job description
Job responsibilities
Job Purpose
The principal purpose of the job is to improve the
psychological health & wellbeing of people within an identified Devon locality.
The post
holder will work as a member of a TALKWORKS team working in an integrated
stepped care NHS Talking Therapies service. The post holder will contribute to increasing the range of therapy choices
available to people with depression by providing Person Centred Experiential
Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD) at step 3 within the stepped care model,
following NICE guidelines. If required, the post holder will successfully
complete a five day course in NICE-recommended PCE-CfD according to the NHS Talking Therapies national
curriculum, provided by the Regional Development Centre, including supervised and assessed practice.
The post
holder will work with people with different cultural backgrounds and ages,
using interpreters when necessary and will be committed to equal opportunities.
Along with colleagues from TALKWORKS, the post holder will act as a
representative of the service to primary care and other interests.
Duties and
Responsibilities
Communication and Working Relationships
- Clients,
family and carers:
To communicate in a highly skilled and sensitive manner with clients who may
have specific difficulties in understanding and/or communicating and who may be
hostile, antagonistic or emotionally distressed.
- Multidisciplinary team colleagues: To work closely with colleagues in
the multi-professional TALKWORKS service on a day to day basis.
- Health, social care and employment staff: To communicate with a wide range of
health, social care and employment staff in a highly skilled and sensitive
manner, complex and sensitive information concerning the assessment,
formulation and treatment plans of clients. To act at all
times as a representative of the service to primary care and other interests.
- Senior managers & professional staff: To maintain and build good working
relationships with senior professional staff and managers.
Planning and Organisation
- TALKWORKS: To plan and prioritise own workload within an agreed
activity contract relating to the number of client contacts offered, and
clinical sessions carried out per week, balancing the demands of patient
care, support and guidance of team colleagues and staff from other teams and
agencies, in response to supervision from service managers.
- The multidisciplinary service: Provide information on matters
related to the practice and delivery of PCE-CfD to individuals/groups across
DPT, Primary Care services and other statutory and voluntary agencies.
Responsibility for Judgement and Analysis
- To have significant discretion and work independently within a
defined occupational context making use of supervision. The post holder is responsible for
their own professional actions, acting within Trust policies and procedures
and Professional Practice Guidelines, working within clearly defined
occupational procedures.
Responsibility for Patient/Client
Care, Treatment and Therapy
1. Accept referrals via agreed protocols
within TALKWORKS
2. Assess clients for suitability for PCE-CfD.
3. Make decisions on suitability of new
referrals, adhering to the TALKWORKS referral protocols, and refer unsuitable
clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as
necessary.
4. Formulate, implement and evaluate
evidence based PCE-CfD for clients.
5. Adhere to an agreed activity contract
relating to the number of client contacts offered, and clinical sessions
carried out per week in order to minimise waiting times and ensure treatment
delivery remains accessible and convenient.
6. Attend multi-disciplinary meetings
relating to referrals or clients in treatment, where appropriate.
7. Work closely with other members of
the team ensuring appropriate step-up and step-down arrangements are in place
to maintain a stepped care approach.
8. Assess and integrate issues
surrounding work and employment into the overall counselling process.
Policy, Service, Research, Innovation and
Improvement
- Policy
& service: To implement policy led changes to own role and to comment on proposed policy
changes. To participate in and propose changes to working practice in TALKWORKS
- R & D: To participate in research and development undertaken by
the service as required, and to undertake audit and evaluation of clinical
activity
Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and
Other Resources
Responsibility for
Supervision, Leadership and Management
- Leadership & supervision: To contribute to the good functioning of the team and local service under
the direction of the team's Clinical Team Lead and take on delegated task for
the team as required. To supervise counselling trainees and junior counsellors as
required.
Information Resources and Administrative
Duties
- To
complete the requirements relating to data collection within the service.
- Keep
accurate, coherent records of all clinical activity in line with service
protocols using IAPTUs, the digital patient record.
- To be responsible for using an email account to generate,
monitor, and respond to the e-mail traffic by which the Trust conducts much
of its internal communication.
Any Other Specific Tasks Required
- To ensure all clinical care and treatment is carried out
under appropriate supervision and leadership.
- To continuously update the skills and techniques relevant
to their clinical work.
- To ensure the maintenance of standards of practice
according to the employer and any regulating, professional and accrediting
bodies (eg BACP, HPC), and keep up to date with new
recommendations/guidelines set by the Department of Health (e.g National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence).
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Diploma in humanistic &/or person-centred, counselling or psychotherapy (a BACP recognised course or its
- equivalent - i.e. 450 hours skills and theory, 120 hours of supervised practice, 20 hours of personal therapy) covering knowledge and skill in a range of counselling procedures
- AND
- Registered with a statutory health or social care regulatory body (e.g. HSCPC, NMC) and/or BACP accredited/UKCP Registered as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor / Association of Christian Counsellors Accreditation / National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society Accredited Professional registrant. If accreditation is not in place to submit an accreditation application with BACP/UKCP/Association of Christian Counsellors/National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society within 12 months of starting in post and maintain accreditation thereafter
- Post-graduate qualification in humanistic or person-centred counselling or psychotherapy.
- Qualification to provide clinical supervision to counsellors and psychotherapists (e.g. Certificate or Diploma in Supervision)
- Have successfully completed an NHS Talking Therapies compliant PCE-CfD course or attend and successfully complete this training when in post, within the time requirement stipulated within the course, access to the training facilitated and funded from the service.
Desirable
- Registered as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor / Association of Christian Counsellors Accreditation / National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society Accredited Professional registrant. If accreditation is not in place to submit an accreditation application with BACP/UKCP/Association of Christian Counsellors/National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society within 12 months of starting in post and maintain accreditation thereafter
- Post-graduate qualification in humanistic or person-centred counselling or psychotherapy.
- Qualification to provide clinical supervision to counsellors and psychotherapists (e.g. Certificate or Diploma in Supervision)
Analytical & Judgement Skills
Essential
- Able to accurately assess people presenting with depression and possible complex co-morbid conditions in primary care counselling / therapy services, including assessing risk and the appropriateness of the service to meet the person's needs, and personalise the evidence based counselling for depression protocol to meet individual needs.
- Skilled in decision making about the most appropriate evidence-based therapy to meet the person's needs
- Skilled in decision making about referral to specialist mental health services including crisis resolution services
Experience
Essential
- A minimum of two years' post-qualifying experience of providing brief counselling for clients with common mental health problems, particularly depression.
- Experience of providing counselling in organisations (e.g. primary care services).
- Has received training (either formal of through experience) and carried out risk assessments within scope of practice
Desirable
- Working in the NHS
- Working in an NHS Talking Therapy Service.
Practical
Essential
- Ability to work in base and travel across the Torridge TALKWORKS team patch.
Desirable
- Driving Licence.
- Safe and confidential space for working from home if included in job plan.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Diploma in humanistic &/or person-centred, counselling or psychotherapy (a BACP recognised course or its
- equivalent - i.e. 450 hours skills and theory, 120 hours of supervised practice, 20 hours of personal therapy) covering knowledge and skill in a range of counselling procedures
- AND
- Registered with a statutory health or social care regulatory body (e.g. HSCPC, NMC) and/or BACP accredited/UKCP Registered as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor / Association of Christian Counsellors Accreditation / National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society Accredited Professional registrant. If accreditation is not in place to submit an accreditation application with BACP/UKCP/Association of Christian Counsellors/National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society within 12 months of starting in post and maintain accreditation thereafter
- Post-graduate qualification in humanistic or person-centred counselling or psychotherapy.
- Qualification to provide clinical supervision to counsellors and psychotherapists (e.g. Certificate or Diploma in Supervision)
- Have successfully completed an NHS Talking Therapies compliant PCE-CfD course or attend and successfully complete this training when in post, within the time requirement stipulated within the course, access to the training facilitated and funded from the service.
Desirable
- Registered as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor / Association of Christian Counsellors Accreditation / National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society Accredited Professional registrant. If accreditation is not in place to submit an accreditation application with BACP/UKCP/Association of Christian Counsellors/National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society within 12 months of starting in post and maintain accreditation thereafter
- Post-graduate qualification in humanistic or person-centred counselling or psychotherapy.
- Qualification to provide clinical supervision to counsellors and psychotherapists (e.g. Certificate or Diploma in Supervision)
Analytical & Judgement Skills
Essential
- Able to accurately assess people presenting with depression and possible complex co-morbid conditions in primary care counselling / therapy services, including assessing risk and the appropriateness of the service to meet the person's needs, and personalise the evidence based counselling for depression protocol to meet individual needs.
- Skilled in decision making about the most appropriate evidence-based therapy to meet the person's needs
- Skilled in decision making about referral to specialist mental health services including crisis resolution services
Experience
Essential
- A minimum of two years' post-qualifying experience of providing brief counselling for clients with common mental health problems, particularly depression.
- Experience of providing counselling in organisations (e.g. primary care services).
- Has received training (either formal of through experience) and carried out risk assessments within scope of practice
Desirable
- Working in the NHS
- Working in an NHS Talking Therapy Service.
Practical
Essential
- Ability to work in base and travel across the Torridge TALKWORKS team patch.
Desirable
- Driving Licence.
- Safe and confidential space for working from home if included in job plan.
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
