Buvidal Psychological Support Service Peer Support Practitioner

Job summary

Are you someone with lived experience of addiction and/or mental health challenges who is passionate about supporting others on their recovery journey? If so, we'd love to hear from you.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Buvidal Psychological Support Service (BPSS) as aPeer Support Worker. This innovative service provides trauma-focused psychological interventions to individuals receiving Buvidal as part of their opiate substitute treatment. Clients on Buvidal often report significant benefits from the monthly injection, but some also experience resurfacing trauma or mental health difficulties. Your role will be key in supporting clients to access psychological support at the right time.

We are looking for someone who can draw on their own experiences to offer empathy, hope, and trauma-informed support to others. Your insight will be invaluable in helping people feel understood, reducing stigma, and building trust as they navigate their own recovery and engage in psychological therapy.

As a BPSS Peer Support Worker, you will:

• Work alongside a multi-disciplinary team including Clinical Psychologists, Psychological Therapists, a Consultant Psychiatrist, and administrative staff.

• Collaborate with partners across the NHS, Local Authority, and voluntary sector.

• Engage service users, support assessments, and contribute to the co-production of care pathways.

• Help shape a service that values lived experience.

Main duties of the job

ThePeer Support Worker (PSW)is the first point of contact for people referred to the BPSS. Drawing on your lived experience of addiction and/or mental health challenges, you will build trust, promote engagement, and help clients feel understood and supported.

Key Responsibilities:

• Engage service users compassionately and non-judgmentally, using personal insight to help them feel safe and motivated.

• Identify and address barriers to engagement, including stigma and fear.

• Complete initial assessment measures to inform psychological therapy, with support from a Clinical Psychologist.

• Support the collection, interpretation, and reporting of outcome data, contributing to a responsive service.

• Contribute to service development, using lived experience to inform and co-produce improvements.

Collaboration:

• Work closely with a multi-disciplinary team and partner organisations

• The role requires empathy, resilience, and a strong commitment to recovery-focused, trauma-informed care.

We are looking for someone who:

• Brings lived experience of addiction and/or mental health difficulties and is ready to support others.

• Understands the challenges faced by people with complex needs and can engage those who may be difficult to reach.

• Has strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.

• Is confident in completing assessments, including the use of validated outcome measures (e.g., TOPS, EQ-5D, CORE-10)

About us

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is one of the largest Integrated Health Boards in the UK, employing over 17,000 staff, providing over 100 specialist services. Working across 6 hospital sites, we have a diverse range of career opportunities to offer. Serving over 500,000 people living in Cardiff and the Vale, we are focussed on the health and care needs of our local population whilst working with our partners to develop regional services. Together we are committed to improving health outcomes for everyone, delivering excellent care and support.

Our mission is "Living Well, Caring Well, Working Together", and our vision is that every person's chance of leading a healthy life should be equal. Our 10-year transformation and improvement strategy, Shaping Our Future Wellbeing, is our chance to work collaboratively with the public and our workforce to make our health board more sustainable for the future.