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

• Careful use of equipment

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.

Employer details

Employer name

Devon Partnership NHS Trust

Address

TALKWORKS

Abbotsvale, Bideford Hospital

Abbotsham Road, Bideford

North Devon

EX39 3AG

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

C9369-24-0509