Therapeutic Consultant

Basic salary: Up to £40,000-50,000 pro-rata (in addition, there is a bonus package)

Days: 3 days or full-time

Benefits: 28 days annual leave pro-rata

Location: South East/South West London. The office is based in Wallington

About Us

Ascent Children’s Services is a growing, privately owned social care organisation that is passionate about providing high-quality care for children and young people. We are an independent therapeutic fostering agency rated outstanding by Ofsted and have two Children’s homes. We also have a Platinum Award from Investors in People.

Ascent Children Services is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and engaging children and staff in policy and practice developments, expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment and proactively encourages feedback.

Role Responsibilities

We are looking for a therapist to work with the team predominantly in our fostering service, and, where required, the residential services. This will include leading in the design and delivery of services, and working closely with other therapists who are providing support to young people.

You will be responsible for carrying out therapeutic activities with foster carers, children and young people at Ascent, assessing the needs of young people, providing one-to-one sessions, assessments, monthly foster care consultations, attending professional meetings to support/advocate for foster carers, delivering training and therapeutic workshops to foster carers and working with stakeholders including local authorities, schools, birth families etc.

Strategic

To support the senior team in the therapeutic development of Ascent Children Services, to consult and provide therapeutic support to the business units; to work with staff, foster carers in developing the therapeutic competence of the organisation; to provide remedial services to children and young people as appropriately agreed. To assist in the review of therapeutic support for children placed across the business and feed back to the senior team.

Team

To work individually with foster carers, residential staff in the planning for children by leading/supporting with assessments, 28 assessments and support planning and risk assessment for all children and young people.

Within the fostering team, this role would encompass: providing clinical supervision/consultation as appropriate to staff to support the service in its reflective practice to offer foster families monthly consultation attend professional meetings about the children offer support to the external network; education, birth families.

Children

To undertake bespoke pieces of work to support family relationships with foster carers, crisis work, direct work with children/young people, supporting other stakeholders with therapeutic consultation, and preparing children to undertake longer pieces of therapeutic intervention.

Training

Creating specialist contributions to developing and delivering professional training programmes, e.g. therapeutic child care, therapeutic workshops.

Projects

To undertake any project work as appropriate, to support the wider services and clients, such as with school work, bespoke pieces of work with birth families, etc.

Reporting

To provide prompt analysis and timely delivery of reports to the team. A written report of work carried out and a monthly summary of work provided within the organisation.

Requirements

• Qualified Therapist, Counsellor, or Psychotherapist with current professional registration
• Hold a qualification in clinical supervision (desirable)
• Proven experience providing therapy to children and young people with SEMH and their parents or carers in a multidisciplinary and multiagency organisational context
• Knowledge and experience of trauma-informed and structured Therapy and Psychotherapy, both brief and long-term
• Applied knowledge of child and adolescent development and presentations, and interventions around complex developmental trauma, sexualised behaviour, neurodiversity, children and young people
• Confident in managing high-pressure conflict situations, uncertainty, rapid change and distress.
• Flexible, resilient, equanimous and collaborative in working style. You build working relationships that can withstand divergent perspectives and agendas and reach sufficient and practicable consensus to move forward.
• Experienced in effective multidisciplinary team working, including organisationally held confidentiality, effective interagency collaboration, shared decision-making, safeguarding and risk planning.
• High standard of assessment skills and report writing.

For an informal conversation about this position, please contact Sita Alexander, Fostering Director, on 07867303149 or sitaalexander@ascentfostering.com.

We will ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that no disabled applicant is placed at a substantial disadvantage. This person specification includes what we believe are fully justifiable essential and desirable selection criteria. Provided that the selection criteria unconnected with the disability are met, we will make ALL reasonable adjustments in order that someone with a disability can undertake the duties involved.