Counsellor/Psychotherapist - Be U Wirral in Birkenhead

Counsellor/Psychotherapist - Be U Wirral

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Are you: An experienced mental health practitioner used to a fast‑paced environment. Experienced in working with Children Looked After (CLA) / children and young people across mental health settings / care placements and experienced in engaging the whole family / stakeholders. Experienced in providing guided self‑help and short‑to‑medium‑term counselling interventions. Positive and proactive to achieve the highest standards and outcomes in engagement with children, young people, their parent/carers, and professionals.

Adept in communication and confident communicating with CYP (Children and Young People), their parents/carers and health / social professionals. Open, respectful, committed to equality and inclusiveness and motivated by new ideas and perspectives. A team player.

Role Purpose: You will deliver person‑centered, outcome‑focused, evidence‑based counselling interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties to support them to improve their emotional health and build resilience.

This may include individual and group work and supporting the Clinical Lead and Service Lead in designing and implementing innovative client‑focused plans to support successful care pathways and sustainable recovery.

Main Duties and responsibilities: This post will work under the line management of the Clinical Lead and Service Lead. The role will be varied, challenging, and rewarding as you will work as part of a diverse clinical team pro‑actively developing the service through co‑production, delivery, and ongoing innovation.

• To deliver therapeutic interventions to CLA (Children Looked After), working independently, which may at times mean some travel and lone working.
• To undertake professional initial assessments of young people.
• To provide counselling to CLA (Children Looked After).
• To support with professional consultations.
• To develop alternatives to one‑to‑one therapeutic work i.e., group work.
• To maintain confidential case notes and records in a timely manner ensuring that they are stored securely using the specified case management systems.
• To develop links to other agencies and services and have a good understanding of local services for signposting and onward referrals.
• To positively manage risk and recognise and pro‑actively respond to child protection and safeguarding issues.

Communication: Be able to communicate and engage with children and young people appropriate to individual needs. Ensure young people feel listened to, feel in control and are respected. Be a team player.

Work practice expectations: Ethical Practice – Employed therapists are required to abide by the Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) or equivalent. Professional Membership and Registration – It is required that employed practitioners maintain active membership with a national organisation that represents the field of psychological therapy and people who work as counsellors and therapists, such as AFT, BACP, BPS, BABCP or HCPC or UKCP. Employed practitioners will ideally pursue accreditation or registration with one of these bodies; and will complete annual continuing professional development and associated procedures required to maintain accreditation and/or registration. All costs associated with professional memberships, subscriptions, conferences, continuing education, etc., are borne by the practitioner. Liability Insurance – Employed practitioners are covered against malpractice liability by ABL insurance. Supervision – Employed clinical practitioners are required to attend supervision at the minimum frequency of 1.5 hours per FTE per month, with an appropriately qualified professional approved by ABL.

Standard Information: Information Governance – Employees of ABL Health must comply with the provisions of GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. The postholder must not, either during the course of their employment, or following termination of their employment, disclose any information relating to service users or employees, or of the lawful business practices, of the organisation. The postholder will be required, when and where appropriate to the role, to comply with the processing of requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The postholder must comply with ABL’s policies that protect the information assets of the organisation from unauthorised disclosure, modification, destruction, inappropriate access or use. The postholder will be responsible for maintaining the clinical and/or corporate records that fall within the remit of this role to the standards in ABL’s records management policies, and data quality processes and standards.

Health & Safety – Compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. The postholder is required to fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all their actions, including the risk assessment of all situations, the taking of appropriate actions and reporting of all incidents, near misses and hazards, and a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions.

Safeguarding – Everyones Business. ABL has a responsibility to ensure that all children / young people and adults are adequately safeguarded and protected. Consequently, all ABL employees, temporary staff and volunteers are required to adhere to ABL safeguarding policies / procedures in addition to local and national safeguarding policies and to act upon any concerns in accordance with them.

Smoke Free – ABL is Smoke‑Free. Smoking is not permitted on any of our premises or the surrounding land including car parking facilities.

Training – The postholder must attend any training that is identified as mandatory to their role.

Key duties and responsibilities: The range of duties and responsibilities outlined above are indicative only and are intended to give an overview of the range and type of duties that will be allocated. They are subject to modification in the light of changing service demands and the development requirements of the postholder.

Equality, Diversity & Human Rights – It is the responsibility of every person to act in ways to support equality and diversity and to respect human rights, working within the spirit and detail of legislation including the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998. ABL is an equal opportunities employer and aims to challenge discrimination, promote equality and respect human rights.

Seniority level

• Mid‑Senior level

Employment type

• Full‑time

Job function

• Other
• Mental Health Care