Head of Therapeutic Services

Accountable to: CEO

Place of work: The Southmead Project, BS10 6AS

Hours: 4 days per week (30 hours) between 9.00am and 5.00pm

Interview date: Friday 29th May

Salary: £48,000 p/a pro rata

Contract: 1 year fixed term (covering a maternity leave position)

The Southmead Project is an equal opportunities employer providing free specialist counselling and support for survivors of abuse across Bristol and surrounding areas. Our recruitment is done in line with safer recruitment practices. We welcome people of any race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, class, ability, language, religion and cultural background. We value the differences between people and affirm each person as an individual. We value our team very highly and pride ourselves on being a supportive employer.

We provide the following benefits to encourage a supported, well-rounded and enriched practice:

• Paid supervision for 1.5 hours per month, with an external supervisor of that person’s choice
• Line management for 1 hour per month
• Training budget of £500 per year to spend on relevant training of that person’s choice
• Employer pension contribution of 5%
• Generous annual leave allowance and paid sick leave
• Cycle to work scheme
• Optional private counselling for up to 12 sessions per year with an external counsellor of that person’s choice

Therapeutic Management

• To manage and support a staff team, including the Head of Active Recovery, a Counselling Lead, Nexus Counselling Manager, a Family Support Group Facilitator, and administrators.
• To oversee all of the charity’s therapeutic services and ensure that efficient and high-quality services are delivered.
• To be the charity’s Designated Safeguarding Lead to respond effectively and efficiently to safeguarding concerns.
• To ensure staff are sufficiently trained in adult and child safeguarding and that training records are kept up-to-date.
• To oversee the charity’s pre-trial therapy processes and be a point of contact for the police.
• To develop and improve the charity’s therapeutic services, including any expansion of the services.
• To manage therapeutic recruitment, inductions and training.
• To hold monthly staff meetings and service team meetings when needed.
• To oversee the individual and group supervision arrangements and reporting for all staff.
• To manage and have overall responsibility for the ongoing use of an online Case Management System, ensuring that data is inputted accurately for reporting purposes.
• To support the charity’s quality assurance and development of its services through monitoring and responding to client feedback and outcomes data.
• To develop the charity’s survivor voice work and ensure that the charity’s services are informed by survivors and their lived experience.
• To manage any complaints raised by clients.

Leadership

• To work collaboratively as part of a Leadership Team to make decisions and resolve issues affecting the day-to-day running of the charity and management of its staff team.
• To strategically plan and develop the therapeutic services of the charity.
• To develop relationships with partner agencies and professionals to raise awareness of our therapeutic services and strengthen our work.
• To build and maintain a positive working relationship with the Board of Trustees.
• To attend and contribute to trustee meetings and trustee working group meetings, reporting on the therapeutic services and any clinical matters arising.
• To assist in promoting the charity by attending all relevant meetings directly connected with your work.
• To undertake any other duties appropriate to the needs of the charity.

Client Work

• To provide one-to-one counselling for survivors of abuse of all genders, both online / by phone and face-to-face, with a caseload of approximately 4 clients.
• To maintain confidential and accurate counselling notes of all sessions.
• To attend monthly one-to-one clinical supervision with a supervisor approved by the Southmead Project.
• To attend monthly one-to-one line management meetings.
• To work to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy ethical guidelines.
• To work within the framework, spirit and ethos of the Southmead Project’s Equal Opportunities Policy, and actively engage in promoting the policy within the charity and in all dealings with clients and other agencies.
• All members of staff, paid and unpaid, are required to undergo the enhanced level of Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Person Specification

ESSENTIAL:

• Diploma in Counselling (British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) accredited course or equivalent); and to have BACP accreditation or be working towards BACP accreditation or equivalent.
• To be a registered member of BACP, UKCP, NCS or equivalent professional body, with over 5 years of supervised counselling experience.
• Significant experience of providing one-to-one counselling for survivors of abuse and carrying out initial assessments and risk assessments.
• Significant knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting this client group and the impact of trauma.
• Significant line management and appraisal experience with the ability to effectively co-ordinate a team.
• The ability to support staff to foster a positive working environment and deliver a high quality of service.
• Experience of recruiting staff, including inductions and training.
• Experience of managing safeguarding concerns and supporting others to act in accordance with safeguarding policies and in the best interests of the client or those at risk.
• The ability to work with clients online or by phone.
• Experience of working collaboratively as part of a leadership team and ability to contribute to an organisation’s future development.
• Experience of developing and maintaining working relationships with partner agencies and professionals.
• Excellent organisational and planning skills.
• Excellent IT skills and experience of using Microsoft Word and Excel, with the ability to confidently use and support others with an online Case Management System.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• A commitment to identifying ongoing personal development and training needs and to take appropriate action to ensure these needs are met.
• The ability to keep accurate and confidential records of client work.
• Experience of being a client in a formal counselling relationship.
• Experience of and commitment to working with diversity.
• To have the capacity to work flexibly within a small professional team.
• The ability to manage own time and work load effectively.
• The ability to chair meetings.

DESIRABLE:

• Training in trauma processing approaches, such as EMDR, Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), brainspotting, trauma-focused CBT, and Rewind Technique.
• Experience of working within a community-based organisation.
• Experience of working with people that have used drugs or alcohol to cope with trauma.
• Experience of running therapeutic groups.
• Experience of delivering training.