Administrators for the Minster Centre Psychotherapy and Counselling Service (MCPCS)

About The Minster Centre and the Psychotherapy and Counselling Service

The Minster Centre is one of Europe’s leading integrative psychotherapy and counselling training institutes. We are a charity with a long-held commitment to helping people in distress through talking therapies. We train diverse and experienced people as professional therapists to do this work. The Minster Centre Psychotherapy and Counselling Service (MCPCS) offers affordable individual counselling and psychotherapy, provided by our trainee therapists, to adults (18 yrs+) suffering from a range of emotional difficulties.

Overview of the role

We are seeking two organised, highly motivated and efficient individuals to fulfil the part‑time roles of MCPCS Administrator. These are key roles within the MCPCS team, and you will be working alongside the Clinical Services Manager to ensure the smooth running of the service and support its continuing development. The ideal candidates will be organised, self‑motivated, IT literate (particularly proficient in Excel, Word & Outlook), have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work calmly and efficiently under pressure. In addition, they will be able to work autonomously on various tasks, work well within the team and with other colleagues within the Minster Centre. This is a great opportunity for individuals with relevant transferable skills to develop those skills further.

Duties and responsibilities

• Dealing with phone and email enquiries including potential MCPCS clients, existing clients, trainee therapists, clinical supervisors, other professional organisations and placement providers.
• Responding to new client enquiries via emailing of electronic Assessment Application Forms, assessing suitability of enquirer for service – asking for additional help when required from Clinical Services Manager.
• Making appointments with enquirer for assessment.
• Liaising with Independent Assessors to arrange assessment appointments, obtaining assessor availability calendars, providing assessment packs for facilitation of assessments, chasing and filing completed assessment reports, and providing any necessary training for assessors regarding assessment admin.
• Liaising with student services/reception and finance department and clients to manage and update client fees databases or spreadsheets, providing reports and to ensure all session fees are up to date and reporting on any missed payments weekly.
• Ensuring all electronic monitoring of monies are dealt with according to GDPR and financial procedures.
• Managing the Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS) checks for students, and Minster Centre (MC) members.
• Providing strong administrative support to the Clinical Services Manager.
• Providing regular detailed data information to the Clinical Services Manager, including reports from Charity Log or other electronic software and systems.
• Administer MCPCS processes and procedures for instance by designing forms and records formats, ensuring they are available to students, supervisors and clients.
• Keeping data management up to date and archiving files as and when appropriate.
• Assisting Clinical Services Manager, and Deputy Director overseeing MCPCS, with additional tasks as and when requested.
• Provide information and support in assisting with student inductions into the MCPCS.
• Liaising with students and supervisors to ensure each student has submitted necessary evidence to work with clients.
• Ensuring all students regularly update information on their availability to MCPCS.
• Supporting students with processes and procedures of working with MCPCS and placement clients, closing client files at end of therapy alongside dealing with any interim requests and updates to client files and information.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities. The post holders may be required to undertake other duties which fall within the ambit of the role, in discussion with the Clinical Services Manager and Management Committee. The post holder is expected to comply with all relevant policies, procedures and guidelines of The Minster Centre, including those on Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety and the Data Protection Act.

Person Specification

• Good communication skills, including a warm, welcoming, and friendly manner.
• Ability to speak to a range of service users: enquirers, clients, students and staff.
• A good command of written and spoken English.
• Ability to communicate information in a clear and concise manner, whilst maintaining approachability.
• Ability to handle possibly challenging situations on the phone.
• Willingness to learn including attending training relative to the role and service users where required.
• Proven organisational skills, with ability to prioritise work and meet deadlines.
• Knowledge and experience of Salesforce, Charitylog or Access databases and use of Excel.
• Proven knowledge of the use of Microsoft Office, Outlook and Explorer in an office environment.
• Proven ability to input data accurately.
• Proven ability to plan ahead and take initiative when required.
• Proven ability to learn new systems.
• Experience of working in a small, busy office.
• Experience of using databases to manage data (e.g. Access, Charity Log, Salesforce, MindBody).
• An enthusiastic and flexible approach to work.
• Conscientious and diligent.
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural setting and to appreciate diversity and difference.
• A commitment to the Minster Centre’s ethos and values.
• Empathy with the needs of tutors and students in a vocational therapeutic environment.

• Experience/ understanding of the aims and benefits of psychotherapy and counselling.
• Understanding of data protection.
• Experience of office management.
• Experience of managing Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS) checks.
• Experience of Access or other Databases: to amend design and layout, generate reports, and analyse data.
• Experience of change management, service evaluation and service improvement.
• Experience of working in a mental health, counselling or psychotherapy environment.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not protected on the form provided. We particularly welcome applications from people from underrepresented groups in the field of psychotherapy and counselling and in our organisation, including people from global majority communities, the LGBTQI+ community, care leavers, people with disabilities and those from other minoritised groups. To fulfil the role, you must be resident in the UK and have the right to work. You will be required to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK.