School Counsellor

The YoutherapY team (Part of Options4cyp), is continuing to expand. We now have opportunities for qualified counsellors (accredited and non-accredited), with experience of counselling children and young people, to become part of an innovative Young People’s team based in Blackpool.

You will be joining a well-established team of young people’s therapists, primary mental health workers, and assistant practitioners. You will be providing assessment and counselling for young people aged 11-25 who have psychological and emotional difficulties. There are also opportunities to provide counselling in community settings.

You will be primarily based at Montgomery High school but there will be opportunities to work at our main base in central Blackpool.

Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Tracy Heaton /Odette Crompton 01253 955858.

To provide a high-quality counselling service to children and young people based in Montgomery High school. Referred with a range of generic issues and mild to moderate mental health problems. Working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the NHS; team policies and procedures; and the Thrive Framework.

To provide advice and consultation on client’s care to professionals and non-counselling colleagues including school staff and other referrers.

To utilise research skills for audit policy and service development and research within the areas served by the team.

To provide mentoring and supervision to newly qualified (Band 5) counsellors and other staff as required.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is situated on the west coast of Lancashire, and offers a full range of district hospital services and community health services to a population of 1.6 million in Lancashire and South Cumbria.

The Trust provides services to the 440,000 residents of Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre and North Lancashire, as well as specialist tertiary care for Cardiac and Haematology services across the wider region.

To exercise professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients who self-refer or are referred by families/carers, school staff, GPs and other appropriate health and social care professionals.

To assess clients presenting with complex personal difficulties including those arising from mild to moderate mental health difficulties, based on accurate understanding and utilising a conceptual framework of the clients’ difficulties.

To make decisions regarding suitability for counselling, with particular regard to issues of risk, and referral onward to other specialist services, using trauma informed therapeutic decisions.

To formulate and implement counselling and treatment plans with clients, normally within a brief structured time frame or a contracted number of sessions.

To exercise sound theoretical knowledge of the processes of counselling and based on evidence of efficacy, to employ a range of short-term counselling interventions to meet the needs of the referred client.

To be able to work with a range of client presentations, including ambivalence and resistance, in order to facilitate clients’ ability to explore a range of life issues which are frequently of a distressing emotional nature.

To provide regular information to referrers, about the treatment process and outcome, initial and ongoing risk assessments, making appropriate disclosure and referral onward where necessary.

To communicate and liaise where appropriate with all other professionals involved in the individual client’s treatment and ongoing emotional wellbeing and mental health care.

To provide such information reports as are required in order to facilitate effective communication with referring agencies and commissioners.

Teaching, Training and Supervision

To contribute to the supervisory needs of the team as required, including where appropriate, supervision of newly qualified counsellors (Band 5), and other staff.

To contribute to mentoring of trainee counsellors and assisting the team leaders in monitoring of appropriate caseloads for trainee practitioners.

To contribute to in-service training events through presentation with information relating to good working practice, special project and procedural changes.

To maintain the highest professional standards of practice by undertaking regular external professional supervision, internal peer supervision and appraisal.

Professional, Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development

To be involved as appropriate in the short listing and interviewing of new staff.

To contribute to the induction and orientation process of new staff.

To contribute to the development, implementation and monitoring of the team’s operations policies.

Research and Service Evaluation

To undertake appropriate research, project management audit and service evaluation with colleagues within the service to help to develop service provision.

IT Responsibilities (other than th