Creative Arts Therapist

Purpose & Scope

We are looking for a forward thinking, motivated and enthusiastic post-graduate qualified creative arts psychotherapist to join our Integrated Therapies Team. You will be an appropriately registered psychological practitioner (e.g. HCPC) who can offer assessment, formulation and psychological interventions across our varied organisation. With our support you will promote emotional wellbeing and mental health in the children and young adults whom we help and work with, with a focus on our school population based in South Gloucestershire and South Wales and in our other services as required. You will have a passion for working with the most vulnerable people, with children in care and/or with learning disabilities. You will understand how to work both directly and indirectly to support the network around the child or young adult and will join an organisation that is determined to offer bespoke, individualised and psychologically informed care.

Working for Phoenix in our Integrated Therapies Team you’ll be a key player in one of the UK’s most innovative education and care organisations. Phoenix is an experienced provider of education and care services for children and young adults across the South West. We have ambitious plans to grow our organisation and to introduce new and creative care and education solutions.

The Integrated Therapies Team is employed directly by Phoenix and comprises clinical psychology, forensic psychology, counselling psychology, occupational therapy, counselling, creative arts psychotherapies and speech and language therapy. The team seeks to deliver easily and equitably accessible, emotional wellbeing, mental health and physical therapies for the children and young adults in its care.

We want to encourage a holistic approach to working with children and young adults and are seeking a creative arts psychotherapist who can carry a comprehensive caseload, deal with complex cases and offer a variety of interventions and training. Psychological practitioners trained in evidence based psychological interventions and with experience of working with children in care and in special educational settings are particularly well suited to the role.

Working in the Integrated Therapies Team at Phoenix is for you if you are excited by a modern approach to helping children and young adults. We would very much like to hear from you.

Principal Responsibilities

Responsible for clinical work as part of the Phoenix Integrated Therapies Team, representing the organization by providing leadership, support and guidance to team members and the wider staff group and ensuring a child and young adult focused service.

Provide clinical leadership and practice at an advanced level demonstrating a high level of autonomy and clinical decision making. The role is a collaborative one working with individuals and groups across professional and organizational boundaries.

Provide clinical interventions and assessment, responsible for the systematic measurement of outcomes.

Ensure that a high quality, timely, accessible and evidence-based service is available to all children and young adults who need it.

Provide emotional wellbeing and mental health assessment and treatment services to children and young adults with a range of relevant complex needs, such as learning difficulties/disabilities, ASD, emotional social and behavioural difficulties and/or challenging behaviour.

Establish and maintain excellent working relationships with wider social care and mental health and wellbeing services and ensure adherence to evidence based treatments by clinical and care staff across the organisation.

Deliver and supervise a range of therapeutic interventions, which may include work with teams, parent work, group work, school/college observations of children and young people, short term inputs and specialist individual psychological treatments.

Person Specification

The following are essential:

• Successful completion of a post-graduate training in creative arts psychotherapies.
• Further professional knowledge gained through accredited courses workshops, study and in-house training programmes (e.g. CYP-IAPT training).
• Registered as a full member of the appropriate professional body (e.g. HCPC).
• Experience of working with children and young adults with co-morbid difficulties and special needs.
• Knowledge, skills and ability in working with a wide range of young people with learning, emotional wellbeing and mental health difficulties.
• Experience of psychotherapeutic work with children and young adults with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, learning disabilities and/or children in care setting.
• Experience of initiating, organising and planning inter-agency meetings aimed at setting in place a treatment package tailored to the individual needs of the child or young adult.
• Experience of providing professional teaching and training for other professionals
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of working with children with neurodevelopmental and learning disability needs.
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of working with Children in Care.

Phoenix Learning and Care are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of Children and young adults and expect all employees to share this commitment. This role is subject to enhanced DBS checks and appropriate references.

For an initial and informal conversation please do contact Dr Hannah Pittaway, Head of Therapies on hpittaway@plcl.org.uk