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Arts Therapist/ Dramatherapist Band 6 or 7
The closing date is 04 June 2026
We are looking for a creative arts psychotherapist ( Dramatherapist ) for a fixed term post to work within the Specialist Learning Disability Community Team across East and North Herts. You will have developed a strong and compassionate alliance with adults with a learning disability, additional emotional and mental health difficulties and their paid and unpaid carers. You will enjoy and value close team- working to enable creative and meaningful opportunities for people who have a learning disability to express their needs.
Main duties of the job
Depending on experience this is 22.5/18.75 hours at Band 6 or 7 fixed term post until January 2027, in a well-managed resourceful MDT. You will be part of an arts therapies team and have good opportunities to work alongside other professionals within the service and wider trust.
You will understand how to provide innovative evidenced-based group and individual arts therapies assessment and treatment programs, within various community settings working closely with the MDT adult care services, community nursing and other providers. You will be a highly motivated communicator, with the team's shared passion for achieving the best outcomes for our service users. You will provide support to other therapists and maintain Trust and local team protocols that measure and record your clinical processes and decision making.
You will receive lots of support to develop your professional knowledge and skills through CPD opportunities. You will have excellent support with a range of ongoing supervisions including operational, professional and clinical.
About us
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is an outstanding organisation with ambitions to match. We are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from the Care Quality Commission, and our aim is to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country.
Our family of over 3500 members of staff provide health and social care for over 400,000 people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services, plus medium and low secure learning disabilities services.
The care we provide makes a fantastic difference to the lives of our service users, their families and carers - everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:
Our Trust values are:
Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.
These values are at the core of who we are, everything we do, and how we do it!
Would you like to be part of the HPFT family? Would you like work with us to ensure our service users live the fullest lives possible they can? Would you like to be supported in your career to be the best that you can be?
Then please read on...
Job responsibilities
For further details regarding the role and responsibilities please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification documents attached.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Good Honours degree in relevant subject and relevant work experience
* M.A. Art psychotherapy Dramatherapy Music Therapy
* Some postqualifying professional experience and a demonstrable knowledge of and commitment to best practice and evidence based practice
* Registered with Health and Care Professions council (HCPC)
* Experience of working as a therapist and or trainee with service users with complex a learning disability including those with autism, mental health problems and/or personality disorders,
* Experience of working as a therapist or trainee with services users with profound and severe learning disabilities who may have limited communication skills and challenging behaviours
* Experience of working consistently within a multidisciplinary team especially in community settings as therapist / trainee
* Experience of working with carers and families as therapist/ trainee or other role
* Substantial experience of own personal therapy
* Experience of keyworking and care co-ordination of clients
* Evidence of continued professional development
SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/ABILITY
* Demonstrates skills required of providing individual and group therapeutic interventions in own field including: assessment and treatment and discharge planning
* Knowledge and skills in how to improve learning through work based and evidence based approach
* Demonstrates how to adapt skills in own field from work based learning to support people with a complex Learning disability and challenging behaviour, and or autism and/ or range of mental health problems including: a degree of personality disorder, a history of psychosis
* Demonstrates understanding of organisational and self management skills including management of complex systems and personnel
* Demonstrates clear use of different types of supervision and how it has benefitted work role
* Ability to work in various settings inpatient and outpatient work in community settings with a range of complex cases
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
* Ability to communicate effectively in own field in a highly emotive atmosphere, ie with patients' psychological resistance to personal disclosure and potentially threatening information, e.g. child protection and self harm
* Computer competency, including knowledge of electronic care records, email, word processing and audit tools.
ANALYTICAL SKILLS
* Highly developed knowledge of and skills in assessing clients for own specific field (art music or dramatherapy)
* Highly developed skills in own field for the application of psychodynamic formulations and theory to work for individuals, groups in caseload.
* Able to describe clearly the clinical process to other professionals service users and carers
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Saffron Ground, Ditchmore Lane, Stevenage,Hertfordshire, SG1 3LJ
£39,959 to £48,117 a yearper annum, pro rata
Contract
Fixed term
Duration
6 months
Working pattern
Part-time
Reference number
367-LD&F-100297
Job locations
Saffron Ground, Ditchmore Lane, Stevenage,Hertfordshire, SG1 3LJ
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