Main area Psychotherapeutic Counsellor Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (working hours between 8am - 8pm depending on service need) Job ref 367-ACMS-10019
Employer Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Saffron Ground, Ditchmore Lane, Stevenage, SG1 3LJ Town Stevenage Salary £47,810 - £54,710 per annum, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 08/02/2026 23:59
Psychotherapeutic Counsellor
Band 7
Values Based Screener
At Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust we are looking for people to join us who share our values and those of the NHS. Before your application can be considered please take part on our online values questionnaire, which you can find below. When you have finished you will be sent a 'completion code' by email, which will be valid for 6 months and required to submit your application form.
The NHS Talking Therapies Service in North Hertfordshire is looking to employ a full time Psychotherapeutic Counsellor.
Hertfordshire was one of the original 11 Pathfinder sites for the development of Talking Therapies Services, commencing in 2007/8 and has since developed through 1st and 2nd wave expansion sites to provide a well‑resourced and innovative Talking Therapies service across the whole of the county. Our Trust has been awarded ‘Outstanding’ status by the Care quality Commission and our Talking Therapies Service is APPS accredited.
Main duties of the job
To provide a comprehensive assessment and therapeutic service for adult patients with common mental health problems referred to the Talking Therapies service based on the Talking Therapies counselling for depression modality, working within the context of primary care services.
To identify the nature, severity and complexity of patients mental health problems, the associated level of risk and to advise both patients and their GP on appropriate management of those problems, including a referral to secondary care specialist, mental health services if appropriate.
To work closely with the wider Talking Therapies Team to increase their awareness and understanding of the therapy that you offer.
Our family of over 4,000 members of staff provide health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. E everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:
Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
* To provide specialist psychological therapy assessments with clients referred to the NHS Talking Therapies service, based upon the appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of complex data from a variety of sources including psychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, direct and indirect structured observations and semi-structured interviews with clients, family members and others involved in the client’s care.
* To provide at least one NICE recommended psychological therapy for anxiety disorders and/or depression
* To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a client’s mental health problems, based upon an appropriate conceptual framework of the client’s problems, and employing methods based upon evidence of efficacy.
* To be responsible for implementing psychological interventions for individuals, carers, families and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations and drawing upon relevant explanatory models. To be able to use a specific psychological therapy for anxiety and/or depression, in line with NICE guidance, at a specialist level in assessments and interventions.
* To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and highly complex factors concerning historical and developmental processes that have shaped the individual.
* To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of clients whose problems are managed by psychologically based standard care plans.
* To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
* To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care to the benefit of all clients of the service, across all settings and agencies serving the client group.
* To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients and to provide advice to other professions on psychological aspects of risk assessment and risk management. To work with clients who are at current risk of suicide or self-harm.
* To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care.
* To communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of clients under their care and to monitor and evaluate progress during the course of both uni- and multi-disciplinary care. To assess and deliver highly complex, sensitive and contentious information.
* To provide expertise, advice and support to facilitate the effective and appropriate provision of psychological care by all members of the treatment team.
* To provide medico-legal and other reports where appropriate.
* To attend serious incident (SI) meetings as needed.
* To work clinically with interpreters.
Person specification
Qualifications
* A minimum two-year post-graduate (or equivalent) qualification in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, Psychotherapy, Counselling, or Counselling Psychology, comprising no less than 450 hours programme contact AND no less than 450 hours supervised counselling or psychotherapy practice (including hours gained after core training)
* One or more NHS Talking Therapies specified counselling or psychotherapy accreditations (as detailed in the NHS Talking Therapies Manual): British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Accredited; United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) Registered as a Psychotherapist or Psychotherapeutic Counsellor; Association of Christian Counsellors Accreditation; National x A Counselling Society Accredited Professional registrants, British Psychoanalytic Council Registered
* Evidence of successful completion of training in one or more of the following specialist trainings in NICE-recommended time limited psychological therapies for depression (Counselling for Depression, Couple Therapy for Depression, Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy, or Interpersonal Psychotherapy) or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with the required training and individual accreditation to deliver the modality as specified by the NHS Talking Therapies Manual.
* Evidence of relevant continuing professional development.
* A Batchelors degree and/or professional training in a health practitioner field (e.g. nursing, occupational therapy)
* Evidence of post qualification training in clinical supervision
Experience
* Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients within an NHS Talking Therapies service
* Experience of working with a variety of client groups and presenting problems that reflect a range of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
* Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision
* Experience of specialist psychological therapy assessment and treatment of clients across a range of care settings relevant to an NHS Talking Therapies service, including outpatient, community, and primary care settings
About us
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is rated by the Care Quality Commission as an Outstanding provider of mental health and learning disability services. In 2021, we won the prestigious Health Service Journal award for Mental Health Trust of the Year, with the judges saying they were “blown away” by our people’s achievements and that everything they saw “sings and hums”. This year, our staff rated us the 4th best mental health and learning disability trust to work for out of all 52 trusts in the country. Our staff tell us that they are proud to be part of the HPFT team, proud of the standard of care we provide and proud that service users are our top priority. Our people tell us they feel supported though a great development, wellbeing and work-life balance offer and a highly compassionate, values-driven culture. We are equally proud of our staff, who live our values of being welcoming, kind, positive, respectful and professional so that together we provide great care and great outcomes for our service users and carers.
If you would like to join a team to be proud of and you share our values and passion for great care and outcomes for our service users and carers, we would love to hear from you.
Additional Information
HPFT is committed to being an equal opportunities employer and in order to reflect the diversity of its population, positively encourages applications from all areas of the community. We aim to be a representative organisation with regards to age, disability, ethnicity, gender, beliefs and sexual orientation and are fully committed to equality, diversity and human rights and encourage applications from all sections of the community including users of mental health services.
The Trust is committed to helping staff balance work and home life and welcomes applications from candidates wishing to work part-time or under flexible working arrangements.
Infection Control
All our staff will need to comply with current Infection Prevention and Control measures which could include wearing a mask on all our Trust sites and in all roles
AI Usage Guidance
While Artificial Intelligence (AI) can aid you in completing your application, these tools cannot fully grasp the context of requirements of the job you’re applying for, nor can they accurately reflect your skills, knowledge and experience. Please ensure you have tailored your application before submitting it.
For further information, please refer to the Trust’s guidance on AI usage document which can be found below.
Visa, Immigration and Sponsorship
As a Trust we will offer sponsorship to roles which require professional registration, unfortunately, if you apply for a role that is outside of that your application will not be considered for the role. If you hold a different visa type, you must have a minimum of 2 years on your current visa to be considered for a role.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Application numbers
This vacancy may close early if we receive a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application promptly.
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