Job Overview
To plan, provide and develop Dramatherapy sessions for community patients with a range of diagnosis. This includes systematic assessment, evaluation and treatment in individual and group Dramatherapy work.
To undertake clinical supervision for allocated staff, trainees or honoraries.
To participate in the Trust’s Arts Psychotherapies research strategy and audit.
Main Duties
* Plan, deliver and develop a specialist Dramatherapy provision for community patients with a wide range of diagnosis and presentations.
* Deliver individual and group Dramatherapy sessions for patients using evidence-based approaches.
* Contribute specialist knowledge from assessment and treatment to the overall care plan for each patient through written summaries and participation in inpatient clinical meetings (team handover, ward rounds, formulation meetings).
* Work as an integrated team member of the multidisciplinary team, respecting others’ ways of working and considering them when providing Art Psychotherapy.
* Use clinical skills to contribute to overall treatment goals beyond arts psychotherapy where necessary, e.g. facilitation of reflective practice groups, participation in formulation meetings and complex case forums, joint assessments etc.
* Contribute to the development of the Arts Psychotherapies service within the Trust by facilitating placements and offering clinical supervision to students and other clinical team members.
* Contribute to the Trust’s research strategy for the arts psychotherapies.
* Be able to do all of the above autonomously, referring when necessary to line management or clinical supervision.
Health and Safety
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and patients and service users when working in our healthcare settings.
Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities
Conduct assessment and make a psychological formulation using analytic judgement and sound interpretative insight for the assessment of clients for their suitability for individual or group Dramatherapy sessions where there may be highly complex presentations and situations.
* Adapt clinical practice to suit particular challenges of the environment without compromising therapeutic goals.
* Use sound judgement and interpretative skills to work with patients to understand their verbal and non-verbal communications; hold individual cases under lead professional care.
* Enable the Dramatherapy to act as a vehicle of expression for patients who may not be able to successfully communicate in any other way.
* Assess risk and adopt appropriate measures to maintain a safe and therapeutically sensitive environment for all when faced with challenging behaviour, e.g. verbal abuse, deliberate self-harm, violence, aggression or threatening behaviour; undertake comprehensive risk assessments.
* Continuously review a patient’s emotional stability, use of therapy and ability to work with others constructively, considering risk factors, complexity of presentation, patient’s needs and service priorities.
* Work constructively and flexibly with people from different cultural, social and religious backgrounds, being particularly alert to special vulnerabilities such as refugee status, war-related trauma etc.
* Structure and plan time-limited therapy including reviews and comprehensive assessment of risk, social and psychological needs; appropriately signpost to additional services.
* Liaise with appropriate networks including MDT and carers; refer to other appropriate community services including employment support and third sector after assessment, at review or on discharge.
* Maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times.
Person Specification
Experience
* Significant experience of autonomous working with personality disorder and psychosis both in groups and individually.
* Experience of community arts psychotherapies.
* Experience of working with people with disturbed and challenging behaviour.
* Experience of supervising arts therapists/psychotherapists and liaison with university training courses, in own speciality and other specialist areas.
* Evidence of participation in research (can be as part of MA/MSc/MMT training).
* Experience of personal therapy.
Desirable Criteria
* Experience of negotiating space/therapeutic boundaries in a difficult context.
* Experience, interest and commitment to conducting research.
* Experience of being sole arts therapist in a community setting.
Qualifications
Essential Criteria
* HCPC registration.
* Honours degree in Drama or equivalent performing/work experience.
* MA/MSc (or equivalent) in Dramatherapy.
* Relevant specialist training or qualifications (if not taken into account in experience cited below).
Desirable Criteria
* Other related academic qualifications e.g. psychoanalytic psychotherapy, or Group analytic training.
* Clinical supervision training.
* Advanced keyboard skills.
* Training in breakaway/de-escalation techniques.
Skills, Knowledge, Abilities
Essential Criteria
* Knowledge and skills in assessing clients for arts therapy/psychotherapy and/or other treatment interventions.
* Knowledge of and skills in assessing risks and contributing to diagnosis.
* Ability to work with people with complex needs e.g. unstable/suicidal patients, including those with personality disorder or mixed diagnoses.
* High standard of verbal communication skills including ability to provide concise, clear and relevant feedback to a ward round/team meeting.
* Ability to treat service users with respect and dignity at all times, adopting a culturally sensitive approach, which considers the needs of the whole person.
* Skills in planning, organising and prioritising own workload.
* Knowledge and understanding of a broad range of mental illnesses.
* Skills in clinical supervision of arts therapists/psychotherapists and multidisciplinary colleagues.
* Knowledge and experience of practising evidence-based arts psychotherapies, particularly MBT.
Desirable Criteria
* Experience of working with multidisciplinary teams.
* Commitment to and enthusiasm for further training opportunities and CPD.
Attitudes, Aptitudes, Personal Characteristics
Essential Criteria
* Ability to work with trauma and contain emotional impact through clinical supervision and team support systems.
* Ability to be aware of risk and be able to work face to face with acutely unwell patients without other staff nearby.
* Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and understand and process complex institutional dynamics.
Desirable Criteria
* Ability to learn from experience.
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