Job summary
We are looking for a highly motivated art therapist to take up this new role providing group and individual art therapy to service users in the borough of Hounslow, comprising both brief and longer interventions. You will work as a member of a supportive arts therapies service and establish strong links with the borough mental health teams and with non-statutory community resources.
We are looking for a practitioner who is passionate about the role of creativity in supporting people's health and autonomy, who is able to work autonomously and to manage risk in a collaborative way.
The arts therapies are an established part of provision West London NHS Trust's psychological therapies provision. You will be managed by a Head of Arts Therapies and you have links to arts therapies across the wider trust. The postholder will be supported by these links and by those to local multi-disciplinary teams.
Tuesdays are a core team day so the postholder will be expected to work Tuesdays.
Main duties of the job
The postholder will offer interventions within defined timescales, encompassing both brief, low intensity and some longer, high intensity interventions. Knowledge of trauma informed practice is essential and the postholder will be implementing trauma informed approaches for a range of presentations. Most interventions will be groups but there will also be scope for individual work. In addition to direct clinical work you will support the wider team to work with service users e.g. through formulation.
You will need to be able to work independently to develop your part of the service in liaison with inpatient and community teams and to supervise trainees on placement. You will be line managed by the head of arts therapies and supported by a structure of meetings with arts therapies colleagues and clinical supervision.
All arts therapists are active in developing the evidence base for their work through the use of outcome measures, clinical audit and research.
About us
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.
Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham). We employ 4,500 staff, of whom 56% are BME. Our turnover for 2023-24 is £426m.
The Trust is rated as 'Good' overallby the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as 'Outstanding'.
The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Individual & group clinical arts therapies work post qualification
- Health and Care Professions Council registrant
Desirable
- Training in another psychological therapies modality e.g. Mentalization Based Therapy.
Experience
Essential
- Individual & group clinical arts therapies work post qualification
- Experience of working in a multi-cultural service
- Experience of work in MDT setting and communicating complex information therein
- Experience of personal therapy
- Experience and understanding of a wide range of art processes and equipment
- Experience of assessing and formulating risk and supporting a reduction in risk
Desirable
- Experience of work in an acute mental health setting
- Experience of work with interpreters
- Lived experience of mental health difficulties.
- Experience of providing arts therapies in an acute setting
- Experience of participating in reflective practice, case formulation meetings or team debriefs.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Specialist professional knowledge acquired through MA/MSc or equivalent level plus specialist short courses, CPD, clinical supervision of practice.
- Ability to organise and prioritise caseload and other responsibilities
- Ability to explain arts therapies practice to a wide range of professionals, service users and other stakeholders.
- Knowledge of other modalities (e.g. medical model, systemic, behavioural) sufficient to contribute to multi-disciplinary planning and service provision.
- To understand psychiatric diagnosis and the requirement to communicate about diagnoses, whilst also acknowledging the alternative in the form of a formulation.
- Able to make judgements based on psychological knowledge, clinical information and environmental events within a session and make decisions on this basis e.g. with regard to feedback to nursing or other staff.
- To judge when a service user or colleague might need emotional support and to show interest in understanding how they are feeling and help them think through ways of coping that are known to help reduce distress safely
- Ability to communicate complex, sensitive and potentially contentious information to service users in a way that addresses psychological resistance and the propensity of the service users towards hostile reaction
- To know when to raise a safeguarding concern and when it is necessary to seek immediate clinical supervision.
- Understanding of the how the dynamics of teams and between professionals in general can be influenced by the psychological impact of work in a mental health environment
- Understanding of national healthcare initiatives (e.g. the recovery model, clinical governance, evidence based practice) and legislation (e.g. the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act) and their relevance to this post and to the organisation in general.
- Able to respond adaptably to rapidly changing service demands
- An ability to document clinical information in the care record in an accurate, concise and non-judgemental manner which supports a psychological understanding.
- Use IT packages - word processing, e-mail and internet, SPSS, Excel and Access
- Ability to use or learn NHS clinical systems
- Able to function in potentially traumatic circumstances and in highly emotionally distressing circumstances on a frequent basis (e.g. in dealing with service users with serious mental illness, histories of homicide and serious violence, self-harm, sexual abuse).
Desirable
- To have an understanding of trauma-informed care and to understand the concept of stabilisation, psychological containment and validation and the rational for these in an acute ward.
- To understand the 5Ps formulation model and have the ability to describe this to patients.
- IT skills: e.g. Word; Excel, Photoshop.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Ability to discuss personal reactions (thoughts, feelings, behaviours) in clinical supervision, reflective practice, formulation meetings to plan safer therapeutic care.
- To be courageous and interested in developing confidence in expressing an opinion which is different from the dominant view, but might be more helpful in supporting a service user
- A desire to motivate, encourage, support others, and contribute to a collective care offer from the inpatient MDT that results in a positive experience for staff and service users.
- A desire to learn and use non-pathological language and terms which imply chronic disability and negatively impact of self-esteem and undermine recovery.
- To be able to tolerate witnessing extreme behaviour and listening to life histories which might contain disturbing facts (sexual trauma, physical abuse, neglect, violence, political and civil wars which deviate from the dominant accepted norm in the UK).
- To be interested in a wide range of psychological concepts and show enthusiasm and interest in learning about a range of approaches (Systemic, behavioural, Trauma-informed, CBT, DBT, ACT, CAT, Schema).
- To have personal values aligned to forming positive relationships with service users and colleagues and a willingness to show behaviours that correspond to the Trust's Values.
OTHER
Essential
- Knowledge of Standards of practice of the Health Care Professionals Council.
- To be capable of being guided by precedent, clearly defined policies, procedures and codes of conduct.
- To adhere to the security procedures on the ward.
Desirable
- Membership of a relevant professional special interest group
- Membership of relevant practice research network
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Individual & group clinical arts therapies work post qualification
- Health and Care Professions Council registrant
Desirable
- Training in another psychological therapies modality e.g. Mentalization Based Therapy.
Experience
Essential
- Individual & group clinical arts therapies work post qualification
- Experience of working in a multi-cultural service
- Experience of work in MDT setting and communicating complex information therein
- Experience of personal therapy
- Experience and understanding of a wide range of art processes and equipment
- Experience of assessing and formulating risk and supporting a reduction in risk
Desirable
- Experience of work in an acute mental health setting
- Experience of work with interpreters
- Lived experience of mental health difficulties.
- Experience of providing arts therapies in an acute setting
- Experience of participating in reflective practice, case formulation meetings or team debriefs.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Specialist professional knowledge acquired through MA/MSc or equivalent level plus specialist short courses, CPD, clinical supervision of practice.
- Ability to organise and prioritise caseload and other responsibilities
- Ability to explain arts therapies practice to a wide range of professionals, service users and other stakeholders.
- Knowledge of other modalities (e.g. medical model, systemic, behavioural) sufficient to contribute to multi-disciplinary planning and service provision.
- To understand psychiatric diagnosis and the requirement to communicate about diagnoses, whilst also acknowledging the alternative in the form of a formulation.
- Able to make judgements based on psychological knowledge, clinical information and environmental events within a session and make decisions on this basis e.g. with regard to feedback to nursing or other staff.
- To judge when a service user or colleague might need emotional support and to show interest in understanding how they are feeling and help them think through ways of coping that are known to help reduce distress safely
- Ability to communicate complex, sensitive and potentially contentious information to service users in a way that addresses psychological resistance and the propensity of the service users towards hostile reaction
- To know when to raise a safeguarding concern and when it is necessary to seek immediate clinical supervision.
- Understanding of the how the dynamics of teams and between professionals in general can be influenced by the psychological impact of work in a mental health environment
- Understanding of national healthcare initiatives (e.g. the recovery model, clinical governance, evidence based practice) and legislation (e.g. the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act) and their relevance to this post and to the organisation in general.
- Able to respond adaptably to rapidly changing service demands
- An ability to document clinical information in the care record in an accurate, concise and non-judgemental manner which supports a psychological understanding.
- Use IT packages - word processing, e-mail and internet, SPSS, Excel and Access
- Ability to use or learn NHS clinical systems
- Able to function in potentially traumatic circumstances and in highly emotionally distressing circumstances on a frequent basis (e.g. in dealing with service users with serious mental illness, histories of homicide and serious violence, self-harm, sexual abuse).
Desirable
- To have an understanding of trauma-informed care and to understand the concept of stabilisation, psychological containment and validation and the rational for these in an acute ward.
- To understand the 5Ps formulation model and have the ability to describe this to patients.
- IT skills: e.g. Word; Excel, Photoshop.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Ability to discuss personal reactions (thoughts, feelings, behaviours) in clinical supervision, reflective practice, formulation meetings to plan safer therapeutic care.
- To be courageous and interested in developing confidence in expressing an opinion which is different from the dominant view, but might be more helpful in supporting a service user
- A desire to motivate, encourage, support others, and contribute to a collective care offer from the inpatient MDT that results in a positive experience for staff and service users.
- A desire to learn and use non-pathological language and terms which imply chronic disability and negatively impact of self-esteem and undermine recovery.
- To be able to tolerate witnessing extreme behaviour and listening to life histories which might contain disturbing facts (sexual trauma, physical abuse, neglect, violence, political and civil wars which deviate from the dominant accepted norm in the UK).
- To be interested in a wide range of psychological concepts and show enthusiasm and interest in learning about a range of approaches (Systemic, behavioural, Trauma-informed, CBT, DBT, ACT, CAT, Schema).
- To have personal values aligned to forming positive relationships with service users and colleagues and a willingness to show behaviours that correspond to the Trust's Values.
OTHER
Essential
- Knowledge of Standards of practice of the Health Care Professionals Council.
- To be capable of being guided by precedent, clearly defined policies, procedures and codes of conduct.
- To adhere to the security procedures on the ward.
Desirable
- Membership of a relevant professional special interest group
- Membership of relevant practice research network
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
