Job summary
Band 4 Studio Assistant (Swindon Psychological Therapies Service, Sandalwood Court, Swindon) (26.25 : 0.7 wte) - Fixed term- 11 months
Adults of Working Age & Later Life, Swindon Local Delivery Unit (LDU)
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Are you passionate about the role of art and music as therapeutic media? Are you keen to support individuals to access art and music psychotherapy as part of their recovery journey?
We are seeking an enthusiastic individual, to work alongside our qualified Art and Music Psychotherapists, to provide art and music psychotherapy for individuals with severe and enduring mental health difficulties and dementia. The role will involve working with adults of working age and later life service users, in both in-patient and community settings. You would be working at both Sandalwood Court and the Victoria Centre.
This is a fixed term post (11 months) providing cover whilst our substantive Studio Assistant is on maternity leave.
Main duties of the job
You will work closely with our qualified Art and Music Psychotherapists, supporting them in the delivery of group and individual interventions across the age range. The role will include practical tasks such as ensuring that our therapy rooms are kept tidy and ordering materials, and clinical tasks including assisting with the running of groups and completion of clinical record keeping after sessions.
You will also liaise with staff from other disciplines working in in-patient settings, including Occupational Therapists and Practitioner Psychologists.
About us
We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust) a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.
We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.
Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.
At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details of the job roles and responsibilities.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details of the job roles and responsibilities.
Person Specification
Knowledge, skills and experience
Essential
- An arts qualification or able to demonstrate active engagement in own arts medium.
- Able to work as a member of a team and able to work using own initiative with minimal contact from qualified staff.
- Will have an understanding of mental health disorders/problems, needs and issues.
- Will have good observation skills and listening skills.
- Will have a good communication and interpersonal skills to enable working with challenging behaviour and complex mental health issues.
- Must be able to communicate confidently and effectively with other Arts Psychotherapists, other members of Swindon PTS and members of the MDT.
- Able to communicate with service users who are experiencing psychosis, emotionally distressed, or angry and hostile, with empathy, understanding and professionalism.
- Have an understanding of Arts Psychotherapy process and techniques.
- Able to work in emotionally demanding environment with service users who can present with challenging behaviour.
- Good organisational, administrative and IT skills.
Desirable
- Foundation qualification in an arts psychotherapy - Music, Drama, Dance & Movement, Art.
- Experience of working in an arts psychotherapies environment
- Experience of working with people with severe and enduring mental health problems.
Person Specification
Knowledge, skills and experience
Essential
- An arts qualification or able to demonstrate active engagement in own arts medium.
- Able to work as a member of a team and able to work using own initiative with minimal contact from qualified staff.
- Will have an understanding of mental health disorders/problems, needs and issues.
- Will have good observation skills and listening skills.
- Will have a good communication and interpersonal skills to enable working with challenging behaviour and complex mental health issues.
- Must be able to communicate confidently and effectively with other Arts Psychotherapists, other members of Swindon PTS and members of the MDT.
- Able to communicate with service users who are experiencing psychosis, emotionally distressed, or angry and hostile, with empathy, understanding and professionalism.
- Have an understanding of Arts Psychotherapy process and techniques.
- Able to work in emotionally demanding environment with service users who can present with challenging behaviour.
- Good organisational, administrative and IT skills.
Desirable
- Foundation qualification in an arts psychotherapy - Music, Drama, Dance & Movement, Art.
- Experience of working in an arts psychotherapies environment
- Experience of working with people with severe and enduring mental health problems.
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
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