Children and Young People Therapist/Counsellor

Job summary
ABL Health and Oldham CCG and Oldham Council are partnering to deliver the Health Improvement and Weight Management Service titled Your Health Oldham. This transformative service will play a central role in system change, bringing previously separate lifestyle behaviour change functions together into one service. It seeks to work collaboratively with communities to support the transformation of services for the local population. The service will provide integrated behaviour support for smoking cessation, weight management, alcohol reduction, physical activity, cooking and Health MOTs, all embedded in sustainable behaviour change and positive wellbeing.

Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will provide evidence-based therapeutic interventions to children and young people accessing targeted and specialist family weight management programmes, working collaboratively across a range of locations as part of a multidisciplinary team. Responsibilities will include supporting psychological and risk assessments, developing client and family formulations and care pathways, and delivering individual and systemic therapy to help young people engage with weight management and physical activity interventions. You will work sensitively with complex and personal issues, maintain accurate clinical records, contribute to MDT and multi-agency meetings, and provide professional input into safeguarding and care planning where required. The role will also involve participating in supervision, peer reviews and case discussions, keeping up to date with relevant clinical developments, managing your workload effectively, and working independently or on a lone-working basis while maintaining professional and legal accountability for your practice.

About us
ABL is an exciting fast-paced, growing community health organisation. As an experienced, CQC registered, provider of community health services, we are passionate about delivering evidence based, innovative, effective and relevant health care services in partnership with individuals, communities and stakeholders.

Job responsibilities
You will be the CYP Therapist for the Healthy Families service within Your Health Oldham.

Your Health Oldham aims to empower individuals and communities towards a healthier future by promoting health awareness. The CYP Therapist integrates psychological theory with therapeutic techniques to help people overcome and deal with problematic life events and mental health issues. They engage people and their communities to help identify barriers whilst empowering them to overcome these.

Role Purpose:
The role is designed to provide support to children and young people in a variety of settings, face to face, community based, digitally and via telephone.

The role involves assessment of clients referred and provision of child and young people therapy sessions.

The role includes ensuring the therapeutic support provides a clear, evidence based, effective and consistent service for all clients.

The role will continuously develop methods and resources that result in improved/effective wellbeing and behaviours for all ages.

This is a demanding job, but you will not be on your own. ABLs highly experienced and friendly multi-disciplinary team of Health and Social Care professionals, Business Intelligence, Service Development, Governance, Finance and Business Development are there to support. Additionally, existing experienced delivery teams will work with you to drive the service forward.

Duties and Responsibilities
This post will work under the line management Your Health Oldhams deputy Head of Service. The role provides therapeutic interventions to children, young people accessing targeted and specialist family weight management programmes.

Key responsibilities will be:

• To work effectively and collaboratively to ensure the successful operation of therapeutic provision within the Healthy Family programme with Your Health Oldham. This involves working at different locations to provide interventions to children and young people.
• To be a part of a multi-disciplinary assessment (MDA) team. To facilitate psychological and risk assessments to aid the development of client/family formulations and care pathways.
• Support children and young people to discuss and work through highly complex, sensitive and personal information related to their presentation. This will include deconstruction of current interactional patterns of behaviour and meaning around weight issues and complex relationships, creating methods for client centred analysis of change, aided by the use of assessment tools.
• To prepare and participate in peer supervisions and case reviews with other therapists regularly across the organisation.
• Maintain accurate and detailed case notes and client records utilising digital systems and databases.
• To attend team meetings and contribute to agendas and discussions. Prepare fully in accordance with service for Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings (MDT) and complete relevant paperwork (such as MDT proformas), updating client records as appropriate.
• To provide effective individual CYP therapy interventions, with the aim of helping clients prepare to engage in the specialist weight management programme and/or physical activity interventions.
• To provide systemic CYP therapy, employing methods based upon evidence. To work in ways which are sensitive to and appropriate for the needs of children and young people from a wide range of racial, cultural and religious backgrounds.
• To contribute knowledge, skills and ideas with the aim of optimising the outcomes of the specialist weight management programme and/or physical activity interventions within the limits of ones trained role capacity and competency.
• To participate in multiagency meetings as appropriate, child protection case conferences and reviews, etc. providing professional advice on individual care programme planning and other clinical matters as necessary.
• The post holder will be expected to prioritise own workload and ensure effective time management strategies are embedded in own practice and that of others.
• To be professional and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own work including the management of patients/service users in your care.
• To undertake self-directed/lone working in a variety of locations.
• To read relevant current literature and stay up to date with developments and initiatives in psychological and family therapy for obesity treatment.
• To undertake supervision internally within ABL Health with a qualified approved supervisor.

Skills and Competencies Required

• Be an experienced therapist in a community health environment, assisting and delivering support to children and young people.
• Experience of working with diverse communities within varied cultural environments
• Adept in communication; A strong communicator who adapts the message to fit the needs of the audience.
• Quality driven; you naturally seek high standards and actively seek to improve them.
• Value and remain open to new ideas and perspectives.

Please note that we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role

Person Specification
Experience
Essential

• Experience of delivering child and young persons therapeutic interventions Experience of facilitating psychological assessments and formulating Demonstrate significant post-qualification experience. Confident in supporting / offering interventions to children and young people presenting mild to moderate risk behaviours. Knowledge of safety factors in management of self-harming behaviours. Able to work in a therapeutic way that responds to a clients needs, including a knowledge of cognitive behavioural therapy or behavioural approaches

Desirable

• More than 2 years, post qualifying, experience of delivering CYP interventions.

Job Specific Requirements
Essential

• The ability to travel independently across Oldham and as required to ABL Health HQ in Greater Manchester. Work flexibly and adapt to suit service need, including some evening and occasional weekend work.

Qualifications
Essential

• A relevant professional qualification at degree level e.g. in social work, nursing, psychology, or other relevant field, professional counselling qualification/or IAPT or similar, e.g play therapy or integrative psychotherapy
• Registered/accredited member of a professional body (such as AFT, BABCP, BPS, BACP, UKCP).

Desirable

• CBT qualification or counselling equivalent

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).

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.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration.