We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic, motivated, and compassionate therapeutic Support Workers to play a core part in delivering skills underpinned by brief psychological interventions within the new Psychological Skills Service (PSS) Cambridge.
The Psychological Skills Service was developed as part of the Exemplar project in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS trust (CPFT). CPFT were chosen by NHS England as one of the national exemplar pilot sites for the redesign and transformation of primary and community mental health care. The goal of this transformation project was to develop and deliver a new service paradigm that seeks to provide a more seamless pathway of mental health care and eliminate current gaps between services.
PSS was developed to try and address gaps in service provision, and we currently provide interventions for those clients who would have fallen into the gaps between primary and secondary care. The PSS is a Trauma informed service, acknowledging that, the majority of clients referred to the service have experienced some form of trauma in their lives.
Main duties of the job
You will be part of a team of Clinical and Counselling Psychologists, CBT Therapists; Clinical Associate Psychologists (CAPs); and Assistant Psychologists. We also have Social Work, Occupational Therapy and Mental Health Nurse expertise forming our team management.
As a therapeutic support worker you will fill an important position offering psychologically informed support and psychological skills to a group of people previously described as “not ready” for psychological therapy.
On a day to day basis the role will involve the following tasks:
Building relationships with the client with a view to promote a sense of safety via modelling of attention to safety.
Delivering and teaching psychological skills. In particular ones designed to support people with the stabilisation phase of recovering from complex trauma. Including;
Anxiety Management
Low Mood
Graded exposure
Hearing voices
To support people to make their own choices and identify recovery goals that are important to them, using empowerment skills.
Support work to assist with; including (but not limited to);
increase connections in their community
feel less isolated
increase interest and activities they do
increase independent living skills and practice skills
Support and facilitate group interventions, with clinicians in the team.
To complete relevant letters and reports related to the interventions delivered
Previous knowledge or experience of delivering brief psychological skills would be an advantage.
About us
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health & social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health & wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting & empowering them to lead a fulfilling life.
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services not only via inpatient and primary care setting but also with the community. These services include Children, Adult & Older Peoples mental & physical health, Forensic & Specialist mental health, Learning Disabilities, Primary Care & Liaison psychiatry, Substance misuse, Social care, Research & Development.
To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high calibre candidates that share our vision & values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people & members of our ethnic minorities & LGBTQ+ communities.
Support Worker
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence* and have use of a vehicle. You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.
The therapeutic support worker will assist in the co-ordination and delivery of Skills based brief psychological intervention skills within the team.
The therapeutic support worker will develop BPI Skills, including graded exposure plans for clients when appropriate, including; graded exposure for anxiety, anxiety management and problem solving, coping with voices and behavioural activation.
The therapeutic support worker will provide coaching in psychological skills e.g. breathing techniques, challenging thoughts, self soothing.
The therapeutic support worker will complete discharge letters of interventions carried out (with training and supervision)
The therapeutic support worker will contribute to the development of referral guidelines/ exclusion/ inclusion criteria for clients who might benefit from this service based on feedback from your experiences.
To identify when clients need interventions from other services and initiate timely onward referral as indicated.
To support the development of brief psychological interventions and templates for formulation driven support
To effectively communicate verbally with clients, carers and colleagues using motivational interviewing skills and adapting communication style when needed to engage clients and meet their needs. This may involve using skills to adapt strategies where clients have difficulties in communication eg. Hearing loss, diminished sight, cognitive impairment, or neurodiversity adaptations.
Establish and maintain appropriate working relationships with colleagues, clients, carers and other health care professionals
To assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and to work within a legal framework with clients who lack capacity to consent to treatment
To attend relevant external and internal courses to extend knowledge or gain relevant
To provide psychological skills interventions and maintain a clinical caseload, under supervision.
To assist the psychology team in the development of individual or group clinical materials or training materials, such as the development of treatment manuals and group interventions.
As required, to support the Trainee CAPs with the Brief Psychological Interventions (BPI) project, evaluation and publication.
To act in a manner that supports a psychologically informed framework for the service
To assess and manage risk within an appropriate psychological framework.
To work with other staff to assess and review clients care in preparation for multi-disciplinary treatment reviews.
Person Specification
Education & Qualifications
Essential
NVQ Level 3 or equivalent level of knowledge and experience, plus knowledge of specific mental health conditions, forms of therapy acquired through training and experience
Good general education up to GCSE equivalent
Desirable
Short course/ in house training in cognitive behavioural therapy or dialectical behavioural therapy
Experience
Essential
Clinical experience of working on a one-to-one basis with people with mental health problems
Experience of supporting service users in problem solving/ grading tasks/ structuring daily routines
Clinical experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
Desirable
Experience of delivering CBT strategies or short-term psychological interventions/skills e.g. relaxation strategies, mindfulness
Experience of assisting in the delivery of therapeutic groups.
Knowledge & Skills
Essential
High level communication skills
Ability to communicate sensitive information to service users, carers and colleagues in a way that addresses psychological resistance.
Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from service users
Desirable
Knowledge of CBT or DBT principles
Other
Essential
Ability to travel across CPFT locality and have access to a vehicle
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship
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).
