Family and Systemic Psychotherapist
In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ.
Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.
All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There's also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.
About the Role
Term-time only (39 weeks per year) as per LB Sutton school term scheduling.
36 Hours per week.
1 Year Fixed Term ( with the potential to extend, subject to review).
Grade 9 - Salary Range £46,041 - £56,172 (unconsolidated maximum)
The Family and Systemic Psychotherapist will be employed by a multidisciplinary Therapeutic Hub, which is a service within Sutton Children's Services that provides consultations, assessments and therapeutic interventions to the children and families open to social care. Much of the substantive day-to-day work of this role will however be based on-site at the Sutton Tuition and Reintegration Service (STARS). 80% (4 days) of the post-holders working week and workload would be spent supporting STARS, and 20% (1 day) would be spent supporting the work of the Therapeutic Hub.
The Family and Systemic Psychotherapist will offer time-limited therapeutic interventions to improve the mental health, emotional wellbeing and educational outcomes of children and young people. There will be opportunities for family interventions to address any family issues that may be contributing to, or being influenced by, the presenting challenges. The ultimate aim of the postholder is to achieve better outcomes for children by supporting their reintegration to school, helping to improve their mental health, and by increasing the stability of the family unit.
This post offers an exciting opportunity for an individual to contribute to the development of this role within both environments. The postholder will also be expected to support service development through sharing knowledge, delivering training and group supervision, and providing high quality casework support.
About Us
The Therapeutic Hub is part of the Targeted Early Help and Integrated Support Service. We are an innovative multi-disciplinary team staffed by experienced and qualified practitioners, and the team benefits from the expertise of professionals from mental health, speech and language, education and social care. We work together to offer therapeutic support to children and young people open to Children's Services who have emerging or complex mental health or behavioural needs. This includes young people who are accommodated in residential or foster care. The range of work with children and families is varied, dynamic and constantly developing in response to changes in the fields of developmental trauma, attachment and neuro-development. The Therapeutic Hub supports the embedding of Sutton's practice models by promoting a restorative and trauma informed approach in our work, not only with children and families but also the systems surrounding them.
STARS is a medical pupil referral unit for children and young people, 5-16yrs, with complex medical needs, who reside in the London Borough of Sutton. STARS provides education and a 12-week intervention for pupils who are unable to attend their mainstream school. Based at The Drapers Centre, STARS is an Ofsted 'Outstanding' education environment who work closely with schools to ensure continuity of education, and to achieve the overall goal of nurturing children and young people back into mainstream school.
About You
This is a rare and exciting opportunity to be part of two different innovative and developing services. Both the Therapeutic Hub and STARS have friendly and supportive teams, staffed with passionate and dedicated practitioners. We are looking for an exceptional individual to join us and to make a real difference in the lives of children and their families.
We are looking for a self-motivated and enthusiastic professional with significant post-qualifying experience of working within a clinical role. You will hold a recognised accredited qualification in Systemic Family Therapy, be registered with a governing body and have significant post-qualifying experience in applying your clinical skills. Knowledge of trauma informed practice is essential.
You will be highly motivated, proactive in your approach to learning, with a creative drive to promote the emotional well-being and mental health of children and families who have been impacted by early trauma. You will understand the need to balance the complex interface between safeguarding and clinical/therapeutic interventions and therefore having experience in the child protection arena will be advantageous. A good working knowledge of relevant legislation and current national guidelines and policies as they relate to mental health, education, and children's safeguarding are essential.
As the successful candidate will be working within a multidisciplinary and multidimensional model, you will need to have the necessary communication skills to work closely with both external and internal professionals to provide the best possible therapeutic care for the young people in receipt of the therapeutic service. Excellent communication, organisational, and written skills are essential as is the willingness to learn new skills in new areas.
Our Offer To You
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we're committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We're constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.
Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:
- Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
- Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
- Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
- Comprehensive learning and development programme
- Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
- Interest free season ticket loans
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- Car parking scheme
- Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
- Zip car scheme
- Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
- Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
- Subsidised gym membership
Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.
To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.
The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Additional Information
We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.
We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.
The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.
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Job Profile
Family and Systemic Psychotherapist - Job Description .pdf - 74KB Opens in a new window