Job summary
- Main area
- Art Therapies
- Grade
- Band 8b
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 222-SF-611
- Employer
- West London NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- St Bernards
- Town
- Ealing
- Salary
- £67,950 - £78,028 per annum incl. HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 21/05/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Head Art Therapist
Band 8b
West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.
We also provide some specialist services that are commissioned regionally, such as our medium secure services; and nationally, such as the Cassel Hospital for people with complex and severe personality disorder and our high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.
Job overview
We are seeking a passionate Arts therapist to join the inpatient service at West London Forensic Service (WLFS). This full time, 8b post is a rare opportunity to lead a well-respected and established Arts therapies team.
We provide a comprehensive induction and ongoing training and development throughout individuals’ careers, with opportunities to develop specialist skills and receive specialist supervision (e.g. EMDR and schema therapy), in addition to an individual’s regular supervision. This is a full-time post (1.0wte) but part-time or flexible working may also be considered and we promote a healthy work-life balance. There are excellent staff benefits including 27 days annual leave, rising to 29 days after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years. There is a gym on site and membership is just £10 per month.
Main duties of the job
You will be responsible for overseeing the provision of a high quality arts therapies service across the forensic site which includes, men’s low and medium secure, women’s low and medium secure, community services and LD service.
As the lead of the arts therapies service, you will have a key role in defining and building the profile of the department and assessing arts therapies interventions and programmes, liaising with other departments and leads.
The post also includes some clinical time to include both individual work and contribution to group therapy programmes. You will also advise on risk assessment and risk management, and support arts therapies practice within the team through consultation, supervision, and training.
You will have the opportunity to utilise skills in research, service evaluation, and audit within the service. You will provide line management and supervision to qualified and student arts therapists as required by the needs of the department.
Working for our organisation
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK. It provides a broad range of forensic mental health care in adult male and female services, across high, medium and low security settings, as well as in a community and court diversion setting. The post is based to cover the whole site of WLFS. West London Forensic Service has been rated as outstanding by the CQC.
The Arts therapies department, which is small in itself, but it is well-established and supportive with high standards of clinical supervision and excellent opportunities for continuing professional development.
We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder will provide their own modality of arts therapy as part of the West London Forensic Arts therapies Service. They will be required to deliver group therapy, individual therapy and assessments, including liaising with multidisciplinary staff and contributing to the electronic case records for service users.
The post holder will lead up a small but dedicated arts therapies team and will additionally have regular contact with a wider network of arts therapists and psychologists working across the West London Specialist Forensic Services to share learning and ideas. The team is invested in supporting staff through facilitating reflective practice and being actively involved in supporting away days. In addition, you will be part of the weekly arts therapies department meeting which involves peer supervision, reflective practice and peer directed training. There are also many opportunities to work jointly with Psychology, Family Therapists and the Drug and Alcohol Support Service.
This is a unique and exciting opportunity and we welcome applications from individuals who will bring enthusiasm and flexibility to this role. In return we can offer a stimulating and supportive work environment with many opportunities for the development of your skills.
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 criteria
- MA/MSc or equivalent
- State Registered Arts Therapist with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- Meet conditions of Full Membership Professional Association
Desirable criteria
- Further training e.g. forensic, group, psychodynamic, systemic.
- Membership of Professional Association
EXPERIENCE
Essential criteria
- Significant post-qualification practice experience working with individuals within a secure environment.
- Experience of working as an autonomous and independent practitioner.
- Experience of work in MDT setting and communicating complex information therein
- Experience of setting up and managing own clinical caseload, including individual and group clinical work
- Experience of providing reflective practice to staff groups
- Ability to assess complex client needs in a clinical setting and identify suitable treatments, taking into account diagnostic and risk factors
- Experience and understanding of a wide range of processes and equipment in own art medium.
- Understanding of how arts therapists’ interventions may be adapted to meet a wide range of service user needs and institutional settings
- Understanding of team and group dynamics
- Experience of providing line management and clinical supervision to qualified arts therapists
- Experience of supervising trainee arts therapists within a secure environment
- Experience of having undertaken audit and/or research
Desirable criteria
- Experience of managing resources (personnel, budget and arts materials) to meet service needs
- Experience of having conducted complaint investigations and/or having been a panel member for a Level 1 or 2 investigation
- Experience of submitting service users’ art to the Koestler Exhibition
KNOWLEDGE
Essential criteria
- Specialist professional knowledge acquired through MA/MSc or equivalent level plus specialist short courses, CPD, clinical supervision of practice.
- Able to draw upon a specific theoretical knowledge base in the analysis of facts or situations to arrive at appropriate formulations, under clinical supervision
- Knowledge of NHS Policies and their implications for clinical practice, professional management and service development.
- Knowledge of legislation and its implications for clinical practice in relation to the client group and forensic setting
- Understanding of confidentiality, data protection, legislation and Caldicott principles.
- Awareness and appreciation of equality and diversity issues.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of research methodologies
- Further specialist training or experience in psychological therapies
SKILLS
Essential criteria
- High level communication skills (both written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive.
- 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.
- Implement appropriate psychological assessment and interventions relevant to the client group
- Ability to undertake project management to help develop service provision
- Ability to manage budget, equipment and resources and to identify potential sources of funding for innovation
- Ability to form good working relationships with others in a multi-disciplinary setting.
- Ability to liaise and co-operate with others whose work is underpinned by different psychological models.
- Ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with colleagues who may require emotional support or challenge to their working practice.
- Capacity to manage and work with organisational stress and to think clearly in situations of high emotion.
- Ability to contribute to the teaching and training of professionals from a range of disciplines
- Ability to provide highly specialist teaching and training to trainee arts therapists.
- Capacity to work independently and autonomously in organising and managing a clinical caseload and effectively liaising with clinical teams and other professionals.
- Capacity to manage processes of record keeping and data collection in accordance with the Trust’s procedures
Desirable criteria
- Experience of submitting service users’ art to the Koestler Exhibition
PERSONAL
Essential criteria
- Commitment to anti-discriminatory practice in all aspects of the role.
- Able to work in pressurised environment where there is verbal aggression and a risk of physical aggression
- Ability to recognise and manage the impact of high levels of emotional distress and disturbance on self and others.
- Valuing supervision opportunities and utilising supervision effectively.
- Capacity to invite, welcome and constructively respond to feedback, both positive and negative.
- Able to satisfactorily complete breakaway training
- Ability to adapt to the physical environment when dedicated rooms are not available, e.g. moving furniture and equipment
- Physical capacity to sit in constrained position for prolonged periods in therapy sessions.
- Awareness of professional/personal boundaries
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Essential criteria
- Ability to work to professional guidelines
- Able to reflect on own professional practice through the clinical supervision process and willing to participate actively in CPD
- Ability to travel within defined service geographical area (when required).
- Commitment to inclusion of service users in service development
Desirable criteria
- Interest in professional association/issues
- Publication in professional journals and/ or books
- Activity which supports development of the profession(s) through participation in professional body
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Emma Foster
- Job title
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
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