Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Music Therapist to cover a fixed term, (12 month) maternity post in the West London Forensic Service (WLFS). The post will be 5 days per week (1 wte) for 1 year, beginning in September 2025.

West London Forensic Service provides secure care and forensic community teams for male and female service-users, who have complex needs related to serious mental illness, personality disorder and offending behaviour, and we are committed to providing high quality, evidence based interventions within a recovery framework.

The role will be based across three teams in the service - a small but dedicated arts therapies team, a ward team and the Forensic Assessment and Support Team in Intellectual Disabilities (FAST-ID). You will be provided with regular support and supervision as well as the opportunity to have contact with a wider network of arts therapists, psychotherapists and psychologists working across the West London Specialist Forensic Services to share learning and ideas. In addition, you will be part of the weekly arts therapies department meeting which involves peer supervision and peer directed training. There are also many opportunities to work jointly with Psychology, Psychotherapy, Family Therapists and the Drug and Alcohol Support Service.

Main duties of the job

As the post holder you will be the only music therapist in the forensic service, you will provide music therapy to service users in the inpatient service, both male and female, including a specialist ward for women with intellectual disabilities, autism and complex communication needs. You will also be working within the community Forensic Assessment and Support Team in Intellectual Disabilities (FAST-ID). You will deliver group and individual music therapy and assessments as required, as well as contributing to consultation work with service users in the inpatient service and the community.

The post will also include liaising with multidisciplinary staff and contributing to the electronic case records for service users.

The work here is challenging and rewarding and often includes tailoring our interventions to meet the complex needs of our service-users.

You will have the opportunity to utilise skills in research, service evaluation, and audit within the service.

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. West London Forensic Service has been rated as outstanding by the CQC.

The Arts therapies team sits within the psychological therapies department, which comprises a team of over 30 psychologists and psychological therapists. It is well-established and supportive with high standards of clinical supervision and excellent opportunities for continuing professional development. The Arts therapies team is well regarded by the service – and is also involved in delivering reflective practice and away days to the staff teams.

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.