Essential Therapeutic Care & Education
Location: Hampshire & West Berkshire
Hours: Full-time, Part Time
Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience
About Essential
Essential Therapeutic Care & Education provides therapeutic residential care for children and young people with complex emotional, behavioural and psychological needs.
We are developing a fully integrated in-house clinical team that works alongside our residential services to ensure that therapeutic thinking is part of everyday care, rather than something that happens separately from the young person's home.
We are looking for an experienced and adaptable Multi-Disciplinary Therapist to join our growing clinical service.
This role would suit a therapist who enjoys working creatively with children and young people and who is comfortable working across a range of presentations rather than within a narrowly defined clinical pathway.
The Role
As a Multi-Disciplinary Therapist, you will provide therapeutic assessment, intervention and consultation to children and young people living within Essential's residential homes.
You will work closely with our Clinical Lead / Clinical Psychologist, Mental Health Nurse, Assistant Psychologists, Registered Managers and residential teams.
The role will combine direct therapeutic work with young people, consultation with teams and contribution to wider clinical formulation and care planning.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Undertaking therapeutic assessments with children and young people.
- Providing individual therapeutic interventions based on assessed need.
- Developing appropriate therapeutic goals and intervention plans.
- Supporting young people with emotional regulation, relationships, identity, trauma and difficult life experiences.
- Using creative and developmentally appropriate therapeutic approaches.
- Contributing to psychological and multidisciplinary formulations.
- Translating therapeutic understanding into practical recommendations for residential teams.
- Contributing to therapeutic care plans and placement plans.
- Supporting the review of young people's emotional and psychological progress.
- Providing consultation to residential teams regarding individual young people's needs.
- Supporting staff to understand behaviours through a trauma-informed and relational framework.
- Contributing to multidisciplinary clinical meetings and case discussions.
- Participating in reflective practice within the homes.
- Liaising with CAMHS, social workers, education providers and other professionals.
- Supporting transitions into, between and out of residential placements.
- Maintaining accurate and confidential clinical records.
- Monitoring therapeutic outcomes and contributing to service evaluation.
- Developing therapeutic resources for young people and residential teams.
- Delivering training or workshops to colleagues where appropriate.
- Contributing to the ongoing development of Essential's clinical model.
Who We Are Looking For
We are deliberately keeping the professional background for this role relatively broad.
We would welcome applications from appropriately qualified professionals from disciplines such as:
- Psychotherapy.
- Counselling.
- Integrative therapy.
- Systemic or Family Therapy.
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
- Art Psychotherapy.
- Drama Therapy.
- Play Therapy.
- Attachment-focused or trauma-focused therapy.
- Other recognised therapeutic disciplines relevant to children and young people.
The important factor is that you can demonstrate appropriate professional training, safe practice and the ability to work effectively with children who may have experienced significant adversity.
About You
You will ideally have:
- A recognised professional qualification in an appropriate therapeutic discipline.
- Registration or accreditation with an appropriate professional body such as BACP, UKCP, HCPC, AFT or equivalent, where applicable to your profession.
- Experience providing therapeutic interventions to children or young people.
- Experience working with trauma, attachment, emotional dysregulation or complex relational difficulties.
- A strong understanding of safeguarding.
- The ability to assess therapeutic need and develop appropriate interventions.
- Experience of multidisciplinary or multi-agency working.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- The ability to explain therapeutic concepts clearly to non-clinical colleagues.
- Confidence working independently within an agreed clinical framework.
- Strong professional boundaries and an understanding of clinical governance.
- A reflective, relational and developmentally informed approach to practice.
Experience within CAMHS, children's social care, looked-after children's services, residential care, youth services or specialist therapeutic settings would be particularly beneficial.
Working Differently
This is not a traditional clinic-based therapy position.
Our young people live within our services, meaning there is an opportunity to understand them in the context of their relationships, routines, environment and everyday experiences.
You will therefore work not only with the young person but also with the adults around them.
For example, therapeutic work may identify something important within a young person's relationships or emotional presentation. Part of your role will be helping the residential team understand this and consider how their everyday interactions can support the young person's therapeutic progress.
This creates an opportunity for therapeutic work to have an impact beyond the therapy room.
The Clinical Team
You will form part of Essential's developing multidisciplinary clinical service, working alongside roles including:
- Clinical Lead / Clinical Psychologist.
- Mental Health Nurse.
- Assistant Psychologists.
- Residential and operational leadership.
- External professionals and specialist services where required.
We want disciplines to complement one another rather than operate independently.
The clinical team will work collaboratively to understand each young person's needs, formulate difficulties and determine what type of intervention or support is most appropriate.
What We Offer
You can expect:
- Regular clinical supervision.
- A supportive multidisciplinary clinical team.
- The opportunity to undertake meaningful direct therapeutic work.
- Regular reflective practice.
- Dedicated CPD and professional development opportunities.
- Opportunities to contribute to service development.
- A varied role across several children's residential services.
- Close working relationships with residential teams and managers.
- The opportunity to influence the continued development of an expanding in-house clinical service.
- A working environment where therapeutic recommendations can be translated directly into everyday care.
Why Join Essential?
For many children in residential care, therapy is only one part of the week.
The other part is everything that happens around it.
Our approach is therefore to connect therapeutic work with the young person's everyday life.
The therapist may work directly with the young person, while the wider clinical and residential team helps ensure that the learning and understanding developed through therapy is reflected in how the young person is supported throughout the week.
If you are a therapist who wants to work collaboratively, think creatively and have an influence beyond the traditional therapy room, we would like to hear from you.
Apply via Indeed with your CV and a supporting statement explaining your therapeutic background, your experience working with children and young people and what attracts you to therapeutic residential care.
Essential Therapeutic Care & Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Successful applicants will be subject to appropriate safer recruitment checks, including an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.
Pay: £40,000.00-£48,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Private dental insurance
- Private medical insurance
Work Location: In person
