Art Psychotherapist

Job Overview

We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and committed art psychotherapist to work 1 day a week in the community part of the North West London Arts Psychotherapies Service situated in Brent. The role is fixed term for 12 months and will require the candidate to plan and deliver art therapy assessment and treatment on the service's mentalization-based arts therapies treatment programme.

The programme is well established within the service and experience of working with individuals with complex emotional needs and knowledge of mentalization-based approaches is helpful.

Regular linking in with arts therapy colleagues on the CEN pathway and the wider multi-disciplinary team will be expected as a way to effectively support management of risk and the individual's psycho-social needs where appropriate.

The candidate will be joining a diverse team of arts therapists (music, art, drama and dance-movement) who work across the boroughs of Brent, Harrow and Hillingdon. This means that the staff member will be well supported with supervision, training and staff support.

Please refer to the JD/PS for further information.

Main duties of the job

• To plan, deliver and develop art psychotherapy assessment and treatment for individuals in the community presenting with complex emotional needs.
• To deliver assessment and treatment using adapted evidence-based approaches, such as mentalization-based treatment.
• To be involved in the referral process and co-produce specialist assessment and treatment formulations and care plans associated with the work.
• To develop links with arts therapy colleagues working on the complex emotional needs pathway and other involved multi-disciplinary staff members and GP's, to support safe and effective working.
• To document clinical interventions in service users' healthcare records in a timely and accurate way.
• To embed service evaluation via the use of patient reported outcome and experience measures to evidence and evaluate the the work.
• To maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times and to maintain proper boundaries particularly as the clinical work will frequently involve working alone with individuals for

substantial periods in emotionally intense therapy sessions.

• To make full and appropriate use of regular arts psychotherapies clinical supervision.
• To contribute to the Trust’s research strategy for the arts psychotherapies.

1-. To be able to do all of the above autonomously, referring when necessary to line management or clinical supervision.

Working for our organisation

CNWL is one of the largest NHS employers in the UK of Arts Psychotherapists, working in a vast range of services and has an increasing trainee placement programme continually broadening the reach of the profession.

In joining CNWL you’ll have access to first class national and international Arts psychotherapy CPD training through our International Centre for Arts Psychotherapy (ICAPT); as well as through our strong links with Brunel University, supporting and developing their international PHD and Masters course in Art Psychotherapy training.

CNWL Arts Psychotherapies is linked nationally with research programmes and has strong QI support; and keen to expand the knowledge and evidence base of the Arts Psychotherapies.

We are committed to supporting our staff to achieve their potential, whilst also ensuring they are also putting their health and wellbeing as a priority. We have a vast range of support networks and benefits to offer all staff working for us.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• To conduct assessments and make a psychological formulation using analytic judgement for the assessment of clients for their suitability for individual or group art therapy sessions where there may be highly complex presentations and situations.
• To use mentalisation-informed art therapy approaches to work with patients to understand their verbal and non-verbal communications.
• To assess risk and adopt appropriate measures to maintain a safe and therapeutically sensitive environment for all when faced with challenging behaviour, for example verbal abuse, deliberate self-harm, violence, aggression or threatening behaviour. To undertake comprehensive risk assessments.
• To continually review a patient’s emotional stability, use of therapy and ability to work with others in a constructive way, considering risk factors, complexity of presentation, patient’s need and service priorities.
• To work constructively and flexibly with people from different cultural, social and religious backgrounds, being particularly alert to special vulnerabilities e.g. refugee status, war-related trauma etc.
• To structure and plan time limited therapy including reviews and a comprehensive assessment of risk social and psychological needs. To appropriately signpost to additional services.
• To liaise with appropriate networks including MDT and carers. To refer on to other appropriate community services including employment support and third sector after assessment, at review, or on discharge.
• To maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times.

Person specification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Post-qualification experience of autonomous working in a mental setting: both in groups and individually.
• Experience of working with people with endure mental health difficulties, disturbed and challenging behaviour and forensic background.
• Experience of supervising arts therapists and/or of liaising with the university training courses in own speciality and other specialist areas.
• Substantial experience of personal therapy.
• Experience of assessing clients for Arts Psychotherapies/ psychotherapy and making recommendations to a MDT.
• High standard of arts making and commitment to maintaining skills.
• Skills in planning, organising and prioritising own workload and in working autonomously when needed.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of negotiating space/therapeutic boundaries in a difficult context
• Evidence of participating in research
• Experience of working as an Arts Therapist in a multidisciplinary Team (MDT).

Education

Essential criteria

• MA in Art Therapy
• Eligibility for State Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Membership of relevant professional body (ADMP, BAAT, BAMT, BADth)

Desirable criteria

• Other related academic qualifications
• Clinical supervision training
• Training in breakaway/ de-escalation techniques
• Knowledge of and training in Mentalization Based Approaches
• Recruitment and selection

Skills, Knowledge, Abilities

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of and skills in assessing clients for arts psychotherapy, balancing risk with client needs and service priorities.
• Knowledge of evidence-based practice, clinical governance and related knowledge for research and audit.
• Knowledge of legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to relevant field/s and the full range of client groups.
• Evidence of continuing professional development as required by Arts Therapies/psychotherapies Professional Bodies.
• Skills in applying psychotherapy theories to work with individuals, groups and organisation
• Ability to work with people with complex needs e.g.aggressive/unstable/suicidal patients, including those with personality disorder or a mixed diagnosis.
• Ability to work with non-verbal clients or clients for whom using English is a major difficulty which could be for cultural reasons, or due to their mental state.
• High standard of verbal communication skills including the ability to provide concise, clear and relevant feedback to a ward round/team meeting
• Computer literacy and high standard of written communication skills including the ability to produce clear reports detailing progress of therapy, selecting relevant information from sessions and expressing analytical detail without bias.
• High standard of arts making and commitment to maintaining skills.
• Skills in planning, organising and prioritising own workload and in working autonomously when needed.
• Ability to treat service users with respect and dignity at all times, adopting a culturally sensitive approach, which considers the needs of the whole person.
• Ability to build constructive relationships with warmth and empathy, using good communication skills.

Desirable criteria

• Commitment to and enthusiasm for further training opportunities and CPD

Attitudes, Aptitudes, Personal Characteristics

Essential criteria

• High degree of self-awareness, further artS psychotherapy training, especially working with psychotic states of mind, and forensic psychotherapy, Mentalisation based treatment, and post-qualifying supervision/personal psychotherapy.
• Ability to observe and think of the nature of concrete and thinking
• Ability to work with trauma and contain emotional impact through clinical supervision and team support systems.
• Ability to assess risk and be able to work face to face with acutely unwell patients without other staff nearby.
• Ability to contain and work with organisational stress and ability to ‘hold’ the stress of others.
• Ability to adapt to physical environment when dedicated therapy rooms are not available e.g. transporting materials etc and willingness to manipulate furniture to set up room (within Health and Safety parameters).

Desirable criteria

• Ability to learn from experience
• Able to provide services in a variety of environments as meets the needs of clients