Outreach Psychotherapist

Psychotherapist for Young People with Criminal Convictions from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds

Criminal justice charity Belong provides hope, rehabilitation and recovery for victims and perpetrators of crime. We provide mentoring, restorative justice and psychotherapy interventions, in UK prisons and communities. 

Amplify is a new service for people with criminal convictions from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. Through reduce reoffending, improving wellbeing and increasing a sense of identity in participants, the service will Amplify the voices and the participation of people of colour from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds in their communities.

People from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds experience disadvantages at every stage of the Criminal Justice System, from over-representation, unequal treatment, and a lack of specific, relevant interventions. There are significant, intersecting disadvantages faced by women from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic backgrounds in the criminal justice system. Women from this demographic are over twice as likely as women from White backgrounds to be arrested (Counted Out, Prison Reform Trust, 2014). Black women are also more likely than other women to be remanded or sentenced to custody and are 25% more likely than white women to receive a prison sentence following a conviction, and are disproportionately represented in our prison populations.

The programme will work with mainly females (and a small number of males), aged 18-25 (and 17 year olds transitioning from youth services to adult probation), from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds in contact with the Criminal Justice System in the West Midlands. Participants will either be serving a sentence in the community, on licence, or in custody. Through Amplify, participants will access three strands of support concurrently: Family support, Community mentoring and Creative Psychotherapy. The service will uniquely offer intersectional, gender-specific, and culturally appropriate support. The service will celebrate and nurture service users’ identity.

The successful applicant will offer people the opportunity to engage in psychotherapy using verbal and non-verbal, creative techniques such as movement, visual arts, creative writing and drama. They will integrate psychodynamic and psycho-educational techniques into sessions, tailor support to individuals needs, be responsive to risk and safeguarding issues and use an assets-based approach. Working as part of Belong’s multidisciplinary team, they will engage proactively in regular reflective practice, clinical supervision and line management sessions.

Applications for this position are particularly welcomed from women from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, with lived experience of the criminal justice system, and/or with current enhanced prison security vetting. 

Please apply for this position by emailing via CharityJobs with a detailed covering letter outlining how you meet the skills, experience and knowledge requirements outlined in our Job Description and Person Specification document. Please also send us your CV. We are unable to consider applications received without a detailedcovering letter.

The deadline for applications is 11.30pm on Sunday 3rd March 2024. Interviews for this position will be held during week beginning 25th March 2024. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support you during the application process, please contact us.

Place of work: Home based, and from locations around the West Midlands, including Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Dudley, Warwickshire. Visits to HMP/YOI Foston Hall in Derbyshire will also be required.

Hours of work: Part-time, 17- hours per week, with occasional evening and weekend work required. 

Pay scale: NJC pay scales PO3 SCP 38, £35,098 + 14% NI and pension contribution.

Contract Term: Fixed term for 12-months, from May 2024 to May 2025, with potential for renewal subject to excellent performance and funding being available.

Reports to: Service Manager 

National Security and DBS Vetting Required: Enhanced

Responsibilities

·       Provide specialist one-to-one psychotherapy interventions  over 12 weeks and tailored well-being support sessions over 3 weeks to people with criminal convictions aged 18-25, as part of Amplify.

·       Work flexibly at locations across the West Midlands, depending on participant location, holding a caseload of 6-9 participants.

·       Support participants to improve their wellbeing and to identify and tackle issues related to their offending behaviour, e.g. relationship problems, substance misuse issues, adverse childhood experiences and racial trauma.

·       Maintain detailed, high-quality records of psychotherapy sessions in accordance with Belong, HCPC and UKCP guidelines and standards.

·       Build excellent working relationships and communicate effectively with other members of Belong’s team, and with member of prison and probation teams.

·       Model and encourage the use of non – verbal, creative methods e.g. visual arts, music, movement and writing as part of psychotherapy to enable participants to process their thoughts and feelings.

·       Integrate several approaches to psychotherapy including psychodynamic and psycho-educational models and if appropriate, a mentalization - based approach in order to meet participant's needs.

·       Manage difficult and demanding clinical situations including exploring complex, sensitive and disturbing personal issues with participants.

·       Apply evidence based practice in being attune to and assisting participants to process transference and counter-transference feelings, for example in relation to daily experiences, creative work produced, the therapist, and others.

·       Write progress reports at the end of each participant's engagement with psychotherapy, for reference during participants parole hearings and sentence planning processes.

·       Share risk and safeguarding information appropriately with other professionals.

·       Ø Assess participant's mental state and identify any significant risk and protective factors, collaboratively undertaking and contributing to risk assessments with other professionals.

·       Ø Actively participate in relevant meetings e.g. team meetings, line management meetings, clinical supervision meetings, service reviews with participants.

·       Ø Ensure that participant's records and any art work produced are adequately stored and, if necessary, transported in line with Belong, Prison and Probation Service, and HCPC guidelines.

·       Ø Carry out administrative and evaluation tasks as required for the sustainability and smooth running of the service, actively encouraging participants to participate in evaluation and service development activities.

·       Ø Exert physical effort in moving equipment and furniture, e.g. when setting up a room for one to one work.

·       Ø Maintain registration with the Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC) and adhere to and implement the professional standards and policies of Belong, the Prison and Probation Service and the HCPC.

·       Ø Keep abreast of new developments and research in Psychotherapy and Forensic Psychotherapy.

·       ØUndertake any other duties as may be appropriate to the level and nature of the post as determined by Belong’s Management and Trustee Board.

Required Qualifications

·Good honours degree (2.2 or above) in psychology or equivalent.

·State Registration as an Psychotherapist.

·Training at Masters Level in Psychotherapy.

Person Specification

Required Experience and Knowledge

· At least 2 years’ post qualifying experience of delivering one to one psychotherapy to people with criminal convictions or facing other significant disadvantages.

· At least 2 years’ experience of working within the criminal justice sector, the prison service or a related sector.

· Experience of integrating several approaches to psychotherapy including psychodynamic and psycho-educational models.

· Experience of managing difficult and demanding clinical situations including exploring complex, sensitive and disturbing personal issues with individuals.

· Excellent understanding of the issues faced by people who have committed offences.

· Understanding of the specific issues faced by people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Backgrounds in contact with the criminal justice system.

· Excellent knowledge of peoples' emotional and mental health needs.

· A strong understanding of the principles of confidentiality and of instances when this should be breached.

· Strong awareness of appropriate boundaries to be maintained with service users and of personal safety issues.

Required Skills and abilities

· Ability to form therapeutic relationships with people who have committed offences and are serving prison sentences or sentences in the community.

· Ability to apply a variety of models and theories to work with individuals.

· Ability to work with participants psychological, non-verbal and symbolic expression and be competent in interpreting these as meaningful communications where appropriate. This includes the ability to translate this knowledge so that it can be used by other professionals in the formulation of risk and needs assessments.

· Ability to maintain appropriate boundaries with participants and to manage personal safety whilst working in prisons and probation units.

· Ability to be attune to and process transference feelings and work with emotional projections from young people to aid young people's understanding and communication of conscious and unconscious processes.

· Ability to work effectively under pressure of the psychological impact of highly charged situations eg. disclosure of sexual or emotional abuse and maintain the capacity to think clearly in these conditions.

· Ability to work autonomously in potentially stressful conditions with participants.

· Excellent interpersonal, communication and listening skills.

· Good organisational skills.

· Basic artistic skills in using a variety of art materials and media in a variety of styles.

·Ability to work well with members of Belong’s multi-disciplinary team, members of the Probation and Prison Service and key stakeholders.

·Ability to produce and file high quality, detailed records of work completed.

Required Personal attributes

· Honest

· Resilient

· Hard working

· Organised

· Self-motivated

· Confident

· Non-judgmental

· Flexible

· Reliable

· Committed to confidentiality and equal opportunities

· Willing to learn and develop