Therapeutic Consultant

Therapeutic Consultant

Basic salary: Up to £50,000 pro-rata (in addition, there is a bonus package)

Days: 3 days up to full-time

Benefits: 28 days annual leave pro-rata

Location: South East/South West London. The office is based in Wallington

Ascent Children’s Services is a growing, privately owned social care organisation that is passionate about providing high-quality care for children and young people. We are an independent therapeutic fostering agency rated outstanding by Ofsted, with two Children’s homes. We also have a Platinum Award from Investors in People.

Ascent Children Services is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and engaging children and staff in policy and practice developments, expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment and proactively encourages feedback.

We are looking for a qualified therapist to work predominantly with the team in our fostering service and, where required, in our residential services. This will include leading the design and delivery of services, and working closely with other therapists who support young people.

You will be responsible for carrying out therapeutic activities with foster carers, children and young people at Ascent, assessing the needs of young people, providing one-to-one sessions, assessments, monthly foster care consultations, attending professional meetings to support/advocate for foster carers, delivering training and therapeutic workshops to foster carers and working with stakeholders including local authorities, schools, birth families etc.

• To support the senior team in the therapeutic development of Ascent Children Services, to consult and provide therapeutic support to the business units;
• To work with staff, foster carers in developing the therapeutic competence of the organisation;
• To provide remedial services to children and young people as appropriately agreed.
• To assist in the review of therapeutic support for children placed across the business and provide feedback to the senior team.
• To consult with any commissioned therapist.

To work individually with foster carers, residential staff in the planning for children by leading/ supporting with assessments, 28 assessments, support planning and risk assessment for all children and young people.

Within the fostering team, this role would encompass:

• Providing clinical supervision/consultation as appropriate to staff to support the service in its reflective practice, to offer foster families monthly consultation, attend professional meetings about the children, and offer support to the external network, education, birth families and children.
• To undertake bespoke pieces of work to support family relationships with foster carers, crisis work, direct work with children/young people, supporting other stakeholders with therapeutic consultation, and preparing children to undertake longer pieces of therapeutic intervention.

• Creating specialist contributions to developing and delivering professional training programmes, e.g. therapeutic child care, therapeutic workshops.

• To undertake any project work to support the wider services and clients, such as with school work, bespoke pieces of work with birth families, etc.

• To provide prompt analysis and timely delivery of reports to the team.
• A written report of work carried out and a monthly summary of work provided within the organisation.

• Qualified Therapist, Counsellor, or Psychotherapist with current professional registration, hold a qualification in clinical supervision (desirable), proven experience providing therapy to children and young people with SEMH and their parents or carers in a multidisciplinary and multi-agency organisational context
• Knowledge and experience of trauma-informed and structured Therapy and Psychotherapy, both brief and long-term
• Applied knowledge of child and adolescent development and presentations, and interventions around complex developmental trauma, sexualised behaviour, neurodiversity, children and young people
• Confident in managing high-pressure conflict situations, uncertainty, rapid…