Job Description
Job Title:
Date:
Psychological Therapist /Capacity Builder
April 2015
Grade:
22
Duration: Permanent
Section/Team: NE
Department:
Clinical
(Young People)
Hours: 17.5
Reports to: Centre Manager
Responsible
supervision
therapists
for:
Assisting in
of Volunteer
Background
Freedom from Torture (FfT) is a human rights organisation which provides a service to survivors of
torture and organised violence including advocacy, medical treatment, practical assistance,
counselling and psychotherapy. Most of our clients are refugees or asylum seekers.
Each of our Centres/Outreach services aims to support the development of services for survivors of
torture through provision of supervision and training to other service providers.
Our direct client services include: Holistic assessment, Family Therapy, Individual therapy, Group
therapy, Medico Legal report writing, art, music and horticultural therapy and physical therapies.
All our clinicians are also involved in the provision and development of training, consultation and
supervision.
Each of our Centres/Outreach services now offers services to children, young people and families as
well as to adults.
Purpose of the Job
The post holder will be responsible for direct clinical provision to young people who are survivors of
torture and organized violence through individual or group therapy. In addition, the post holder will
work with voluntary and statutory sector colleagues to ensure the provision of high quality
psychological interventions for survivors of torture through training, consultation, advice, joint
working and support to professionals as appropriate. The post holder will operate from the Centre
or an outreach service as required.
Map the training needs of the region, identifying those voluntary and statutory sector agencies in
need of training and undertaking development work to encourage and support agencies to
participate in training on supporting survivors of torture, as per the FfT National Training Strategy.
Establish relationships with voluntary and statutory service providers in the region and undertake a
training needs assessment of identified organizations.
Design and deliver appropriate training packages to voluntary and statutory sector mental health,
counseling and support services in the region who either provide a service to survivors of torture or
who have the potential to deliver a service
Evaluate training undertaken and follow up all training to identify any further support needed
Be a member of the National Training Forum and contribute to the development of the National
Training Strategy and the setting and maintaining of standards for training and capacity building
work.
Main duties and responsibilities
To offer clinical services to survivors of torture who are young people between the ages of 13 and
25 who are either separated or with families. This includes working with young adults in transition,
liaising with Adult Team colleagues as necessary.
To undertake initial holistic assessments to potential users of our services, and to develop an
appropriate care plan in response to their needs.
Offer informed referral to appropriate external services to ensure that the wider needs of survivors
are met.
To provide individual and/or group therapy sessions to young people who are survivors of torture
and organised violence and manage an appropriate caseload.
To provide psychological therapy interventions for short and longer term durations, according to
client need.
To key work a number of clients and have an overview of their ongoing care including undertaking
regular risk assessments and risk management.
To carry out casework and advocacy to support clients on accessing their entitlements to financial,
accommodation and other forms of support.
To undertake regular reviews of therapeutic work with clients, including the completion of the
clinical outcome tool.
To comply with clinical governance protocols and implementation of good practice, including all FfT
clinical policies and clinical standards.
To liaise with internal and external colleagues to provide a holistic assessment and treatment
service including on complex issues such as child protection and risk.
To maintain appropriate records of assessments, any clinical/casework work undertaken, including
all relevant information about client’s circumstances, using DAYLIGHT (the FfT client database) and
make information available for Audit & Evaluation purposes.
To provide counseling/psychotherapy reports and other clinical documents to the standard required
by the Medico-Legal Reports Team.
To assist clients to gain their entitlements to housing, welfare and health resources.
To provide consultation and clinical supervision to other professionals (internal and external) and
consult with other professionals regarding own practice.
To develop and deliver training when required and facilitate workshops/talks on behalf of FfT, in
conjunction with the Training & Capacity Building (TCB) Team.
To contribute to the development of the service.
Participate in relevant networking activities on behalf of FfT.
To support the team at FfT in the planning, delivery and logistics of events, conferences and
seminars when required.
To participate in the recruitment, training, supervision and support of volunteer therapists.
To practice ethically including having regard to professional boundaries and working within own
areas of competence.
Capacity Building
To identify statutory and voluntary agencies able to, or with the capacity to provide clinical services
to survivors of torture in the region.
To work with such services to establish clear referral pathways for survivors of torture, gaps in
service provision and strategies for filling those gaps
To carry out regional training needs assessments, identifying those voluntary and statutory sector
services in need of training in providing therapeutic or mental health services for survivors of
torture and organised violence
To undertake agency or service-specific training needs assessments in order to design appropriate
in-house training programmes for agencies in the region working with survivors
To design and deliver a range of training to practitioners working with survivors in the region
To facilitate workshops at regional and national conferences on therapeutic and mental health work
with torture survivors and the work of Freedom from Torture
To represent the service at appropriate regional forums and meetings
To produce training materials and packages as required
To attend team and other service meetings as required.
To maintain appropriate records of training needs assessments and training or development work
undertaken
To liaise and consult with professional colleagues in the Training and Capacity Building Team
(TCBT) in London on clinical and training issues
To work with the TCBT to ensure training provision is high quality and follows best practice
procedures and the National Training Strategy.
To contribute to the review and evaluation of the post on a yearly basis
To promote the availability of the service amongst refugee and asylum seeking communities, as
well as the statutory and voluntary sector
To evaluate effectiveness of training and follow up all training delivered to assess ongoing needs of
organisations working with survivors
To collate training statistics for both internal and funding purposes
To oversee training provision in the service in line with the National Training Strategy
To provide support and share resources across other FfT national centres
To plan and deliver internal staff and volunteer training/CPD in the service alongside the
management
team
To support other staff, volunteers and service users involved in the delivery of training to ensure all
TCB work is to the requisite standard.
To support other professionals working with survivors of torture through consultation and advice.
Other
Attend team meetings at FfT, Clinical Meetings and other meetings as required.
To engage actively in the Multi-Disciplinary Team system and contribute from own professional
perspective.
To participate in individual management, appraisal and clinical supervision sessions.
To build effective relationships with referrers and other key partner organisations
To undertake research and CPD within own professional area and keep up-to-date with legislative
changes affecting asylum seekers in the UK.
To comply at all times with Freedom from Torture policies, including health and safety,
confidentiality and equal opportunities
To undertake any other duties that are reasonable within the context of the role.
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) amended.
Person Specification
Job Title:
Psychological Therapist)/Capacity Builder (Young People)
Date:
April 2015
Team:
North East
Criteria
Knowledge/Qualifications
Qualified in a relevant discipline e.g. Child &
Adolescent Psychotherapy; Child Psychology;
Systematic Family Therapy; Children and Young
People
Counselling
Diploma;
Diploma-level
counselling qualification with a child focus
Grade:22
Essential
Desirable
Application

Application
Membership of relevant professional body e.g.
BACP, UKCP, BPS or HPC.

Application
Accredited as a Children & Young People Specialist
by a professional body e.g. BACP, UKCP, BPS or
HPC (or demonstrable eligibility for accreditation).

Qualification in clinical supervision.
Application

Application
Knowledge of the psychological and developmental
impact of torture and exile on individuals across
the full range of ages and phases of the life cycle,
especially young people.

Interview
Knowledge of the impact of separation on children
and young people seeking asylum.

Interview
Knowledge of the asylum process and asylum
support system in the UK and clients’ rights under
these systems, sufficient to be able to follow a
survivor’s progress through these systems and to
seek specialist help when needed, especially for
young people
A relevant language or languages other than
English sufficient to be able to conduct therapy
sessions in that language.
Knowledge of a range of psychotherapeutic
approaches and theories, and how these can be
applied to work with torture survivors, using brief,
medium and longer term interventions.
.
Understanding of the impact of power and
difference on individuals and on the therapeutic
relationship.
Application




Application
Interview
Interview
Knowledge of at least one of a range of evidence
based approaches to trauma therapy including
Trauma-based CBT, Narrative Exposure Therapy
and EMDR sufficient to be able to deploy this
model clinically under supervision.

Interview

Knowledge of good practice
protection and safeguarding.
regarding
child
Knowledge of relevant legislation relating to
children, including the Children Act 1989 and the
Protection of Children Act.

Knowledge of relevant mental health legislation,
including the mental health acts (1983 & 2007) and
the Mental Capacity Act (2005).

Interview
Application

Knowledge of child-development and of the
sequelae of interruptions in child development
Application
Application
Qualification in teaching or training

Application

Application
Experience
Experience of working with community language
interpreters in a therapeutic setting.
Experience of providing therapeutic work to those
who have experienced trauma.

Interview

Experience of working with survivors of torture and
organised violence.
Application
Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team.

Experience of delivering training, consultation and /
or supervision to other professionals.
Interview/Inter
view

Application
Experience of working therapeutically or in a
supportive role with refugees and asylum seekers.

Experience of training
individuals and services

Application
Experience of development work within a mental
health or therapeutic context

Application
Extensive experience of working with separated
children and young people.

needs
analysis
with
Application
Application
Skills & Abilities
Ability to carry out holistic psychological and social
assessments of survivors of torture sufficient to
gain an understanding of their needs for assistance
in these areas.


Ability to use psychological measurement tools as
part of assessment process.
Ability to intervene with survivors of torture in
crisis.

Therapeutic skills in working with trauma survivors
experiencing a range of psychological issues
including: PTSD, Loss, guilt, shame, depression,
pain, displacement.

Counselling
skills:
empathic
listening,
understanding of boundaries, building and
maintaining a trusting relationship.

Casework / advocacy skills sufficient to be able to
advise clients on accessing their entitlements to
financial, accommodation and other forms of
support.
Caseload management, record keeping and file
management.
Report writing sufficient to be able to write
counselling / therapy reports to the standard
required by the Medico-Legal Report Service.
Computer skills (including WORD, email / outlook,
databases) sufficient to be able to use these
packages and others of a similar nature in every
day work.
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview



Interview
Application/Int
erview
Application
Interview

Application
Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary system with
colleagues from a range of clinical and other
professional backgrounds, including lawyers.

Interview
Ability to work as part of a team.

Interview
Ability to work therapeutically via an interpreter.

Interview
Ability to assess and work with the full range of risk
affecting a torture survivor in the UK, including
suicide/self-harm, removal, homelessness etc.

Interview

Application/int
erview
Ability to employ a range of clinical approaches
including group and/or individual.

Ability to work in a culturally sensitive manner.
Application
Ability to supervise other therapists clinically.

Application/int
erview
Ability to provide high quality training to other
clinicians.

Application/int
erview
Commitment to human rights values and practice.

Application
Commitment to the work of Freedom from Torture.

Application
Commitment to complying with all Freedom from
Torture policies and procedures.

Able to work some unsocial hours with overnight
stays.

Enhanced DBS Check

Special Factors
Application
Application
Application