Band 7 Art Psychotherapist - FIRST Team

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 47,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional mental health provider is seeking a Band 7 Art Psychotherapist to join their Forensic Intensive Recovery Support Team in Birmingham. The successful candidate will deliver specialist art therapy assessments and interventions, supporting service users' mental health recovery. This role requires a postgraduate accredited Master's Degree in Art Psychotherapy and experience in the field. Competitive salary between £47,810 and £54,710 per annum, pro rata, is offered along with a supportive team environment focused on professional development.

Qualifications

• Experience of delivering specialist art psychotherapy assessment and interventions in the field of mental health.
• Experience of delivering clinical supervision to qualified or trainee art psychotherapists.
• Experience of delivering group Art Psychotherapy / Music therapy.

Responsibilities

• Deliver specialist art therapy assessments and interventions on an individual basis.
• Facilitate group interventions and provide advice to multi-disciplinary colleagues.
• Support the ongoing development and evaluation of art therapy.

Skills

Art Psychotherapy

Clinical Supervision

Understanding Group Dynamics

Working with Challenging Behaviors

Education

Postgraduate accredited Masters Degree in Art Psychotherapy

Job description

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

Band 7 Art Psychotherapist - FIRST Team

The closing date is 20 January 2026

We are looking for a 0.6 WTE Band 7 Art Psychotherapist to join the Forensic Intensive Recovery Support Team (FIRST), a specialist forensic community mental health team based in Rubery, South Birmingham and covering the West Midlands area. The aim of the service is to contribute to the successful transition of adult service users with significant risk histories and mental health difficulties out of secure inpatient services and support their continued recovery and risk management in the community.

With our art therapist due to move onto a new role in the Trust shortly, we are keen to maintain art therapy provision in FIRST, as this has been highly valued within the service. The role within our vibrant community team includes delivering specialist art therapy assessments and interventions on an individual basis with service users, with the potential for facilitating group interventions too; providing specialist advice and consultation to multi-disciplinary colleagues; supporting the delivery of reflective practice for staff; and contributing to the ongoing development and evaluation of art therapy within FIRST and wider Secure Care.

Main duties of the job

You will be joining our friendly Psychological Therapies team in FIRST, which includes practitioner psychologists, specialist psychological practitioner, assistant psychologists, all of whom have developed strong appreciation of the beneficial role art therapy can play in our service users' ongoing recovery. You will be supported by the Head of Arts Psychotherapies within the Trust and have regular clinical supervision from an Art Psychotherapist. In addition, the Division funds forensic arts therapy group supervision and encourages attendance at local and Trust-wide development meetings for Arts Psychotherapists. This ensures ongoing development of your skills and knowledge, whilst offering the opportunity to build links across the breadth of Art Psychotherapies that are provided in Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

To get a real experience of what we are like as a team, and what we hope you can do with us supporting you along the way, you are very welcome to visit us.

Please note - Due to FIRST being a community service that covers a wide geographical area, this role would typically involve some regular travelling to areas within the West Midlands area.

About us

Our 4000 clinical and support staff help us to improve mental health wellbeing and meet the needs of the 70,000 people we serve each year. We provide a range of mental healthcare services across Birmingham and Solihull, as well as specialised services nationally. We also offer medical, nursing and psychology training and are proud of our international reputation for both research and innovation.

Our population is culturally diverse, characterised in places by high levels of deprivation which create an increasing demand for our services and a necessity for us to make sure everyone can access the help they need. We are a team of compassionate, inclusive and committed people working together to provide excellent care to support our community. If you are looking for a place to belong, where you can make a real difference to people's lives, join our team where our warm welcome is waiting for you.

Job responsibilities

For further information about the main responsibilities please view the attached job description and person specification.

Person Specification

Qualification

• Postgraduate accredited Masters Degree in Art Psychotherapy

Experience

• Experience of delivering specialist art psychotherapy assessment and interventions in the field of mental health
• Experience of delivering clinical supervision to qualified or trainee art psychotherapists
• Experience of delivering specialist arts psychotherapies assessment, specifically art/music therapy and interventions in the field of mental health
• Experience of delivering group Art Psychotherapy / Music therapy and an understanding of group dynamics and processes
• Experience of working effectively with people whose behaviours and beliefs may be perceived as challenging

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum, pro rata