High Intensity Counsellor (Band 7) - Counsellor - Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Fo[...]

Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust; England; Hybrid; GBP 46,000 - 53,000; Full time

Job summary

Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust seeks a High Intensity Counsellor to provide evidence-based psychological interventions for common mental health problems. This role offers the chance to work in a diverse team committed to improving mental health services, with flexible working opportunities and professional development support.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

Staff discounts

Childcare schemes

Pension

Generous leave entitlements

Qualifications

• Qualified and accredited counsellor with experience in mental health services.
• Commitment to personal and professional development.
• Understanding of NICE guidelines for mental health interventions.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality, short term, evidence-based counselling.
• Deliver brief psychological interventions for depression and anxiety.
• Liaise with other professionals for integrated care.

Skills

Communication

Therapeutic skills

Crisis management

Education

Post-graduate qualification in Psychotherapeutic Counselling

Person-Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCECfD) qualification

Bachelor’s degree in health or related field

Tools

IAPTus patient record system

Job description

Employer Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Portland Square Town Carlisle Salary £46,148 - £52,809 pro rata per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 17/06/2025 23:59

High Intensity Counsellor

Band 7

Hello!

We are so delighted you are considering coming to work with us at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW).

We know the power of looking into an organisation, one you might want to work in, or one where you are going to get help, and being able to say, ‘I’ve seen somewhere I can fit in and be myself.’ We’re on a journey to make the Trust an inclusive employer, representative of the community we serve and we want more of our community to consider applying for jobs with us.

Opportunities for you

Spanning east to west coasts from Northumberland to Cumbria and from the Scottish Borders down to Middlesbrough we’ve got exciting new opportunities available at every level and in every area.

We offer flexible working, helping work fit around family and caring responsibilities, or training and development needs and there’s lots on offer in the way of benefits, such as, lease cars, childcare schemes, staff discounts, season tickets for travel and a cycle to work scheme. All this in a vibrant workplace supported by the following staff networks.

• Cultural diversity staff network
• Disabled staff network
• LGBT+ staff network

We also have a number of staff support groups which are open to any staff to attend. These Include:

• Armed Forces and Veterans Staff Association
• Mind, Health and Wellbeing Community
• Menopause toolkit and cafes and staff carer support group

We offer fantastic personal development opportunities through our Collective Leadership Programme and other Organisational Development initiatives. Whatever you are looking for, you will be joining a supportive, friendly team, offering varied and interesting roles, with opportunities for career progression.

Always improving

CNTW is regulated by the national healthcare regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Our last two inspections have rated us as an outstanding organisation. We’re always seeking to improve as an organisation. Do you want to be part of that?

Please note that it is a requirement of this Trust that all external applicants pay for their own DBS certification if a DBS check is required for the post. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first monthly pay

Job overview

As part of CNTW North Cumbria Talking Therapies provide a range of evidenced based psychological interventions for people presenting with common mental health problems such as depression and a range of anxiety disorders. The service delivers interventions within a stepped model of care and our team includes a wide range of professionals, including Counsellors, High Intensity CBT Therapists, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners and Employment Advisors.

We are a growing service based in North Cumbria and are continually looking for ways to improve and develop our offerings to clients. We operate 8am-8pm weekdays with some weekend work when required. We are a diverse team with practitioners from a range of backgrounds including medical, mental health, social services and psychology, to name a few.

As a service we are committed to ongoing action to embrace diversity and working to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all staff and patients. We welcome applicants from candidates regardless of sex, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability or religion. We are keen to receive applications from bilingual and multilingual speakers.

Clients can self-refer or be referred by various health care professionals. As a service we are currently offering a combination of Face to Face and remote working (telephone/video) either from one of our bases or working from home. This offers an opportunity for improved work/life balance.

Main duties of the job

To provide high quality, short term, evidence-based counselling to people with common mental health problems. Counselling is delivered both remotely and at a variety of locations

The role will involve

· delivering brief psychological interventions at both step 2 and at step 3. You will be seeing clients who are struggling with mild to moderate Depression (Step 3), mild to moderate eating disorders (all at step 2) and will be expected to offer appropriate interventions in line with current NICE guidelines.

· To meet agreed clinical activity targets

· To liaise with other professionals as appropriate

· To undertake regular clinical supervision to ensure professional development and safe practises

The successful applicant will be a qualified and experienced counsellor, who is accredited. They will also be expected to hold the Person-Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCECfD) qualification required for the band 7 position .

You will need excellent communication skills and will need to be comfortable working both alone and as part of the wider team.

A qualification and experience in supervising would be desirable.

Working for our organisation

We aim to attract and retain a diverse, talented and committed workforce, who are caring and compassionate, and therefore able to meet the demands of the modern NHS now and in the future. In return we can offer a dynamic working environment in which to build a career.

Benefits of joining our team

To work as part of a locality team within North Cumbria Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression.

To provide high quality evidence-based therapy to people with common mental health problems, self-referred or referred by GP’s/other health care professionals).

To work as part of the existing Mental Health service structure across the Trust. Establishing and maintaining appropriate links with both Primary and Secondary care elements of the service.

Working 22.5 hours per week, arranged flexibly within service hours where service permits. We would consider suggestions of any reasonable working plan to balance service needs and personal preferences.

· Staff benefits include:

Pension, discounts and staff support services.

· Flexible working opportunities

· Generous maternity, paternity and adoption leave for eligible staff

· Annual leave entitlements.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please find attached job description for full details.

Advertising date : 3 rd June 2025

Closing date : 17 th June 2025

We welcome your application.

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

• A minimum two-year post-graduate (or equivalent – see footnote) qualification in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, Psychotherapy, Counselling, or Counselling Psychology, comprising no less than 450 hours programme contact AND no less than 450 hours supervised counselling or psychotherapy practice (including hours gained after core training).
• One or more NHS Talking Therapies specified counselling or psychotherapy accreditations (as detailed in the NHS Talking Therapies Manual): British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Accredited; United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) Registered as a Psychotherapist or Psychotherapeutic Counsellor; Association of Christian Counsellors Accreditation; National Counselling Society Accredited Professional registrants,
• Evidence of successful completion of training in one or more of specialist trainings in NICE-recommended time limited psychological therapies for depression (Patient Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression – PCECfD) with the required training and individual accreditation to deliver the modality as specified by the NHS Talking Therapies Manual.
• Evidence of relevant continuous professional development.
• A Batchelor’s degree and/or professional training in a health practitioner field (e.g. nursing, occupational therapy)
• Evidence of post qualification training in clinical supervision

Experience

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment and treatment of clients within an NHS Talking Therapies service.
• Significant experience of working therapeutically with people suffering common mental health problems.
• Good working knowledge of mental health problems and a range of interventions.
• Experience of identifying and managing Safeguarding concerns and clinical risk.
• Understanding of psychological measures such as PHQ9, GAD7, ED15 etc..
• Experience of working in an NHS Talking Therapies service for anxiety and depression.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision

Skills and Competencies

• Ability to work with a significant degree of autonomy and as part of a team.
• To work effectively in delivering time limited therapy.
• Good time management skills and ability to work to performance-managed targets.
• Ability to use IAPTus patient record system

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment. Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed.

Please ensure to check out all of the supporting documents linked to this advert, for useful information about working for us, information from our Chief Executive and much more.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.