Children’s and Young Persons Counsellor

Children’s and Young Persons Counsellor

Employed position 3/4 days per week

Job Description- Children/young person’s counsellor

We are looking for a qualified counsellor with experience of working with vulnerable and traumatised children and young people, to join our growing team. We are a family focused charity that recognises the impact trauma can have on the whole family system. We offer free, easy to access, community based counselling and therapeutic services to low income families; parents/carers, children and young people. We work in Blacon and Lache areas of Chester and this role is community based, delivering face to face therapy to children and young people in different venues.

If you’d like to help us make a difference to low income families struggling with mental health issues, we’d love to hear from you. Please send a copy of your CV to [email protected] . In the event of us taking your application forward, we will email you a more detailed application form to complete.

Successful applicants will have:

• A minimum of level 6 qualification in counselling.
• Additional creative qualification such as art or play therapy would be an advantage.
• Accredited, or eligible for accreditation, by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or equivalent.
• Minimum of 2 years post qualification experience of providing counselling therapy to children and young people.
• Experience in following safeguarding and child protection procedures.
• Good organisation skills- able to maintain up to date, accurate records and assessments utilising IT systems.
• Knowledge and understanding of current issues affecting parents and children/ young people living in areas of deprivation.
• Ability to develop positive relationships with clients, engage with and support them in their personal development.
• Ability to plan, organise and evaluate their own work and fulfil evaluation and monitoring reports to show impact and generate client case studies.

What you can expect from us:

• Competitive rate of pay (between £28,000 and £30,000 per year FTE, depending on experience level)
• Travel expenses covered for any travel between the community locations we work in.
• Flexible opportunities- e.g. term time working.
• Induction to working with Platform for Life
• Ongoing CPD training on a variety of topics.
• Supervision of caseload by Platform for Life’s Clinical Director.
• Contribution to external monthly clinical supervision costs.
• A commitment to provide equal opportunities for everyone.

Safe recruitment

Platform for Life is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and an enhanced DBS are required for this role.

About Platform for Life

We are a Chester based charity that offers free, local and flexible counselling/play therapy services to low income families struggling with poor mental health. We recognise that where one person is suffering it can impact the whole family system. Where appropriate we offer interventions to individuals and/or their family. Our aim is to facilitate positive change for an individual as well as directly/indirectly enhancing the overall well-being of the family.

The families we work with have often experienced multigenerational trauma and adversity.

Our focus is on strengthening family relationships and creating more stable and nurturing environments for children. We work in the community where our clients are so there’s no transport issues to address or children to pull out of school. The families we support cannot afford to pay for private therapy when NHS services are not available, too difficult to access or take too long. Visit www.platformforlife.org.uk to find out more about our charity and the difference we’re trying to make in the communities we work in.

Please send a copy of your CV to [email protected]

Application deadline: 3^rd December 2021