Honorary Child Counsellor – Bridge in Schools Service
Post Commencing Autumn 2019
The Bridge Foundation is a Bristol based charity providing a range of clinical and training services relating to the needs of children, young people, families and adults. We wish to recruit an honorary child counsellor to join our Bridge in Schools service.
This is an exciting opportunity for a suitably qualified and experienced person to join a lively and skilled team, and gain experience of working with a psychodynamic approach in a school setting. The post is based at a Secondary School in an economically disadvantaged area of the city. We aim to fill the post by the start of January 2020.
We are seeking candidates with skills and experience in building therapeutic relationships with children from a breadth of social backgrounds. The successful applicant would need to demonstrate interest and experience of bringing psychodynamic thinking to therapeutic relationships with children. A professional background in education, health, mental health, or social work would be highly relevant.
Equally this post would suit qualified counsellors and therapists with an interest in developing a psychodynamic practice in a community setting. Applicants in the final year of their training will be considered in certain circumstances (ie training is psychodynamic or there is other evidence of a strong psychodynamic interest, eg allied experience of psychodynamic supervision/personal therapy).
The post will be for 1.5 day per week, comprised of 4 sessions in school and half a day attending a supervision group and staff meetings on Wednesday afternoons based at the Bridge Foundation.
Volunteer therapists/counsellors carry a caseload of up to 4 clinical sessions a week and are be required make a commitment to weekly work during term time for a minimum of one year.
Child protection and other relevant training is provided in line with service requirements.
Applications are invited by letter/email, explaining your interest in the post and the qualities you would bring to it, supported by an up-to-date CV and contact details of two referees, one of whom should be a current employer/clinical supervisor.
For a job description, please contact Esme Hammer at The Bridge Foundation, 13 Sydenham Road, Bristol BS6 5SH, tel 0117 942 4510, esme.hammer@bridgefoundation.org.uk.
Please read through the job description carefully and address your application to the points on the person specification. Applications should be returned to Emily Ryan, Schools Team Manager, The Bridge Foundation, 13 Sydenham Road, Bristol BS6 5SH, or emily.ryan@bridgefoundation.org.uk.
If you would like more information before making an application, please contact phil.butter@bridgefoundation.org.uk and he will get in touch to arrange a phone call.
References of shortlisted candidates will be followed up before interview. The closing date for applications is 5pm on Monday 4 November 2019. Interviews will be held in the week beginning 18 November 2019.
Child Therapists
We are always keen to hear from qualified and experienced psychodynamic child therapists and psychotherapists who are interested in joining our Bridge Psychotherapy Service (BPS) or Bridge in Schools (BiS) teams. For an initial informal chat please contact Gail Walker (BPS) on gail.walker@bridgefoundation.org.uk or Emily Ryan (BiS) on emily.ryan@bridgefoundation.org.uk or phone the office on 0117 9424510 .