The Role:

New NHS funded three year IAPT High Intensity Psychotherapeutic Counselling training programme in Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT)​ to run at the University of Roehampton.

To help improve access to adult IAPT services for people experiencing common mental health problems, Health Education England (HEE) is piloting a new salaried training pathway that will provide trainee Psychotherapeutic Counsellors with advanced conceptual understanding and skills in the practical application of psychotherapeutic counselling and a defined standard of competency in the NICE-recommended Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT)​. The training provider for this pathway is to be the University of Roehampton.

This role will be best suited for applicants that are able to balance a busy work and study schedule. You will be an employee at Vita Health Group in Leicester, Leicestershire or Rutland seeing patients in that geographical area and also be enrolled for 2 days a week on a Postgraduate Diploma course (3-4 days a week for the first term of year 1 to gain readiness to begin practice). The course will be a mixture of in person training at the University of Roehampton, London and online live input via the zoom platform. As this is a Postgraduate level diploma, you will also be required to be able to study and write academic material at this level. Applicants must be prepared to study and write assignments outside of protected study time (such as on weekends and after work).

This training aims to:

• Develop high intensity psychotherapeutic counsellors with the qualities, skills and competences to develop, engage in and sustain strong therapeutic relationships and work effectively with IAPT service users with depression, and their families where appropriate.
• Ensure clinical practice in accordance with local and national IAPT Service policy, including working to create inclusive and effective services for all.
• Promote personal and professional development and self-awareness essential to successful psychotherapeutic counselling.

Training Requirements:

The following training requirements are in place:

• A one-year core psychotherapeutic counselling Foundation level training, which also introduces the chosen IAPT modality and, following sign off for readiness, enables practice in IAPT services with people with mild to moderate depression
• A two-year Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in psychotherapeutic counselling (minimum 120 credits at Level 7)
• Embedded training in Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy aligning to the IAPT national curriculum.
• A minimum of 450 supervised client hours gained within an IAPT service
• A minimum of 450 training hours (skills and theory)
• A minimum of 50 personal therapy hours (self funded)
• Individual registration in line with the IAPT Manual (see the Manual for more details).

Your skills and background:

Essential:

• Recognised degree at 2:2 or above in any relevant subject, or equivalent. Candidates without a degree at 2:2 or above may be able to secure a place by demonstrating competency via a portfolio of evidence, which meets specified academic equivalence requirements.
• Completed a Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills, (minimum of 10 days or 60 hours of face-to-face tuition at level 2 or level 3). Note: Online courses are not acceptable. L2 Award, Helping Skills and introductory courses are not acceptable.
• Proficiency in reading, writing and spoken English of a standard necessary to support academic study and professional practice at Level 7 IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.0 in each element.

PLEASE NOTE:

To apply for this role please use the link below which will take you to the University of Roehampton's application page. You must complete an application form through the University to be considered for this role. 

https://www.roehampton.ac.uk/psychology/psychotherapeutic-counselling/

As part of your application please include a personal statement (up to 1,000 words) reflecting on your motivation for choosing this career pathway and your readiness to engage in this emotionally demanding and transformative training (e.g. capacity to cope with the emotional demands of training, ability to cope with the intellectual and academic requirement, ability to come alongside people experiencing emotional and psychological distress, ability to be vulnerable and make use and reflect upon own life experience).

Vita Health Group celebrates life. Improving lives physically and mentally drives everything we do.

Why Vita Health Group?

​Vita Health Group celebrates life. Improving lives physically and mentally drives everything we do.

We are physical and mental health specialists with over 30 years of experience.  We work in partnership with the NHS, support the UK’s largest corporate companies to help assist their workforce and provide a full range of physiotherapy services to private customers.

To achieve our mission of making people better, we recognise the importance of investing in our staff. In addition to a competitive salary, we also offer the opportunity of a flexible work life balance and a comprehensive benefits package which you can view in full on our website.  To progress your skills and enable career development we provide Continued Professional Development opportunities including secondments, management training, a mentoring scheme and regular events and webinars across a range of clinical disciplines.

Vita Health Group is proud to be an equal opportunities employer.  We are committed to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion best practice and positively encourage applications from candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion/belief, marital status, or pregnancy/maternity.  To support this we have a dedicated team of EDI specialists and run a range of active in-house diversity networks.

We are actively seeking to increase the diversity of our workforce, to ensure we are representative of the communities we serve at all levels. We therefore welcome applications from candidates with a wide range of lived experience.

We are committed to equitably support the wellbeing of all employees as demonstrated by:

• Our association with the MINDFUL EMPLOYER Charter for Employers who are Positive About Mental Health.
• Our status as a Disability Confident Employer dedicated to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process. All disabled candidates that meet the minimum essential criteria will be invited to interview.
• Our status as a Menopause Friendly Committed employer.
• Our sign up to the Employer with Heart Charter.
• Our commitment to meet the standards outlined in the NHS Equality Delivery System (EDS2), Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES).
• The provision of access to health and wellbeing services for colleagues which includes a team of trained Mental Health Advocates and an Employee Assistance Programme.
• An embedded “speaking up” culture facilitated by Freedom to Speak Up Guardians.

Should you wish to discuss any adjustment or assistance you might need in the application or interview process please contact recruitment@vhg.co.uk and we will arrange.

Please note, all applicants must be legally entitled to accept and perform work in the UK and all positions are subject to a DBS check. 

Any data which you share with us throughout the hiring process will be stored securely within the UK and is accessible only by staff who require it. Should your application be unsuccessful, your data will be securely destroyed after 6 months. 

Vita Health Group reserves the right to close this job when sufficient applications have been received.

Vita Health Group