Family and Systemic Psychotherapist

The Family and Systemic Psychotherapist will be employed by a multidisciplinary Therapeutic Hub, which is a service within Sutton Childrens Services that provides consultations, assessments and therapeutic interventions to the children and families open to social care. Much of the substantive day-to-day work of this role will however be based on-site at the Sutton Tuition and Reintegration Service (STARS). 80% (4 days) of the post-holders working week and workload would be spent supporting STARS, and 20% (1 day) would be spent supporting the work of the Therapeutic Hub., The Family and Systemic Psychotherapist will offer time-limited therapeutic interventions to improve the mental health, emotional wellbeing and educational outcomes of children and young people. There will be opportunities for family interventions to address any family issues that may be contributing to, or being influenced by, the presenting challenges. The ultimate aim of the postholder is to achieve better outcomes for children by supporting their reintegration to school, helping to improve their mental health, and by increasing the stability of the family unit.

This post offers an exciting opportunity for an individual to contribute to the development of this role within both environments. The postholder will also be expected to support service development through sharing knowledge, delivering training and group supervision, and providing high quality casework support.

The Therapeutic Hub is part of the Targeted Early Help and Integrated Support Service. We are an innovative multi-disciplinary team staffed by experienced and qualified practitioners, and the team benefits from the expertise of professionals from mental health, speech and language, education and social care. We work together to offer therapeutic support to children and young people open to Childrens Services who have emerging or complex mental health or behavioural needs. This includes young people who are accommodated in residential or foster care. The range of work with children and families is varied, dynamic and constantly developing in response to changes in the fields of developmental trauma, attachment and neuro-development. The Therapeutic Hub supports the embedding of Sutton's practice models by promoting a restorative and trauma informed approach in our work, not only with children and families but also the systems surrounding them.

STARS is a medical pupil referral unit for children and young people, 5-16yrs, with complex medical needs, who reside in the London Borough of Sutton. STARS provides education and a 12-week intervention for pupils who are unable to attend their mainstream school. Based at The Drapers Centre, STARS is an Ofsted Outstanding education environment who work closely with schools to ensure continuity of education, and to achieve the overall goal of nurturing children and young people back into mainstream school.