Counselling Coordinator

Change Grow Live are a charity dedicated to the belief that we can make a difference to our Service Users lives, offering support and respect in a safe environment, treating each user as an individual and working with them to find the right treatment and care options. 

Our core values are ‘Be open, be compassionate and be bold’ and our team members apply these daily to achieve our mission of helping people change the direction of their lives, grow as individuals, and live life to its full potential. 

We are looking for a passionate and dedicated Counselling Coordinator to be part of an established service developing and delivering counselling interventions. A key part of this role is recruiting and supporting volunteer and student counsellors as part of our community substance misuse provision, ensuring that psychological perspectives are central to everyone’s thinking.

You will support the empowerment of teams and individuals to increase knowledge, skills, and professional confidence around the needs of the people who access our services. Through consultancy, reflective practice, training, and clinical case management, you will help the wider team create an innovative and effective trauma-informed service.

The role will require flexibility including evening and weekend working with a day off in lieu

Location: Barking & Dagenham

Part Time Hours: 22.5 per week 

Full Time Salary: £34,700.09 - £36,635.38 (dependent on experience, pro rata for part time hours)

Key Responsibilities:

• Service Coordination: Oversee the delivery of high-quality counselling services.
• Team Management: Recruit, train, and manage a team of counsellors, ensuring they are supported and their work is monitored.
• Therapeutic Oversight: Review all referrals, conduct assessments to determine suitability for counselling, and manage client allocations. You will also provide direct counselling services as part of your role.
• Clinical Supervision: Engage in clinical supervision according to the BACP/UKCP ethical framework.
• Professional Development: Take responsibility for personal development, identifying training needs, and participating in regular supervision and appraisal.
• Leadership: Collaborate with the wider leadership team to identify areas for improvement and champion a trauma-informed approach to care.

Role-specific Responsibilities:

This post-holder will be directly managed by the local Service Manager, and will be responsible for fulfilling the following duties:

Leadership of Volunteers:

• Recruitment and Training: Lead on a rolling cycle of recruitment and training of volunteer counsellors and counselling students, ensuring that all counsellors and students meet agreed minimum criteria and work to ethical and professional standards.
• Support and Supervision: Ensure that all counselling students and volunteer counsellors receive high-quality induction, training, clinical supervision, ongoing support, and appraisal. Complete course-related paperwork and reports.
• Service Development: Work with line managers to support and develop the Counselling Service.
• Advocacy: Promote the value and efficacy of counselling volunteering across the partnership and externally.
• Innovation: Identify new opportunities for counselling volunteering roles within the service and the organisation.
• Compliance: Ensure that counselling students and volunteers adhere to CGL policies and procedures, with a particular focus on safeguarding, case management, and information security.

About you:

• Professional Level 4 (minimum) Counselling Qualification and working towards BACP accreditation Qualified at Level 4* diploma (or above) with four years of post-qualified experience
• Working towards a diploma in Therapeutic Counselling Supervision or equivalent that adheres to BACP ethical principles
• An excellent knowledge of a wide range of therapeutic approaches including CBT, TA, and Person-Centred approaches
• Proven leadership skills
• Ability to train counselling students and volunteers to support service users utilising a variety of interventions

What we offer: 

• 25 days holiday (+ bank holidays) rising annually for first five years.
• Paid ‘Wellness’ hour each week along with a ‘Wellness’ hub and Employee Assist Programme 
• Contributory pension scheme 
• Several benefits incl. discounts for shopping, cinema, holidays, etc. 
• A friendly and supportive team 
• Training, career development & progression opportunities 
• Refer a friend scheme and receive generous vouchers if candidate is successful. 

Please read attached Job Description for a more detailed out line of responsibilities and Person Specifications 

If you require sponsorship, please note that this role is not eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa. You may be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route but must meet the minimum salary requirements for the role. You can find out more here Skilled Worker visa: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If this sounds like you and you would like to begin your journey with Change Grow Live, then we would love to talk to you.