Trustee with Psychotherapy experience - Volunteer
Help CounsellingHelp Counselling is well-established Mental Health Charity providing a highly rated trainee placement and access to affordable mental health support. We are looking for a new trustee to advise on all aspects of our clinical approach, as this relates to clients and trainees.
What difference will you make?
As a trustee with clinical and psychotherapy expertise, you can make an immediate difference at Help. You will be replacing our current trustee with clinical experience who has served 6 years on our Board. Given the nature of our work, it is essential that we have a qualified psychotherapist as part of the trustee group.
In recent years, we have focused on recovering from the pandemic and stabilising our operational capabilities. Under the leadership of our CEO, that work is well in hand and we are now ready to promote our services in a more proactive way, attract new clients and increase our impact.
The demand for mental health support is well documented and Help has capacity and no waiting lists. We want to maintain and enhance the quality of our trainee placement through continued clinical excellence;
For this role, Help is looking for candidates with experience in psychotherapy, counselling and clinical supervision particularly in relation to small businesses and charities, and/or in an NHS setting. You may have been a trustee before, but we welcome applications from candidates looking for their first Board role.
Essential skills are as follows;
Hybrid
What will you be doing?
As a trustee at Help, you will be joining a highly motivated team who are all committed to delivering our mission. Including the Chair and Treasurer, there are 9 trustees. We also retain an external adviser with Commercial Banking Experience.
With your clinical and psychotherapy expertise, you will play a key role in assuring the safe delivery of our trainee placements and counselling services. We want to reach more people who need access to counselling and you will be involved in discussions to support the development and promotion of new service offerings, be that linked to a specific location or an unmet need.
At the heart of Help Counselling is a simple, powerful belief everyone truly deserves to be heard. It is why our service started 60 years ago, and it remains our core mission today. We all know that mental health support is essential, but prohibitive costs and long waiting lists can create impossible barriers.
Our model has remained the same since our inception. It is designed to benefit both our clients and the profession. We provide an acclaimed placement programme for counsellors in training, enabling them to gain vital clinical experience under supervision. This, in turn, allows us to offer an effective and accessible low-cost counselling service to the community. Every session supports an individual's wellbeing while also nurturing the development of a skilled and compassionate professional.
Help offers both face-to-face and online counselling in London, with a focus on three boroughs Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster. In this role you will be involved in providing clinical oversight and contribute to the effective running of the charity, working closely with Board colleagues and the CEO.
You will also be an ambassador for Help in the communities we serve, attending relevant business and community events to raise awareness of the important work we do. You may also have contacts at organisations aligned with Help’s mission, such as training colleges and providers, and be able to forge useful connections and opportunities for collaboration.
During the Covid pandemic, Help had to leave a long established counselling centre in west London and move to remote working and online counselling. For business purposes, we established a registered address in Great Portland Street, London, taking telephone and mail handling services from our provider at this location. Post Covid we started to retain new rooms for face-to-face counselling, with ten locations now available across London. This model works well for trainee counsellors who need a mix of online and face-to-face experience, and also gives clients flexibility with regard to the style of counselling they need. We want to emphasise the strength of our placement offering as opportunities for face-to- face practice can be hard to find. We also recognise that remote working and online provision present different challenges and your clinical expertise will ensure we adhere to the most effective ways of working.
What difference will you make?
As a trustee with clinical and psychotherapy expertise, you can make an immediate difference at Help. You will be replacing our current trustee with clinical experience who has served 6 years on our Board. Given the nature of our work, it is essential that we have a qualified psychotherapist as part of the trustee group.
In recent years, we have focused on recovering from the pandemic and stabilising our operational capabilities. Under the leadership of our CEO, that work is well in hand and we are now ready to promote our services in a more proactive way, attract new clients and increase our impact.
The demand for mental health support is well documented and Help has capacity and no waiting lists. We want to maintain and enhance the quality of our trainee placement through continued clinical excellence;
- To reach more people in our chosen communities who can benefit from our compassion and experience
- To sustain our credentials as a highly rated training placement provider
- Devise new service offerings that will be tailored to specific locations or client needs
For this role, Help is looking for candidates with experience in psychotherapy, counselling and clinical supervision particularly in relation to small businesses and charities, and/or in an NHS setting. You may have been a trustee before, but we welcome applications from candidates looking for their first Board role.
Essential skills are as follows;
- Qualified/accredited psychotherapist (BACP/UKCP/BPC) with 5 years post qualification experience
- Sector knowledge – knowledge and experience of training placement organisations
- Actively delivering counselling and or psychotherapy - face to face and online to adults over 18 ideally in an organisational setting
- Diverse experience - working within the NHS and/or individual practice
- Demonstrable experience as a psychotherapist/counsellor with knowledge of psychodynamic, integrative, and person-centred modalities
- Understanding of counselling in the volunteering charity sector and NHS mental health provisions
- Based in London or surrounding areas, with the ability to travel within our target boroughs in central and west London
- Commitment to improving mental health awareness, accessibility to counselling services, and reducing stigma
- Alignment with the charity’s values, including confidentiality and integrity
- Persuasive communication skills and the ability to represent the charity professionally
- A proactive, collaborative approach, with the ability to work independently when required
Hybrid
What will you be doing?
As a trustee at Help, you will be joining a highly motivated team who are all committed to delivering our mission. Including the Chair and Treasurer, there are 9 trustees. We also retain an external adviser with Commercial Banking Experience.
With your clinical and psychotherapy expertise, you will play a key role in assuring the safe delivery of our trainee placements and counselling services. We want to reach more people who need access to counselling and you will be involved in discussions to support the development and promotion of new service offerings, be that linked to a specific location or an unmet need.
At the heart of Help Counselling is a simple, powerful belief everyone truly deserves to be heard. It is why our service started 60 years ago, and it remains our core mission today. We all know that mental health support is essential, but prohibitive costs and long waiting lists can create impossible barriers.
Our model has remained the same since our inception. It is designed to benefit both our clients and the profession. We provide an acclaimed placement programme for counsellors in training, enabling them to gain vital clinical experience under supervision. This, in turn, allows us to offer an effective and accessible low-cost counselling service to the community. Every session supports an individual's wellbeing while also nurturing the development of a skilled and compassionate professional.
Help offers both face-to-face and online counselling in London, with a focus on three boroughs Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster. In this role you will be involved in providing clinical oversight and contribute to the effective running of the charity, working closely with Board colleagues and the CEO.
You will also be an ambassador for Help in the communities we serve, attending relevant business and community events to raise awareness of the important work we do. You may also have contacts at organisations aligned with Help’s mission, such as training colleges and providers, and be able to forge useful connections and opportunities for collaboration.
During the Covid pandemic, Help had to leave a long established counselling centre in west London and move to remote working and online counselling. For business purposes, we established a registered address in Great Portland Street, London, taking telephone and mail handling services from our provider at this location. Post Covid we started to retain new rooms for face-to-face counselling, with ten locations now available across London. This model works well for trainee counsellors who need a mix of online and face-to-face experience, and also gives clients flexibility with regard to the style of counselling they need. We want to emphasise the strength of our placement offering as opportunities for face-to- face practice can be hard to find. We also recognise that remote working and online provision present different challenges and your clinical expertise will ensure we adhere to the most effective ways of working.