Counselling jobs in South Petherton

Job summary

Are you passionate about helping people with severe mental health difficulties build confidence, improve wellbeing, and live fulfilling lives? Do you believe in compassionate, person-centred care that empowers people to make decisions about their own recovery?

As a Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner, you'll play a vital role within our Community Mental Health Service, supporting adults experiencing serious mental illness through psychologically informed interventions and collaborative care planning. Working within a trauma-informed and psychologically led service, you'll help people identify their strengths, achieve meaningful goals, and develop practical strategies that support recovery and resilience.

This is a unique opportunity to be part of a forward-thinking multidisciplinary team that works beyond traditional healthcare boundaries, building strong partnerships with service users, families, carers, voluntary organisations, and community services. You'll receive regular clinical and management supervision, providing a supportive environment where you can continue to develop your skills and confidence.

If you're looking for a role where you can make a genuine difference every day while developing your career within a supportive NHS Trust, we'd love to hear from you.

Main duties, tasks & skills required

In this role, you will:

• Work alongside service users, families and carers to develop personalised, strengths-based care and recovery plans.
• Deliver evidence-based, wellbeing-focused psychological interventions using cognitive behavioural principles to support recovery and everyday functioning.
• Act as a key worker for a caseload of service users, monitoring progress and supporting positive outcomes.
• Carry out assessments, contribute to risk management plans, and work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team to provide safe, effective care.
• Build strong relationships with health, social care, voluntary sector and community partners to ensure coordinated support and continuity of care.
• Contribute to service improvement, audit, learning and the development of high-quality mental health care.

About us

At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, we're committed to supporting our employees with a range of benefits designed to enhance your professional and personal life. We offer:

• Flexible working options to help you balance work and life
• NHS pension scheme for long-term financial security
• Generous annual leave allowance to recharge and relax
• A strong focus on career development to help you grow and achieve your potential

Additionally, you'll gain access to our Blue Light Card, unlocking exclusive discounts on shopping, dining, and leisure activities, as well as NHS-specific perks to support you both inside and outside of work.

We are proud to foster a diverse, skilled, and inclusive workforce, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds.

Why Somerset? Somerset offers the perfect blend of idyllic countryside, outstanding areas of natural beauty, and breathtaking coastlines, with vibrant cities like Bristol, Bath, and Exeter just a short drive away - and only two hours to London.

The region is home to excellent educational facilities, and with affordable housing compared to other parts of the country, it's a great place to build both your career and your future.

Somerset truly has it all - the peaceful countryside and cosmopolitan city life, with something for everyone to enjoy.

Job description

You'll join a welcoming and supportive Community Mental Health Team where psychological thinking and trauma-informed practice are central to the way we work. Our service is committed to helping people recover, stay connected to their communities, and access the support they need to live well.

Working under the supervision of experienced psychological professionals, you'll deliver a range of structured interventions designed to improve wellbeing and support recovery. These may include behavioural activation, problem-solving skills, emotional regulation, confidence-building, sleep interventions, graded exposure, and guided self-help approaches.

We're looking for someone who can build trusting, empathetic relationships with people who may be experiencing significant distress. You'll be confident working collaboratively with colleagues, communicating sensitively, and adapting your approach to meet individual needs. You'll also contribute to assessments, care planning, relapse prevention, and multidisciplinary reviews, ensuring every person receives coordinated, compassionate support.

To be successful in this role, you'll need:

A Graduate Certificate (Level 6) or Postgraduate Certificate (Level 7) delivering the national curriculum for Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioners (Adult Specialist Mental Health).

• Experience working with people with mental health needs through supervised clinical practice.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with service users, carers, colleagues and partner organisations.
• The ability to assess needs, contribute to risk management, and deliver psychologically informed interventions under supervision.
• A commitment to teamwork, inclusion, social recovery, and trauma-informed care.
• The ability to travel across Somerset as required.

At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, you'll be supported to grow professionally through regular supervision, ongoing training, reflective practice, and opportunities to contribute to quality improvement and service development. You'll join a Trust that values kindness, respect and teamwork, where your contribution is recognised and where the care you provide makes a lasting difference to people's lives.

If you're ready to help people take positive steps towards recovery and wellbeing while developing your career within a supportive community mental health service, we encourage you to apply.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• A graduate certificate (Level 6) or postgraduate certificate (Level 7) delivering the national curriculum for Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioners (Adult Specialist Mental Health)

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working with people with mental health needs gained through a graduate certificate or postgraduate certificate training with significant supervised practice.
• Experience working as part of a team.
• Experience of analysing and communicating complex information verbally and in writing

Desirable

• Experience running groups/activities.
• Lived experience of mental health issues/difficulties

Additional Criteria

Essential

• Ability to travel across sites in good time with reasonable adjustments as required to facilitate this

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

For help with your application, contact:

Emily Pickering

emily.pickering@somersetft.nhs.uk

01749836600