About this role
Job summary
Join our dedicated Arts Therapies team within West London Forensic Services and make a real difference through creative, recovery-focused interventions.
Working with service users with complex mental health, personality disorder, and offending-related needs, you will deliver music therapy within a supportive multidisciplinary environment. You'll benefit from regular supervision, peer support, weekly Arts Therapies meetings, and opportunities to collaborate with a wider network of Arts Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Psychotherapists, and Psychologists.
This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated Music Therapist seeking professional development within a specialist forensic mental health service.
Monday is an essential working day.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for an enthusiastic and compassionate Music Therapist to join our established Arts Therapies team within West London Forensic Services.
As one of two Music Therapists in the service, you will deliver both individual and group music therapy interventions to male and female service users within our inpatient forensic settings. Supported by highly specialist Arts Therapists, you will undertake assessments, contribute to multidisciplinary care planning, and provide consultation to colleagues across both inpatient and community forensic services.
This is a varied and rewarding role, offering the opportunity to work creatively with individuals who present with complex mental health and forensic needs. You will play a key part in supporting recovery, tailoring interventions to meet the unique needs of service users and helping them achieve meaningful therapeutic outcomes.
Working closely with a range of multidisciplinary professionals, you will contribute to electronic patient records, service development activities, and the ongoing delivery of high-quality, evidence-based care. There will also be opportunities to become involved in research, audit, and service evaluation, supporting innovation and continuous improvement within the service.
If you are passionate about using music therapy to make a positive impact and are keen to develop your skills within a supportive and specialist forensic mental health setting, we would love to hear from you.
About us
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse providers of mental health, community and social care in the UK. It provides a broad range of forensic mental health care in adult male and female services, across high, medium and low security settings, as well as in a community and court diversion setting. West London Forensic Service has been rated as outstanding by the CQC.
The Arts therapies team sits within the psychological therapies department, which comprises a team of over 30 psychologists and psychological therapists. It is well-established and supportive with high standards of clinical supervision and excellent opportunities for continuing professional development. The Arts therapies team is well regarded by the service - and is also involved in delivering reflective practice and away days to the staff teams.
We are keen to ensure that our workforce reflects the community it serves, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+ and experience of mental illness.
Job description Job responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Training MA/MSc or equivalent Registered Arts Therapist with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Meet conditions of Full BAMT Membership
Desirable
Membership of BAMT Evidence of further post qualification training e.g. forensic, trauma, group, psychodynamic, systemic, intellectual disabilities, autism
Experience Essential
Experience of work in adult mental health Experience of working with people with disturbed and challenging behaviour Experience of work in MDT setting and communicating complex information therein Experience of setting up and managing own clinical caseload, including individual and group clinical work post qualification Experience of personal therapy Experience of assessing complex client needs in a clinical setting and identifying suitable treatments, taking into account diagnostic and risk factors Experience and understanding of a wide range of processes and equipment in own art medium
Desirable
Experience of setting relevant to post Experience of working in an arts therapies team Experience of team development Experience of supervising students
Knowledge Essential
Specialist professional knowledge acquired through MA/MSc or equivalent level plus specialist short courses, CPD, clinical supervision of practice Knowledge of other modalities (e.g. medical model, systemic, behavioural) sufficient to contribute to multi-disciplinary planning and service provision Understanding of how music therapy interventions need to be adapted to meet a wide range of service user needs and settings Knowledge of condition specific therapies approaches, i.e. approaches tailored to the needs of specific groups of problems or specific diagnoses Knowledge of key features of the evidence base for the arts therapies Understanding of how the dynamics of teams and between professionals can be influenced by the psychological impact of work in a mental health environment Understanding of national healthcare initiatives (e.g. recovery model, arts in health, clinical governance, evidence based practice) and relevance to this post and to the organisation
Desirable
Further specialist training or experience relevant to the setting Knowledge of legislation and its implications for clinical practice in relation to the client group and setting
Skills Essential
Able to assess complex client needs in a clinical setting and identify suitable interventions considering diagnostic and risk factors Ability to utilise previous experience in order to work effectively in clinical areas covered by this post Able to work in pressurised environment where there is verbal aggression and a risk of physical aggression Clear and effective decision making under pressure Ability to maintain a thoughtful, professional stance in situations of conflict Ability to process and work through emotionally demanding issues using clinical/managerial supervision/reflective practice Stamina and emotional resources / resilience Ability to adapt to the physical environment when dedicated rooms are not available, e.g. moving furniture and equipment Physical capacity to sit in constrained position for prolonged periods in therapy sessions Awareness of and ability to maintain professional/personal boundaries High level of communication skills verbal and written
Desirable
IT skills: e.g., Word; Excel, Photoshop, AI tools Able to use word processing, database and test/administration scoring software
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name West London NHS Trust
Address St Bernards
Ealing
UB1 3EU
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.westlondon.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)