Sessional trainer jobs

Our specialist children's practitioners provide child-led play therapy sessions on a weekly basis, usually for 6-16 weeks. Sessions give children the opportunity to process what has happened to them and make sense of the complicated and confusing emotions they may be experiencing.  Our practitioners work from our purpose-designed therapeutic playroom in Colchester or from some of our outreach premises in other areas, using a range of techniques including sand tray, art and imaginative play.

What we expect from our Sessional Counsellors/Play Therapists:

· Support up to eight CARA clients each week

· Maintain and update accurate database records of clients

· Diploma in Counselling or equivalent, with a minimum of 400 counselling hours.

· Certificate in Counselling Children, Play Therapy qualification or equivalent

· Experience of working therapeutically with children with psychological and behavioural problems.

· An understanding of how trauma affects children both physically and emotionally.

· An ability to work creatively to enable children to process their conscious and unconscious emotions.

· An ability to work collaboratively with parents, while protecting children’s confidentiality.

· To liaise with other agencies including social care, Children and Adolescent Mental Health service (CAMHS) and schools, and attend meetings and provide reports, where required.

· Attendance of one CARA Meeting per month and attendance of monthly point of contact meetings.

· Attendance of clinical supervision, provided by a CARA-approved supervisor.

· Attend annual safeguarding training and other relevant training

· An open and non-judgemental attitude.

· Demonstrable understanding of safeguarding, both in relation to children and to vulnerable adults;

· Sessional Counsellors/Play Therapists will be working with clients on behalf of CARA and not on a private basis.  As such, they will be bound by CARA’s processes, policies and procedures.

· Commitment to the feminist ethos of CARA

· Willingness to commit the necessary time to supporting vulnerable clients

· Membership of BACP, UKCP or equivalent professional body

· Abide by BACP’s Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy

· Owing to the nature of the role, we are only able to take on female candidates

What the Sessional Counsellor/Play Therapist can expect from us:

·Training and support

·Ongoing training opportunities

We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds and those with additional language skills, including BSL.

About CARA

CARA (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse) works with victims and survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse, providing independent, specialist support and promoting and representing their rights and needs. 

CARA is a registered charity working with adults of all genders, young people and children from across mid and north Essex.  We have a head office in Colchester and outreach premises in Braintree, Chelmsford, Clacton-on-Sea, Great Dunmow and Harwich.  We also provide remote services.

CARA seeks to be an inclusive organisation that actively encourages, supports and values diversity amongst both our service-users and our workers.  We wish to create a culture in which discrimination, in all its forms, is recognised and addressed.

You can read more about CARA’s commitment to diversity and inclusion on our website.  We encourage and welcome applications from candidates from diverse backgrounds.

About Synergy East

CARA is part of Synergy East. We work closely with SERICC Rape and Sexual Abuse Specialist Service and Southend-on-Sea Rape Crisis (SOS Rape Crisis) to deliver the contract for the Office for the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex for services for victims and survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse across Essex.

Summary of job:

To provide professional management, supervision and operational oversight for intermediary services, supporting a team of PAYE and sessional Intermediaries and Researchers. The role includes service development, quality assurance, safeguarding oversight and contributing to the strategic growth and external representation of PAC-UK’s services for adopted people, birth families and their descendants.

Key tasks and responsibilities:

1. Management and Supervision

• Provide individual and group supervision to Intermediaries and Researchers, ensuring compliance with adoption legislation, policy and best practice.
• Offer case consultation and guidance, including complex and high-risk cases.
• Lead team meetings and staff development activities.
• Support team members in managing safeguarding concerns and ensure adherence to organisational safeguarding policies.

2. Service Delivery and Operations

• Oversee referrals, allocations and case progression and case closure, making informed decisions on applications and case direction.
• Maintain oversight of active cases, ensuring appropriate risk management and quality of service delivery.
• Monitor and review case records and undertake direct casework where required.
• Coordinate and chair meetings as needed.
• Oversee the delivery and day-to-day operation of FamilyConnect advice line services.

 3. Service Development and Quality Assurance

• Contribute proactively to the development of intermediary services, incorporating emerging theory, research and policy changes.
• Lead or support service evaluation, ensuring accurate collection and analysis of data.
• Undertake audits and contribute to continuous improvement processes across services.
• Ensure practice resources are current, relevant and aligned with service models.

4. Stakeholder Engagement and Representation

• Liaise with internal managers, external professionals and referrers regarding cases and service delivery.
• Represent PAC-UK at external meetings, including commissioner meetings and contribute to reporting requirements.
• Work collaboratively with other staff across PAC-UK and the wider organisation.

5. Staffing and Development

• Support recruitment, induction and ongoing development of staff and sessional workers.
• Deliver or facilitate training for parents and professionals.
• Quality assure and support team members delivering training.

6. Marketing and Service Promotion

• Take a proactive role in promoting the service, including contributing to marketing and online content where appropriate.

7. General Responsibilities

• Attend supervision with line manager and relevant internal meetings.
• Participate in training and continuous professional development.
• Undertake any other duties appropriate to the role.

You will provide clinical direction and maintain oversight of elop’s counselling services, bringing understanding and experience of delivering trauma-informed approaches to support the emotional health and psychological wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people.

You will oversee and contribute to clinical operational responsibilities, service coordination and delivery, ensuring a professional, safe, smooth running, efficient and well managed service is maintained.   You will work alongside the senior leadership team across both strategic and clinical operational levels ensuring lead responsibilities for our counselling teams and services. Working collaboratively with the senior leadership team, implementing clinical delivery decisions, ensuring the counselling service effectively maintains ethical and professional standards of practice and communication across key staff, other agencies and service users. 

You will proactively contribute to building a robust and compelling evidence base that continues to demonstrate impact, improved wellbeing, and increased resilience, and have a key role in monitoring, evaluation, and supporting the wider counselling team with reporting and using data to drive operations, and evidence-based best practice. 

Your role will also include overseeing referrals and allocation of clients; undertaking client assessments; providing role-management, and clinical support and supervision to trainee and sessional counsellors; line-management of key service personnel; some clinical support work with more complex or acute needs clients; recruiting, inducting and training key staff and volunteers; and liaising with the clinical supervision team. 

Full Time: 37 hours per week

There will be one regular evening/ week, and occasional other evening and weekend working required. 

Salary: £34,000 inclusive London Weighting

Closing deadline for submission of application: 10.00am Monday 1 June 2026

Initial Interviews: taking place Wednesday 10 June between 9.00am – 3.00pm

N.B. at this current time all elop services are operating via a mix of in-person and remotely via online platforms, whilst we await completion of building works and relocation to new premises.

We are looking to recruit Self-Employed Mental Health Advocates to work in the following areas:

Warrington - WA2 8TR

Atherton - M46 9NT

Luton - LU4 0LU

This is a self-employed position and you will be paid a sessional rate. 

Our Service

NYAS provides mental health advocacy to individuals within mental health settings throughout the UK.

Our service provides independent advocacy to people within mental health hospitals and community-based settings. We support individuals to ensure their voice is heard regarding their care and treatment and that they are aware of their rights.

This also includes representing them during various meetings such as ward rounds and at multi-disciplinary team meetings.  This role requires you to produce written reports to ensure that the views of patients are fully represented.

We work with adults and children and young people:

Warrington - WA2 8TR - Adults

Atherton - M46 9NT - Adults

Luton - LU4 0LU – Young People

DO YOU HAVE:

Direct experience of working with children/young people or vulnerable adults in a social care or mental health setting.
Experience and understanding of child protection/vulnerable adult safeguarding procedures
Ability to maintain professionalism at all times
An understanding of the importance of listening to children/young people and vulnerable adults without bias or prejudice.
Ability to communicate in an effective way.
Ability to record concise case notes and produce good quality reports

You will need to evidence your skills using specific examples in your application meeting the criteria in the person specification.

Safeguarding and Training

You will be required to complete annual safeguarding and compliance training including, Personal Safety, Data Protection, Information Security, Safeguarding and Equality and Diversity.

You will be able to subscribe to an e-learning platform provided by NYAS. The platform will provide you with the opportunity to undertake a number of other professional courses that you can complete in your own time to maintain your own CPD.

In accordance with UK immigration law, NYAS is required to ensure that all prospective candidates have the legal right to work in the United Kingdom. Therefore, proof of eligibility to work in the UK will be required as part of the recruitment process.

NYAS operates robust safe procedures to ensure the protection of the children, young people and adults at risk we work with. To comply with NYAS’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check, references and a Digital Risk Assessment.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early once we receive a high number of applications.

About NYAS

As an established leading rights-based charity, NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service) is well positioned to ensure that children, young people, and adults across England and Wales are fully respected, represented, and supported in expressing their views and having their rights upheld.

We work with care-experienced children, young people, and adults who are often reliant on statutory services suffering the negative impact of the cuts in public expenditure. Our combination of social care and legal services places us in a unique position to ensure that they receive the services they need and that their voices are heard.

We are an equal opportunities employer, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment which means NYAS welcomes applications from all individuals regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, or any other protected characteristic.

NYAS is proud to share that we are a Disability Confident Employer, and we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies.

Work with us to help change lives.

This role presents opportunity to work innovatively & responsively, creating new, unique, & informative LGBTQ+ affirmative resources, providing crisis support, prevention & wellbeing initiatives; along with having a developmental role in upskilling & supervising sessional staff, trainees, interns & volunteers. 

This is an exciting job opportunity to join a dynamic & committed team, in a key frontline role working directly within our Heads-Out mental health service, which provides individualised mental health plans, crisis safety plans and support, mental wellbeing workshops, varied mental health support groups including for those seeking asylum, a trans & non-binary group; LGBTQ+ mental health group, and LGBTQ+ social connections & activities group. 

Opportunities will include delivery of specialised interventions, taking direct referrals and helping to support & stabilise those at heightened risk and/ or living through mental health crisis, plus psychoeducation workshops and group programmes will further enable you to engage, empower & support participants to build confidence, develop skills, strategies & achieve goals to improve, maintain & best manage mental health, increase mental wellbeing, and reduce and/ or prevent future crisis.

elop is a well established thriving and award-wining London based community-led LGBTQ+ mental health & wellbeing charity offering a range of high-quality and professional mental health, counselling and wellbeingsupport services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBTQ+) communities. 

There will be one regular evening/ week and occasional other evenings and weekend working required.

NB: There will initially be both in-person office-based working with some remote home-based working required whilst we’re awaiting completion of building works and relocation to new premises

Interviews will take place Friday 26 June 2026 between 9.30am – 15.00 pm

This is an exciting and engaging job opportunity to join elop’s dedicated and enthusiastic team in a central coordination and development role within elop’s youth and community services. You’ll have an active role providing LGBTQ+ affirmative support for LGBTQ+ children and young people. 

Working alongside the senior leadership team you will have a key role in identifying and actively contributing to and supporting the attainment of strategic objectives, sustainability, future service development, service standards and delivery strategy of elop’s youth and community services.  This will include overseeing and ensuring efficient, effective, and smooth operations; maintaining accountable, professional, safe, and well administered services; service promotion, monitoring and evaluation; maintaining and developing new cross-sector networks, partnerships and collaborative relationships; ensuring services continue to meet existing and emerging needs and positively impact and make a genuine difference to those using them. 

Our youth service includes age restricted youth groups, 1:1 mentoring, some school-based delivery with occasional training workshops; and our community services include delivery of an LGBTQ+ community forum, community events, social groups, and volunteering programmes.

Working both in-person office based, with some remote home-based working (particularly required whilst awaiting completion of building works and relocation to new premises) you will be required to work one late evening a week and occasional other evenings and weekends when required.

Full time: 37 hours per week

Salary: £34,000 inclusive London Weighting

This role is part funded by the Mercers Charitable Foundation and initially funded to 31 March 2028.

Closing deadline for submission of application: 10.00am Monday 1 June 2026

Interviews will take place Wednesday 17 June 2026 between 9.00am – 3.00pm

Are you a passionate leader who wants to make a real difference in the lives of children and young people?​

We are looking for a Youth Service Lead to oversee and shape the delivery of our programmes across Bedfordshire. This is a key leadership role where you will ensure our services are safe, engaging, and impactful for the young people and families we support.​

At F4YP, we support over 500 children and young people across 50+ schools, providing safe spaces, enrichment opportunities, and vital pastoral support. As Services Lead, you’ll play a central role in making this happen every day.​

What you’ll be doing:

• Leading and managing high-quality delivery across face-to-face services

• Supporting and developing a team of delivery staff and volunteers

• Ensuring excellent safeguarding, pastoral care, and behaviour support

• Overseeing planning, staffing, and day-to-day operations across multiple sites

• Monitoring impact, quality, and outcomes to continuously improve delivery

• Working closely with schools and partners to support young people effectively​

What we’re looking for:

• Experience leading programmes or services for children and young people

• Strong knowledge of safeguarding and pastoral support (SEMH/SEND desirable)

• Proven experience managing and supporting staff

• A hands-on, organised leader who can balance people, operations, and quality

• Someone who is passionate about helping young people feel safe, supported, and confident​​

Bedford/Bedfordshire | Full-time (37.5 hrs) | 3-year fixed term​​​​​​​​ | Working pattern: 9-day fortnight (one day off every two weeks), with full 5-day weeks required during holiday delivery periods

Release Counselling and Therapy for Women is entering an exciting new chapter. 

Founded in Brighton and Hove in 2013, Release has grown from a small local charity into a financially robust organisation with a growing national reach. Under the leadership of our outgoing CEO, the charity has been transformed—moving from a challenging financial position to one with strong reserves, clear sustainability, and ambitious plans for growth. 

We now provide affordable 1:1 online counselling to women across the UK, alongside specialist group programmes supporting maternal mental health and key life transitions. One-to-one counselling is a core offer and a vital income stream, enabling us to extend our reach while staying true to our values. 

This period has also seen Release grow to working with over 20 dedicated volunteer counsellors, strengthening our capacity and community impact. 

As our CEO steps down, Release is ready for its next phase—building on strong foundations, amplifying our national impact, and remaining firmly rooted in our purpose: being a charity that supports women’s mental health, run by women, for women.