Specialist Counsellor

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust - Specialist Counsellor (Band 6)

Closing date: 10 November 2025

A rare and exciting opportunity has arisen for a band 6 Counsellor working within the field of amputees.

The post holder will be working alongside a highly skilled and specialist multidisciplinary team under the direct supervision of our specialist counsellor. You will be responsible for providing care to adults and children following amputation or with limb difference in the out patient setting at the Specialised Ability Centre.

You must be passionate about providing a high quality service for our patients, have excellent communication skills both verbal and written, and have experience of working both independently and as part of a team.

For further information or an informal discussion please contact Ged Pandolfo, Specialist Counsellor on .

Main duties of the job

• Undertake assessment, deliver and manage own caseload within service delivery standards and clinical priorities.
• Provide emotional support to patients (and their relatives) which can often be held under distressing and upsetting circumstances, including being present at physical examinations.
• Take responsibility for the assessment of counselling needs including the use of clinical measures to support and deliver agreed outcomes of therapeutic support with the patient.
• Accept referrals from the wider service MDT and discuss the appropriateness of referrals, referring to other services where relevant, ensuring smooth transition.
• Explain service procedures to patients including clear consent protocols and confidentiality boundaries.
• Write reports and provide statistical information to assist service delivery and evaluation.
• Motivate and support patients at different stages of their treatment progress.
• Plan and prioritise own workload according to clinical need and discuss relevant issues with a senior member of staff.
• Be an integral member of the wider clinical multi-disciplinary team, providing advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to patients' rehabilitation care plan.
• Serve as an autonomous practitioner, being professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of the professional and clinical work and able to recognise limitations.

About us

MFT is one of the largest NHS Trusts in England with a turnover of over £3bn and is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We're creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.

Bringing together 10 hospitals and community services from across Manchester, Trafford and beyond, we champion collaborative working and transformation, encouraging our 30,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you'll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.

We've also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient and staff experience, operational effectiveness and drive research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.

We're proud to be a major academic research centre and education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high quality research programmes. We're also excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.

At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.

Diversity Matters

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating, and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at .

Person Specification Education / Qualification

• Diploma level 4 or above in Counselling Studies, or Counselling Diploma Level 3 with significant post qualifying supervised experience of working with people with common mental health problems, or Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
• Additional postgraduate training and evidence of continuing professional development relevant to role.
• Specific training in evidence based approaches, e.g. Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) or Mindfulness based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
• Registered Counsellor status with a recognised professional body e.g. BACP/UKCP/NCS and eligible for accreditation.
• Master's level qualification in counselling.
• Accredited Counsellor status with a recognised professional body.
• Further qualification and/or training in a range of therapy models/interventions.

Experience and Knowledge

• Post qualifying experience of working as a counsellor - with minimum 300 hours post graduate supervised practice.
• Post qualifying experience of counselling young people and adults with common mild to moderate mental health problems.
• Experience and knowledge of bereavement and loss theoretical models.
• Experience of delivering self help and psycho educational packages e.g. pain management and facilitating group work.
• Experience of multi agency/multi disciplinary working.
• Experience of evaluating own practice by use of recognised outcome measures.
• Experience of managing own caseload and working autonomously.
• Evidence of receiving regular and recent clinical supervision in counselling.
• Knowledge of child protection, safeguarding and other relevant legislation.
• Experience of working in Primary Care Mental Health Services.
• Experience preparing and developing new resources to support service delivery.
• Experience of providing guidance and support to other professionals.
• Experience of working with patients with physical disability.
• Knowledge of medication used in anxiety and depression and other common mental health problems.

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to recognise the impact of physical health needs of patients accessing the service in a medicalised environment, including patients with multiple physical health conditions.
• Ability to contribute to psychological aspects of patient health care within the wider multi-disciplinary team.
• Ability to undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual patients in accordance with Trust policy and to offer advice to other professionals where appropriate.
• Ability to manage own mental health needs and to cope/deal with highly distressing emotional circumstances.
• Ability to work under pressure with conflicting demands of the role.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, one to one and group situations; ability to write clear reports and letters to other services, G.P.s and other health professionals.
• Ability to conduct audit and research appropriate to post.
• Good IT skills, knowledge of Microsoft Office packages, use of Internet and Email.
• Evidence of developing new initiatives.
• Ability to manage aggression/hostility.

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.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

£38,682 to £46,580 a year (pro rata)