Young People's Counsellor

Reports to: Head of Healthcare

Line Reports: None

Salary: £35,392 FTE (£10,617.20 actual)

Annual Leave: 30 days + 8 bank holidays/annum pro rata for part time

Contract Type: 12-month fixed term contract (subject to funding)

Hours of work: TBC, 10.5 hours per week

Office Base: Fully Remote (UK-based)

Closing Date: 9am on the 06/01/25

Action for ME the only charity in the UK providing direct support to young people and adults with the chronic neurological illness ME/CFS. People with ME/CFS experience severe, persistent fatigue associated with post exertional malaise, the body’s inability to recover after expending energy, leading to a flare up in symptoms including pain and brain fog.

Our Healthcare service supports people to manage the physical symptoms of ME/CFS with medical advice and intervention, and physiotherapy. We also acknowledge that any long term illness can have psychological effects, and we, therefore, offer counselling, emotional support and spiritual direction for people who find that helpful.

Our clinical team includes doctors, physiotherapists, counsellors and chaplains, who between them have many year’s experience of helping people with ME/CFS at all levels of severity.

Please refer to our Young People's Counsellor recruitment pack for additional information about our organisation and the recruitment timeline for this role, including the interview date for those successfully shortlisted.

Job purpose

To provide a YP Counselling service as part of a multi-disciplinary team, for Action for ME on a part time basis – 10.5 hours per week  

Key Working Relationships:     

• Counsellors are employed by Action for ME and report to the Head of Healthcare Services

Other key working relationships:   

• Counselling Lead  

• Other counsellors within the teams inc Adult Service     

• Action for ME colleagues    

Key duties   

• Manage a caseload of 9 -12 clients with flexibility to offer both half hour/hour long weekly or fortnightly appointments.  

• Arrange and undertake consultations in the most appropriate manner for the client - whether by telephone or zoom.  

• Identify safeguarding concerns as they arise and escalate these appropriately, in line with our Safeguarding Policy.  

• Record appropriate, up-to-date case notes in line with our Recording Policy and Record consultation details (date, length of consultation) on   Charity Log.   

• Attend clinical team meetings (quarterly)   

• Attend peer supervision (monthly) 

• Attend supervision meeting (monthly)  

• Attend counselling team meetings with Head of Healthcare Services & Clinical Lead (bi-monthly)  

• Use qualitative and quantitative questionnaires e.g. Psychlops