Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
Therapy Support Worker

The closing date is 16 November 2026
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Job summary
Do you want to use your experience to help others? Do you want to be part of a team providing evidence based psychological therapies in Durham and Darlington? Do you want to help shape the way people with depression and anxiety disorders are supported in their recovery? If the answer to these questions is "Yes" then we have great opportunities for you to work with us.

The post holder will work within Durham and Darlington Talking Therapies, supporting the provision of high volume, low intensity interventions through a range of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) based self-management interventions to clients with mild to moderate anxiety and depression.

The successful candidate will receive excellent support in their role, including extensive clinical and caseload supervision. You will extend the range of effective treatment and support available to people with common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. You may be required to work late evenings up until 8pm up to three times a week depending on the needs of the service.

The post holder will have excellent administrative, IT and communication skills, (experience of working with Iaptus preferred) will have experience of working with people who have experienced mental health difficulties, have experience of working in a support worker/ health care assistant / counselling role with experience of working within mental health settings.

Main duties of the job

• To provide clerical and administrative assistance to PWP's to ensure Online Wellbeing Courses have been set up and patients have been sent invites and supporting with any technical difficulties
• Support qualified PWP's in the delivery of Online Wellbeing Courses, working alongside them to provide psychoeducational information to patients presenting with common mental health problems.
• To support the Duty team with referring patients to more appropriate services

In addition to the above, you will be required to conduct review calls with patients and their next of kin, highlighting any difficulties they may be experiencing around fluctuation in risk. As part of this process you will be expected to liaise appropriately with duty workers and senior clinicians to ensure appropriate action is taken to address any concerns which might arise.

About us
Durham & Darlington NHS Talking Therapies Service has been providing psychological interventions to those residing in the County Durham and Darlington area since 2010. We are a joint venture of three experienced local and national providers of psychological therapies with a strong track record of success. It is led by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with Mental Health Matters (MHM) and Sunderland Counselling Service (SCS).

The service has continued to develop new and innovative ways of supporting those patients presenting with common mental health difficulties, forming strong links with other supporting services in the area

We pride ourselves on helping people achieve good mental and physical well-being and live life to the full.

Talking Changes offers excellent training and development opportunities, flexible working (where appropriate), 27 days annual leave per annum/pro rata, plus statutory holidays and a contributory pension scheme. We want to ensure our workforce reflects the local community and would encourage applicants from all backgrounds with relevant experience to apply.

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact the service on 0191 333 3300

Details
Date posted: 13 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 4
Salary: £28,392 to £31,157 a year per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 346-DDA-126-26-B
Job locations: Lanchester Road Hospital, Durham, DH1 5RD, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
You must have the Right to Work in the UK in order to be successfully appointed to this role. Please note, this role does not meet the required eligibility criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa and therefore the Trust is unable to offer sponsorship for this particular role.

Please see the attached job description and person specification which outlines the main duties and responsibilities of the role.
NVQ Level 3 or equivalent is an essential requirement of the role.
This job advert may close early if a high volume of applications have been received. If interested, please apply for this post as soon as possible.

Person Specification
Qualifications

• Essential: NVQ Level 3 or equivalent
• Essential: Good standard of education, including numeracy and literacy
• Desirable: A health, psychology or social care foundation qualification

Experience

• Essential: Experience of working with adult mental health or similar vulnerable group
• Essential: Experience of offering individual support to clients
• Essential: Experience of undertaking assessments including risk assessment.
• Essential: Experience of team working.
• Desirable: Experience of working in a health or social care setting.

Skills

• Essential: Ability to evaluate and put in place the learning of training.
• Essential: Able to develop good therapeutic relationships with clients.
• Essential: Ability to understand psychosocial models, and apply therapeutic techniques to affect change.
• Essential: Able to verbally communicate clearly and expressively in the English language where the information may be complex or sensitive and there may be barriers to understanding.
• Essential: Able to evidence competence in a the range of procedural and practice skills required to fulfil post responsibilities.
• Essential: Able to demonstrate ability to make judgements requiring comparison and breakdown of facts and information.
• Essential: Demonstrate ability to plan and organise tasks, activities or programmes.
• Essential: Able to demonstrate ability to follow instruction and procedures with minimal supervision.
• Essential: Able to demonstrate ability to cope with work patterns that can be unpredictable and be able to concentrate for lengthy periods.
• Essential: Able to evidence emotional capability to frequently cope with emotional distress and demanding clinical situations.
• Essential: Able to evidence ability to cope with challenging and aggressive situations.
• Essential: Ability to work autonomously and part of a team.
• Essential: Ability to work with a service user focus.
• Desirable: Received training (either formal or through experience) and carried out risk assessments within scope of practice.

Knowledge

• Essential: Demonstrates an understanding of anxiety and depression and other common mental health problems, identifying how it may present in primary care.
• Essential: Demonstrates an understanding of the need to use evidence based psychological therapies and how it relates to this post.
• Desirable: Demonstrates knowledge of the issues surrounding work and the impact it can have on mental health.

Other

• Essential: High level of enthusiasm and motivation.
• Essential: Ability to work within a team and foster good working relationships
• Essential: Ability to use clinical supervision and personal development positively and effectively.
• Essential: Ability to work under pressure.
• Essential: Regard for others and respect for individual rights of autonomy and confidentiality.
• Essential: Ability to be self-reflective whilst working with service users in own personal and professional development and in supervision.
• Essential: Ability to work flexibly, including some evening working.
• Essential: Commitment to achieving good outcomes for clients.

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.

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.

Employer details
Employer name: Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Lanchester Road Hospital, Durham, DH1 5RD, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.tewv.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Team Manager Joanne Barraclough, jbarraclough@nhs.net, 01913333300

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