Position
Clinical Family Therapist

Team
Strength 2 Strength

Employment Type /Hours
Full Time, Permanent / 38 hours, with flexibility to work one evening per week

Location
Frankston
From time to time the incumbent may be requested to work from, or be based at, other Family Life sites.

Reports To
Manager Strength 2 Strength

Effective Date
May 2020

Overview of Program

The Strength to Strength Program is a client-centred trauma informed therapeutic response for children and their parents who are victim survivors of family violence, which includes therapeutic services delivered via outreach and through centre-based sessions.

A partnership response has been activated to maximise client access, safety, empowerment and therapeutic outcomes. The Therapeutic Demonstration Project, Strength2Strength operates through a partnership of key service providers including: Family Life, Salvation Army, Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, SECASA and Peninsula Health.

The interventions target children and their mothers from diverse populations, with the aim of:

Strengthening therapeutic responses and improving outcomes;
Building evidence about effective practice approaches for responding to victim survivors of family violence, including victim survivors from diverse populations;
Determining, through evaluation, how these approaches might be incorporated into future service delivery frameworks and organisational operating models; and
Increasing access to a broad range of therapeutic approaches to family violence victim survivors including adults and/or children across diverse cohorts.

Position Objective

The Clinical Family Therapist works as part of a multi-disciplinary team, providing outreach and centre based services to address the effects of ongoing exposure to family violence, and assist families to achieve safety and stability. Primarily through the use of dyadic and whole of family practice therapeutic interventions, the Clinical Family Therapist focuses on strengthening the attachment bond between mothers and their children.

Key Responsibilities

The key responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to deliver evidence-based, trauma informed services to women, children and their families impacted by family violence and support the innovation of service responses and sector reform.
Delivering dyadic, attachment-focused therapy for children affected by family violence and their mothers.
Managing a caseload of clients, as well as providing support and assistance to co-workers on their cases.
Working flexibly across a range of service delivery sites, including the provision of outreach support to enhance service accessibility.
Maintaining professional documentation and administrative systems according to program and legislative requirements, including planning and documentation of group and education programs.
Delivering services to quality standards, complying with relevant legislation and contractual requirements
Performing other partnership related tasks as required to assist the program in meeting its contractual and compliance obligations.

Key Selection Criteria

Degree in Psychology, Family Therapy, Occupational Therapy or Social Work.

Qualifications in and experience delivering dyadic developmental psychotherapy, parent child interaction therapy, theraplay, Greenspan floortime approach, transgenerational therapy or other evidence-based approaches to dyadic therapy.

Ability to develop and implement trauma informed approaches to practice.

Knowledge and experience with the effects of trauma on behaviour and development of children and youth.

Demonstrated experience and willingness to participate in the provision of therapeutic intervention with people who have used violence.

Excellent knowledge of the impacts of Family Violence and, feminist, systemic, child focused and trauma informed approaches to practice.

Capacity to work with ambiguity and uncertainty in the context of ongoing environmental change and complex problems for vulnerable members of the community.

Information technology skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office suite and client management system.

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