Well-established, friendly team
We are a well-established team, some members have been with the service for over a decade. Whilst there are a number of reasons why our clinicians choose to stay working at Sutton Talking Therapies the reason most often cited is the friendly and supportive nature of the people they work with. This means there is always someone on hand to support you, whether this be to help you to develop new skills or to help with any challenges that may arise.
Focus on Training and Supervision
Sutton Talking Therapies provide many opportunities for training, both at the start of your career in psychotherapy and as part of your onward development as a clinician. Every year training is offered in different modalities such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), Behavioural Couples Therapy (BCT), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT) and Person-Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD) with ongoing specialist supervision following completion of the courses. We also regularly receive expert training from external trainers who are invited to teach the latest techniques and adaptations for treatment. Past speakers have included Andrew Beck, Helen Kennerley and Anke Ehlers.
Professional development and Career Progression
As a service, we really care about supporting staff in their career progression and have a high success rate of staff gaining promotion internally and externally, and/or moving on to HI CBT training, Clinical Psychology and Counselling Psychology doctoral courses.
Role Variety
In addition to direct clinical work and supervision, our clinicians have the opportunity to develop areas of interest through taking on projects and Champion roles. Some of our current Champion roles include Perinatal, Long Term Physical Health Conditions, Domestic Violence, Learning Disability and Substance Misuse. These roles are crucial in supporting the services to meet the needs of people we work with, and our Champions develop greater knowledge and skills related to their specialism.
Our passion for supporting our community and developing a breadth of skills in our team means that our Step 2 clinicians are trained to provide Guided Self-Help treatments for binge eating disorder and trichotillomania, and our Step 3 team have the opportunity to train and work with complex trauma and eating disorders, which is not usually offered in other NHS Talking Therapies services.
Support to look after your own wellbeing
We know that working in a fast-paced environment with people who are in distress can be challenging and we want to support our teams to maintain their own wellbeing. Our services and Trust support flexible working and many of our clinicians prefer to work condensed hours to allow for a good work/life balance. Our senior managers are always looking for ways to make working life easier and are open to feedback about how to change processes to make them more efficient. We have a number of wellbeing initiatives including active buddy systems and our staff wellness groups which organise weekly events such as reflective groups and yoga classes.
Sounds too good to be true? Here are some comments from our team about working in Sutton Talking Therapies.
“I think being here for over a decade is testimony that this is a great team to work with. We are a small service, but this means the team feel like a family. Everyone is super supportive and there is always someone on hand to listen if I’ve have had a hard day or to help me grow. I have been so fortunate to have trained in IPT and EMDR as well as had teaching from some of the UK’s top CBT specialists like David Clark and Melanie Fennell which means my practice really benefits our patients”
“I joined Sutton Uplift out of convenience as after qualifying as a PWP two weeks before lockdown I wanted to be close to home. At the time I didn’t really research different trusts and chose Sutton purely on location. Three years later I couldn’t be happier completing my HI training there with a team that I can only describe as exceptional. The STEP2 lead Wai has become a great friend and now at STEP3 Cat and Carla couldn’t be more supportive. I love the team spirit and have made some wonderful friends there and without exception everyone is always happy to help, accommodating and considerate. I feel very fortunate to be part of such a collaborative and supportive service.”
“As a trainee PWP I joined Sutton eight months ago and have been impressed by the level of clinical supervision; being able to discuss all the clients on my caseload has really helped me learn and become a stronger clinician. Having the freedom to manage my own week means I can schedule my clinical appointments at times that suit both me and my clients.”
“Having trained as a PWP whilst with the IAPT team at Sutton Uplift, I can say that I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and expertise. The team is well organised and structured to provide support for trainees. There is always someone at hand to answer questions or look into matters that may come up. I also benefitted from regular development sessions which are delivered by more senior members of the team. I feel very blessed to be part of the IAPT team at Sutton Uplift now as a band 5 PWP!”
