Creative Arts Therapist – Locals

Date Posted:

Job Description:

The Mental Health & Wellbeing Locals is community-led and integrated through a collaborative partnership between us at Inspiro, Wellways, Eastern Health, and Oonah. The Locals are dedicated to placing the community at the forefront of mental health and wellbeing reform in the Yarra Ranges.

We are seeking an experienced Creative Arts Therapist to join the Towards Change team – the Towards Change team is a crucial part of the Victorian Mental health reform work which the Locals are undertaking.

As the Creative Arts Therapist, you will draw upon your expertise in art therapy and be dedicated to fostering positive mental health and wellbeing outcomes for individuals receiving services at the Local. You will develop personalised individual and group therapy programs, tailored to the unique needs and artistic expressions of participants.

The role is ongoing, part time 0.2FTE, (1 day per week) based at our Lilydale site, plus other sites if required (Yarra Junction and Belgrave).

Come and join our values-based, community organisation – being Friendly, Client Centred and Local are who we are and what we’re about!

About the role:

The focus will be on developing art therapy programs, to assist with the care and support of adults (26 and over) who are experiencing mental health concerns – including people with co-occurring alcohol and drug treatment and care needs.

Position Responsibilities:

In the role you will:

Conduct individual and group art therapy sessions, responding to the individual needs of participants.
Utilise various art modalities such as painting, drawing, sculpture, and other creative techniques to help promote recovery.
Apply ethical principles and decision-making within creative and experiential practices.
Engage in communication and consultation with the broader team to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic approaches.
Foster creativity, embodiment, and imagination in yourself and others through creative and interactive processes.
Facilitate, collaborate, and create a safe space for integrative therapeutic experiences using creative and practical processes.
Demonstrate emotional intelligence, self-regulation and hold the ability to support co-regulation through creative and experiential processes.
Respect individual choice and agency while providing creative and interactive processes for expression, exploration, self-awareness expansion, processing, and integration of experiences.
Responsively address distress and overwhelm, utilising creative and experiential processes to establish safety, facilitate access to personal resources and process experiences.
Utilise creative and practical processes to build trusting relationships, sustain rapport, and facilitate engagement.
Work with individuals holistically and contextually, considering systems, institutions, families, cultures, communities, and ethnicity.

About You:

You will have:

Demonstrated high level of self-awareness and an ability to operate within clearly defined boundaries of responsibility.
Strong ability to convey warmth, openness, and concern for welfare of participants.
Ability to self-regulate and self-monitor own behaviours, practice self-reflection and a commitment to realistically assess your own personal strengths, limitations and biases.
Work as part of a multidisciplinary team to contribute to service and team development and the promotion of the Local and its services.
Capability to make informed decisions on reasonably complex issues, aligning with established policies and procedures, and adept at identifying and resolving problems or obstacles in collaboration with team members.
In-depth knowledge of trauma-informed practice and practical experience in applying person-centred approaches.
Familiarity with single-session and brief intervention models of support
Exceptional communication skills, encompassing proficiency in written, verbal, and interpersonal interactions.
Ability to work respectfully and creatively with a CALD client population, including Indigenous Australians and the LGBTIQA+ Community.

You will also have:

Relevant tertiary qualification or Diploma of Art Therapy or related qualification, with minimum 5 years’ experience.
Current registration or eligible for registration with the Professional membership of Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapy Association (ANZACATA).
Proven experience working in a mental health setting.
A passion for art and a passion for working alongside individuals experiencing mental health and/or addiction challenges.
Experienced in safe facilitation of creative and experiential processes, including cultural, physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual safety.
Skilled and mindful of safety, expectations, boundaries, pace, scope of practice. Committed to our duty of care, maintaining positive regard, promoting self-efficacy and dignity of the people we work alongside.
Effective communication skills.
Strong ability to convey warmth, openness, and concern for welfare of participants.
Ability to self-regulate and self-monitor own behaviours. Practice self-reflection and a commitment to realistically assess your own personal strengths, limitations and biases.
Willingness to learn and adapt to technology platforms relevant to the position.
Basic skills in Microsoft Office Suite and CRM systems.

Essential

To be the successful candidate you must:

meet the position requirements,
undertake a current National or International Police Record Check,
hold an Employee Working with Children Check
Australian Driver’s Licence
provide evidence of right to work in Australia
provide 100 points of identification
hold or be willing to obtain a NDIS Worker Screening Check,
complete induction training and NDIS Workers Orientation Modules and
meet the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

Inspiro may request additional background checks subject to current legislation.

How to Apply:

Tell us why you’d like to work at Inspiro and what you can bring to this role.

Please send your updated resume and cover letter to our HR team at employment@inspiro.org.au. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

We’re keen to recruit for this role ASAP – so we’ll shortlist as applications are received. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. No agencies please.

We welcome Everyone. Inspiro is committed to an inclusive workforce and celebrates the value of difference and diversity. We encourage applications from people of all abilities and ages, First Nations people and people of all cultures. We also encourage people to apply who have a lived experience of mental health challenges so that our workforce can better connect with our community and drive collaborative and innovative healthcare improvements.

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