Trustee

About Severnside
Severnside is a Bristol-based charity, professional association and training institute for psychotherapists.
Our work brings together psychotherapy, education, professional training and community engagement. We believe that high-quality psychotherapy should be accessible to the people who need it, including those who might otherwise be unable to afford it.
Apart from offering training in both psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy, we provide low-fee and bursaried therapy, as well as free time-limited therapy, alongside a patient consultation and referral service. We also run a programme of events and education for our members and the wider public.
Our approach is grounded in psychoanalytic thinking. This means paying close attention to our inner lives, our relationships with others and the often-unconscious patterns that shape how we experience the world. Psychotherapy can take time and patience, but it can be life-changing. We want more people to have access to this kind of support.
We are based in central Bristol, where our premises include dedicated training space and eight therapy rooms. Much of our work is led by our members, supported by a small senior staff team and overseen by our Board of Trustees.

Could you help us?
We are entering an exciting period of development and are looking for people who can bring their experience, ideas and perspective to our Board.
You do not need to be a psychotherapist or have a background in mental health. We are particularly interested in hearing from people with experience in:
Legal and regulatory matters
Charity governance and management
Senior leadership and organisational strategy
PR, communications and marketing, particularly in healthcare, mental health or therapeutic services
HR
Further Education
We are interested in what you can bring to the Board, as well as the skills and experience listed above. Different perspectives and lived experiences are valuable to us, and we encourage people who may not have considered becoming a Trustee before to get in touch.

What does being a Trustee involve?
The Board meets four times a year, with some informal correspondence between meetings and occasional additional meetings for specific projects. You will have the opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction of Severnside, support good governance and help us develop our services and reach more people.
This is a voluntary role. Reasonable expenses are paid.

Our commitment to inclusion
We want Severnside to be an inclusive and welcoming organisation where everyone feels heard and valued.
We particularly welcome applications from people from backgrounds and communities that are currently under-represented in our organisation and the wider psychotherapy profession.
We recognise that people bring different experiences, skills and perspectives. If you are interested in contributing to Severnside but are unsure whether your experience fits what we are looking for, we would still encourage you to get in touch.

Interested in finding out more?
If you would like an informal, confidential conversation about the role before
deciding whether to apply, we would be very happy to hear from you. Please email
finance@sipsychotherapy.org to arrange an initial chat with either the Chair of
Trustees or the Company Secretary.