Bradford service expands trauma-informed mental health support for domestic abuse survivors
Staying Put in Bradford is recruiting a Mental Health & Wellbeing Advisor to support survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence who are living in refuge accommodation and dispersed properties. The post is framed around a trauma-informed, solution-focused model, with the adviser expected to work directly with clients while also supporting colleagues and external partners in coordinating care. In practical terms, the role sits at the point where psychological distress, safety planning, housing instability, and multi-agency coordination meet.
Domestic abuse survivors often arrive with more than one unmet need. Anxiety, depression, sleep disruption, hypervigilance, emotional numbing, and the cumulative strain of coercive control can all affect daily functioning long after immediate danger has passed. A support role built around wellbeing, rather than crisis response alone, reflects that reality. It also recognizes that emotional recovery is often inseparable from practical safety, stable accommodation, and sustained human contact.
The vacancy is for maternity cover over 12 months, with full-time hours set at 37.5 per week and a salary range of £27,554 to £28,735 FTE depending on qualifications. The post is district-wide, with work across refuges and dispersed properties. That matters because survivors rarely experience recovery in a single setting; needs change as soon as the person moves from acute crisis into longer-term rebuilding. A flexible district-wide model allows support to follow the client rather than forcing the client to fit a fixed service point.
Trauma-informed care at the center of the post
The job description places trauma-informed care at the core of the adviser’s work. In this context, trauma-informed means more than being kind or empathetic. It means understanding how repeated threat can alter a person’s sense of safety, trust, memory, and emotional regulation, then shaping support so that it reduces re-traumatization rather than intensifying it.
The adviser will help deliver wellbeing sessions intended to reduce the risk of further harm and help clients feel more empowered and safe. Those sessions are likely to sit alongside individualized assessments, support planning, and liaison with specialist services. For survivors who have lived under coercive control, a structured but flexible therapeutic style can restore some sense of agency. Even small gains in confidence, routine, and emotional steadiness can improve engagement with wider support services.
The post also calls for collaboration with specialist services to make sure each client’s individual needs are recognized and met appropriately. That includes people with multiple or complex needs, where mental health difficulty may coexist with safeguarding concerns, family stress, housing dependence, financial hardship, or limited social support. A single-agency response is rarely enough in that setting. The role is designed to create pathways between services so that care does not fall apart when one contact ends.
Why the role is clinically and socially significant
Survivors of domestic abuse frequently present with layered psychological harm rather than one discrete diagnosis. The effects of ongoing fear, sleep deprivation, isolation, and repeated exposure to violence can erode concentration, decision-making, and confidence. When those symptoms are left unsupported, they can interfere with parenting, tenancy stability, access to benefits, and the ability to engage with advocacy or legal processes.
A mental health adviser in a refuge system can do more than listen. The position implies active assessment of need, formulation of support packages, and the ability to work across professional boundaries. A practical framework like that is important because recovery from abuse is rarely linear. People may move between relative stability and renewed distress, especially when legal proceedings, contact arrangements, or financial pressures trigger memories and fear.
The vacancy specifies at least one year of experience in mental health services or in settings where mental health and wellbeing are the main need. A recognized mental health qualification is desirable, though not essential. What stands out is the emphasis on experience with assessment and packages of support for clients with complex needs. In a service dealing with domestic abuse survivors, that combination of clinical judgment and social care coordination is often what makes support usable rather than abstract.
One sentence captures the remit plainly: this is a role built to reduce harm where fear has already done its work.
Multi-agency working and organizational expectations
Staying Put describes itself as part of a multi-agency partnership with Family Action and Women Centre, working toward a “one system approach” for families affected by domestic abuse and sexual violence. In service terms, that approach aims to reduce fragmentation. Survivors should not have to repeat their history to multiple teams or navigate disconnected pathways while in crisis.
The organization also signals a supportive internal culture, stating that 85% of colleagues agree or strongly agree that they feel valued. Staff wellbeing is not a side issue in work of this kind. Regular exposure to trauma narratives, safeguarding pressure, and emotionally charged casework can affect staff morale and decision-making. The advertised benefits — including annual leave, bank holidays, birthday leave, an employee assistance programme, enhanced maternity pay after one year, healthcare support after probation, wellbeing resources, free parking at most sites, welfare policies, and clinical supervision with external providers — indicate that the employer is presenting the post as one requiring supervision and sustained support, not simply administrative resilience.
The requirement for a driving licence and access to a car for work purposes reflects the geography of the service and the need to reach accommodation sites across the district. The role is also restricted to women under Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010, a condition directly linked to the nature of the work with survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
A service role shaped by safety, trust, and continuity
Experience, patience, and clarity matter in posts like this because survivors often test services against a history of being dismissed, controlled, or let down. The adviser will need strong written and verbal communication, confidence working on their own initiative, and the ability to liaise with colleagues and external agencies without losing sight of the client’s immediate safety needs. The best versions of this work are quiet, consistent, and responsive. They help people rebuild daily life while the wider system catches up with what survivors already know: psychological recovery cannot be separated from physical safety.
Applications close at noon on Tuesday 3 November, with shortlisting on 4 November and interviews scheduled for 11 November. Interested candidates are directed to obtain the job description, recruitment pack, and application form through the organization’s recruitment materials. CVs will not be accepted, and previous applicants are asked not to reapply.