Reports to: Regional Deputy Service Lead. Area: Residential Services, Supported Accommodation and Education Services
Terms of Employment: Permanent
Base: Home Based (with travel throughout the Maidstone area)
Hours/week: Minimum three days per week
*Must hold experience working in children's residential settings/working with complex young people in complex settings and have experience delivering supervision*
About Meadows Psychology Service (MPS)
Meadows Psychology Service is a clinical psychology-led organisation and national leader in trauma-informed practice for children and young people. We specialise in working to support systems around children and adolescents who have experienced developmental trauma, providing tailored, psychologically informed packages of care to a range of settings including residential homes, education, foster care, supported accommodation, and family contexts. We also deliver commissioned services on behalf of local authorities and partnerships.
At MPS, we are committed to quality, authenticity, and compassion. Our values sit at the heart of everything we do — from the relationships we build to the services we deliver. This is an exciting time to join our growing organisation, as we move towards becoming a national centre of excellence in trauma-informed care. We invest heavily in professional development and are proud of our inclusive, reflective culture.
Job Purpose
The Senior Psychological Therapist will provide clinical leadership within Meadows Psychology Service, supporting high-quality, psychologically informed practice across systems.
The role is primarily focused on supporting the systems around children and young people through consultation, formulation, reflective practice, and training. Direct therapeutic work forms part of the role but will be a smaller, targeted caseload.
In addition to delivering clinical work, the Senior Psychological Therapist will play a key role in developing others. This includes providing clinical supervision, supporting the quality of therapeutic practice, and contributing to the ongoing development of the service.
The post holder will model and embed formulation-led, trauma-informed thinking, supporting teams to remain reflective, grounded, and responsive when working with complexity, risk, and high levels of need.
Roles and Responsibilities
1. Clinical Practice and Systemic Work
- Provide psychological assessment, formulation, and evidence-informed therapeutic interventions for children and young people with complex developmental trauma.
- Maintain a small, purposeful caseload of direct work where clinically indicated.
- Deliver psychological consultation to systems supporting children and young people, including residential homes, foster carers, education settings, and multi-agency networks.
- Facilitate reflective practice, network meetings, and formulation discussions to support shared understanding and coordinated care.
- Apply attachment-based, trauma-informed, and systemic frameworks to guide intervention and care planning.
- Attend and contribute to professional meetings (e.g. CLA/LAC reviews, strategy meetings, case reviews), presenting psychological understanding and recommendations.
- Produce high-quality written reports, formulations, and assessments for a range of audiences, including where appropriate for legal or formal processes.
2. Clinical Supervision and Development of Others
- Provide structured clinical supervision to psychological therapists, creative therapists, assistant psychologists, and other practitioners as appropriate.
- Support supervisees in developing formulation, clinical reasoning, report writing, and decision-making skills.
- Ensure clinical work delivered by others aligns with MPS values, standards, and models of practice.
- Identify and respond to performance, practice, or quality concerns in collaboration with senior leadership.
- Provide informal guidance and support to colleagues beyond formal line management responsibilities, contributing to a culture of shared learning and reflection.
- Contribute to induction, mentoring, and development of new staff.
3. Leadership, Quality and Service Development
- Model psychologically informed, relational practice across all interactions.
- Support systems and professionals to remain reflective and grounded during periods of pressure, crisis, or organisational change.
- Contribute to quality assurance processes, including audit, review of clinical work, and outcomes monitoring.
- Support the ongoing development of Meadows Psychology Service, contributing to new service models, innovations, and strategic priorities.
- Promote consistency and quality of practice across contracts and teams.
- Act as an ambassador for MPS, representing the service in a professional and values-led way.
4. Training and Workforce Development
- Deliver high-quality training and workshops to internal teams and external organisations.
- Contribute to the development of training materials and workforce development initiatives.
- Support the embedding of trauma-informed and formulation-led practice across services.
- Engage in and contribute to the reflective learning culture of MPS.
5. Operational Responsibilities
- Work autonomously across multiple contracts and services, managing time and priorities effectively.
- Respond flexibly to competing demands, including urgent or emerging needs within services.
- Maintain accurate and timely clinical records in line with organisational and professional standards.
- Contribute to service monitoring, evaluation, and reporting requirements.
- Work within Meadows Psychology Service policies, procedures, and governance frameworks.
6. Working with Complexity and Pressure
- Maintain a reflective, containing presence when working with high levels of emotional distress, risk, and complexity.
- Support systems to think clearly and respond effectively when under pressure.
- Remain grounded and avoid becoming drawn into system anxiety or reactive dynamics.
- Adapt plans and approaches flexibly in response to changing needs and contexts.
- Balance multiple demands while maintaining quality and relational integrity.
Person Specification
Essential Criteria
- Professional accreditation (e.g. HCPC, UKCP, BACP, NCPS, SWE)
- Relevant postgraduate qualification in a therapeutic discipline
- Significant post-qualification experience working with children and young people with developmental and relational trauma
- Experience of providing clinical supervision and/or supporting the development of others
- Experience working within complex systems (e.g. CLA/LAC, CAMHS, residential care, fostering, supported accommodation)
- Training in relevant therapeutic models (e.g. DDP, CFT, Mentalisation, DBT, EMDR)
- Strong skills in assessment, formulation, and intervention
- Ability to communicate complex psychological ideas clearly to a range of audiences
- Experience facilitating reflective practice and multi-agency working
- Ability to work autonomously across multiple settings and manage competing priorities
- Capacity to remain grounded and reflective when working with complexity and pressure
- Commitment to ongoing learning, reflective practice, and evidence-informed care
Desirable Criteria
- Experience of management or leadership within a therapeutic service
- Experience contributing to service development or innovation
- Experience with outcome measures and service evaluation
Probation Expectations
This role is subject to a 6-month probationary period. This will include:
- Structured feedback from services and commissioners
- Review of clinical competence, leadership, and supervision practice
- Assessment of ability to work autonomously and responsively across systems
- Evaluation of alignment with MPS values and ways of working
Additional Information
This job description is not exhaustive and may be amended in discussion with the post holder to reflect the evolving needs of Meadows Psychology Service.
Please contact Jessica Pyke, People and Partnerships Manager on [email protected] for more information
Pay: Up to £50,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Free or subsidised travel
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Maidstone (Kent)
