Job Description and Overview
The Lead Psychotherapist plays a pivotal role in embedding, sustaining, and developing the therapeutic and psychodynamic framework within LIFE’S Psychologically informed children’s home. The post-holder provides direct therapeutic input to children while also actively role-modelling therapeutic, reflective, and relational practice to the staff team, ensuring psychologically informed care is consistently lived and demonstrated in everyday interactions.
Working closely with the Responsible Individual, Registered Manager, Clinical Supervisor, and Personal Therapist, the Lead Psychotherapist ensures the therapeutic culture of the home remains active, reflective, and aligned with Enabling Environments principles, the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, and Ofsted Quality Standards.
This role is central to maintaining psychological safety for both young people and staff, particularly within high-risk and relationally complex care. The Lead Psychotherapist contributes directly to Regulation 11 (Positive Relationships), Regulation 12 (Protection of Children), and Regulation 13 (Leadership & Management) and supports the home to evidence safe, reflective, and therapeutically led practice during Regulation 44 visits and Ofsted inspections.
A key element of the role involves professional communication and collaboration with Local Authorities and the wider professional network, ensuring therapeutic thinking informs care planning, safeguarding, and decision-making.
Job Details:
Working Hours:
24 hours a week across 4 days
Salary:
50,000/£55,000 per annum ( Depending on qualificationsand experience)
Location:
Combination of on-site working at Chalk Hill Blue, Hertford, and remote working where agreed and appropriate to the requirements of the role.
Employment Status
Employed
Working Hours
Tuesday – 16:00 to 22:00
Wednesday – 16:00 to 22:00
Thursday – 16:00 to 22:00
Friday – 11:00 to 17:00
Notice Period
Three (3) months' written notice by either party.
Due to the therapeutic and leadership nature of the role, the notice period is intended to allow sufficient time for appropriate therapeutic endings, clinical handover, transition planning, safeguarding considerations, and continuity of therapeutic support within the home.
Key Responsibilities:
Direct Therapeutic Work
- Model therapeutic boundaries, emotional attunement, regulation, and reflective curiosity in direct work, setting a clear clinical standard for staff practice.
- Produce weekly and/or monthly therapeutic reports for the Local Authority and relevant professionals, suitable for care reviews and Ofsted scrutiny.
- Communicate therapeutic progress, themes, and recommendations to the wider professional network where appropriate and consented.
- Contribute to ongoing therapeutic treatment planning, risk assessment, and review in line with statutory and regulatory expectations.
- Work with Psychologically Informed Practitioners to build a therapeutic and reflective environment, supporting the development of staff practice and implementation.
- Challenge inappropriate or non-therapeutic language and actively model therapeutic language to be used within the home.
Clinical Oversight, Case Management & Regulatory Alignment
- Facilitate 6 weekly psychodynamic case formulation meetings with the staff team, role-modelling clinical thinking and reflective inquiry.
- Review treatment plans and therapeutic risk assessments weekly, supporting staff to understand both clinical reasoning and safeguarding thresholds.
- Review incident reports and self-harm logs, using these as opportunities for reflective learning rather than blame, in line with Ofsted expectations.
- Attend MDT meetings, professionals' meetings, and statutory reviews as required.
- Provide clear clinical direction within the therapeutic practice of the home, supporting consistent and defensible decision-making.
- Lead and contribute to therapeutic documentation, including assessments, plans, and reports that may be reviewed by Local Authorities, Regulation 44 visitors, or Ofsted inspectors.
- Communicate effectively with Local Authorities, social workers, and partner agencies to support joined-up, trauma-informed planning and safeguarding.
- Participate in DoLS reviews and attend relevant statutory and clinical meetings as planned.
- Review DoLS care arrangements, step-down planning, and associated meetings to ensure proportionality and compliance.
- Deliver psychologically informed workshops to staff where clinically indicated and agreed with management.
- Work with the Home Manager in a dyad, supporting clinical and operational alignment.
- Attend handovers and actively participate in the community of the home. This enables staff to develop their therapeutic thinking and supports the development of a therapeutic infrastructure across all spaces within the home.
- The responsibilities and structure of the role will be reviewed and developed collaboratively due to the specialist and evolving nature of the Lead Community Psychotherapist position.
Supervision, Reflective Practice & Role Modelling
- Provide clinical supervision to the young person's Personal Therapist.
- Participate in a weekly dyad meeting with the Registered Manager to support clinical–operational coherence and leadership alignment.
- Facilitate regular reflective practice sessions with the staff team, creating a psychologically safe space for staff to reflect on their experiences, emotional responses, relationships, and practice within the home.
- Facilitate weekly reflective practice by actively role-modelling therapeutic listening, containment, curiosity, and emotional regulation.
- Offer ad-hoc psychological consultation during periods of heightened emotional intensity or risk, modelling calm, boundaried, child-centred responses.
- Provide therapeutic support spaces for staff, supporting awareness of transference, countertransference, and vicarious trauma.
- Attend weekly management reflective practice meetings, contributing to a psychologically safe leadership culture.
- Provide clinical supervision to Psychologically Informed Practitioners.
Therapeutic Leadership, Culture & Inspection Readiness
- Lead the therapeutic contribution to the home's journey towards Enabling Environments accreditation.
- Embed trauma-informed and psychodynamic thinking into daily care practice by role-modelling practice in real time, not solely through training.
- Contribute to the psychological holding of the staff team during high-risk or emotionally intense periods, supporting placement stability and sustainability.
- Deliver training and psychoeducation to staff where clinically indicated.
- Work alongside the Home Manager and management team to lead practice development, service improvement planning, and inspection readiness.
- Support the home in evidencing therapeutic impact, reflective leadership, and safeguarding culture for Ofsted inspections and Regulation 44 monitoring.
- Contribute to the ongoing development of the Lead Community Psychotherapist role in collaboration with LIFE's leadership and clinical team, recognising that the role will continue to evolve in response to the therapeutic needs and development of the service.
Essential RequirementsQualifications & Registration
- Professional qualification in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Counselling Psychology, Child and Family Therapy, or a related clinical discipline.
- Current registration with a recognised professional body (e.g. UKCP, HCPC, BACP, BPS).
Experience
- Minimum of 5 years' post-qualification experience delivering therapeutic interventions with children, families, and care-experienced young people.
- Specific experience working with:
- Looked-after children and young people in residential settings.
- Domestic abuse, intergenerational trauma, and attachment disruption.
- High-risk behaviours including self-harm and suicidal ideation.
- Families navigating complex trauma dynamics.
- Experience providing clinical supervision and facilitating reflective practice spaces.
- Experience contributing to or leading multi-agency meetings, including work with Local Authorities and statutory partners.
- Experience facilitating case formulation.
Knowledge & Skills
- Strong grounding in psychodynamic theory and psychologically informed environments.
- Working knowledge of Children's Homes Regulations, Ofsted Quality Standards, and safeguarding frameworks.
- Strong Knowledge and experience factilitating clinical supervision.
- Demonstrated ability to role-model therapeutic practice, including emotional regulation, reflective curiosity, professional boundaries, and relational safety.
- Ability to communicate complex therapeutic thinking clearly to non-clinical professionals and inspectors.
- Confidence contributing to safeguarding processes, audits, and regulatory discussions.
- Commitment to ongoing external clinical supervision.
- Ability to deliver both in-person and remote therapeutic work.
Pay: £50,000.00-£55,000.00 per year
Benefits:
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Hertford SG14 2PL
