Therapeutic Lead / Therapist (Children's Residential)

Job Title: Therapeutic Lead / Therapist (Children's Residential)

Location: Oldham, OL3, In Person

Hourly Rate: Dependent on Experience (DOE)

Working Hours / Shift Pattern: Up to 20 hours per week (flexible to meet the needs of the service)

Employment Type: Permanent

Service: Ofsted Registered Children's Home — solo placement

Service Users: One child with complex trauma, attachment needs, and high levels of emotional and behavioural need

Qualifications Required: Diploma or Degree in Counselling, Psychotherapy or a related therapeutic discipline; current BACP or UKCP registration/accreditation (or equivalent recognised professional body); ongoing clinical supervision and professional indemnity insurance

Experience Required: Providing therapeutic support to children and young people affected by trauma; working alongside children's residential services or looked-after children; strong understanding of attachment theory, developmental trauma and therapeutic parenting; working with Local Authorities, CAMHS and multi-agency professionals

The Home:
A specialist, Ofsted Registered solo children's home built around one young person's recovery. Designed for calm, nurturing, highly therapeutic care, the service is delivered entirely through a trauma-informed framework centred on Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and the PACE approach (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy) — helping the child build trust and regulate emotion through understanding rather than punishment.

Who we are looking for: 🌟
This is not a traditional counselling role. While direct therapeutic work with the child matters, your biggest impact will be on the adults around them — helping residential staff understand the meaning behind behaviours, embedding therapeutic parenting strategies, and shaping an environment where every interaction supports healing. You'll enjoy coaching, influencing practice, and building confidence in a team, while holding excellent clinical standards yourself.

As part of the home's leadership team, you'll:

• Deliver individual therapeutic sessions with the child
• Complete clinical assessments, formulations and therapeutic care plans
• Lead formulation and reflective practice meetings
• Coach and mentor residential staff in DDP and PACE-informed practice
• Deliver training on attachment, developmental trauma and therapeutic parenting
• Support the Registered Manager with therapeutic planning and behavioural strategies
• Work collaboratively with Local Authorities, CAMHS, education providers and other professionals
• Help create a psychologically safe environment for children and staff
• Monitor therapeutic progress and adapt interventions as needed

Who you will be working for:
A specialist therapeutic children's residential provider focused on outcomes for children with complex needs. Rather than managing behaviour, they believe lasting change comes through safe, trusting relationships and emotional security — their homes are intentionally small, so every child gets highly individualised support from a consistent, skilled team.

Why this role & company: 🧠
We work on a fairly simple (and, frankly, not very complicated) theory: happy, supported staff make for happy, thriving children. So while other providers pour their energy into policies and paperwork, we spend just as much on looking after the people doing the caring — call it enlightened self-interest.

• Staff-centred, genuinely: We know burnt-out therapists don't make great therapists, so clinical supervision and support here aren't a box-tick — they're the whole point
• Autonomy: High levels of professional trust and respect — shape the therapeutic culture of a specialist solo home, your way
• Flexibility: Part-time hours built to fit around your life, not the other way round
• Impact: A genuine, long-term difference to one child's life, backed by a leadership team that actually has your back
• Progression: Opportunities to deliver training and influence practice across the wider service
• Benefits: Employee referral programme

Sponsorship is not available.

How to Apply
If you're passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and young people, we'd love to hear from you.

To apply, click the apply button or contact us for more information.

For more information or to book a confidential chat, please contact: [email protected]