If you are interested in becoming part of our team, please call us for further information and/or send us a covering email and CV to: info@oxdev.co.uk

We have a vacancy at The Oxford Development Centre Ltd in Witney for a Chartered Counselling or Clinical Psychologist who specialises in working with children and adolescents but is also able to work with adults.

We are looking for someone with a knowledge of trauma work who can work in a holistic, mindful and client-centred way. CBT/EMDR accreditation is desirable and HCPC registration necessary.

Terms: We offer a self-employed Consultant’s contract, with payment on a pro-rata percentage basis. This position could suit a professional wanting to extra work alongside other part-time work, or transferring from statutory service work into the private sector, or a parent wanting to return to work following maternity/paternity leave. It might also be a unique opportunity for a professional who would like to incorporate their existing private practice into this reputable, longstanding service.

Hours: Part-time initially with potential to build up to full-time work

Based in Witney, Oxfordshire (approx. 25 minutes car drive from Oxford), The Oxford Development Centre Ltd, is an independent and private service which was founded 18 years ago in 1997 by Dr Claudia Herbert, who is also the Clinical Director. It comprises four different psychological treatment services:

  • Independent Private Psychology Service
  • Service specialising in Stress and Trauma Psychology
  • The Centre for Trauma Healing and Positive Growth, based in Gloucestershire
  • Psychology for Business

Our philosophy is to provide a service committed to personal growth and development for both our clients and ourselves as professional therapists. We believe that, in order to be effective therapists, we need to feel enthusiastic about and committed to the work we do and we place a lot of emphasis on creating a pleasant, supportive and stimulating working environment. Our service is committed to helping people strengthen their own inner resources to enable them to live their life in a positive and functionally healthy way.

We operate from a Positive Psychology framework and try to avoid diagnostically labelling or categorising our clients as we understand that many of their problems are caused by survival-based coping strategies which now are no longer adaptive and do not serve them well. Although some of our work does involve the request for symptom reduction, our preferred focus of working is to help people recognise, understand and transform the underlying patterns and causes of their problems in order to connect with their unique authentic Self.

The following skills and requirements are all inherently important to this unique job opportunity, but the successful applicant will also offer that little ‘something extra’.

We are looking to recruit an experienced and emotionally mature Chartered Counselling or Clinical Psychologist, desirably with CBT and EMDR accreditation, who feels comfortable working in an integrative, broad-based and holistic way. The ideal candidate will have undergone their own personal psychotherapy and have an ongoing commitment to their own inner growth and development process, including their spiritual path. They will be aware of the importance of attachment theory and the concept of establishing safety, grounding and secure boundaries, before engaging in more active treatment work. They will have experience of working with complex trauma, including dissociative symptoms and will have had additional training for this. Supervision, group supervision and the possibility of some in-house training to specialise further in these areas will be available.

The work will involve:

  • Assessing and treating children, adolescents and adults with a range of psychological problems such as: depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, psychological management of chronic illnesses.
  • Assessing and treating children, adolescents and adult survivors of trauma, both single incident trauma and prolonged and repeated trauma (complex trauma) and dissociative symptoms.
  • Liaison with other professionals outside the Centre, such as GPs or psychiatrists, to provide co-ordinated client care.
  • Contributing to medico-legal assessment and treatment work, predominantly in the area of PTSD, litigation and family law cases
  • Working closely together with other members of the team, including some shared therapeutic work
  • Sharing the responsibility of maintaining and updating therapeutic records
  • Involvement in general administrative duties, as necessary

We feel that the following skills and attributes are essential:

  • Sensitivity, warmth, insight, understanding and a sense of humour
  • Commitment to providing an excellent therapeutic service that is responsive to the individual client’s needs
  • Knowledge and experience of using CBT and EMDR treatment approaches (ideally at least one of these two) with an openness to using a broader therapeutic approach
  • Interest in trauma work and understanding of issues relating to trauma, abuse and dissociative symptoms, as well as the risk of potential secondary traumatisation of clients
  • Good communication and people skills
  • Enthusiasm, motivation and a positive attitude to work
  • Being able to work as part of a small team, which requires flexibility and the preparedness to help out and respond to service demands when needed.
  • Contributing to the overall working atmosphere in a positive, open and non-competitive manner
  • A sense of self-motivation, resourcefulness and openness to new opportunities, as they arise
  • Commitment to the development and growth of The Oxford Development Centre, all its members and to personal development
  • Some understanding of the business implications involved in running an independent psychology service

We offer:

  • Two ways of income generation:
    1. A percentage share of all fee-paying work generated and provided by The Oxford Development Centre to the Consultant
    2. A higher percentage share for any additional fee-paying work generated and brought into the service by the Consultant
  • Working in a pleasant, caring and supportive professional environment
  • Working in a totally independent psychology service that has a long-standing (18 years) reputation of providing high quality therapeutic work
  • A strong commitment to an environment that has been especially created to provide a safe and healing space for clients and therapists
  • Relief from much of the administrative burden involved in this work, as the day-to-day running of the service is superbly organised and supported by our full-time practice manager
  • Regular, monthly individual and additional group supervision with access to immediate debriefing for challenging or distressing therapeutic situations
  • Possibility of occasional in-house, specialist training
  • Interesting mix of client responsibilities
  • Access to a wide range of professional literature as part of our comprehensive in-house library

If you are interested in becoming part of our team, please call us for further information and/or send us a covering email and CV to: info@oxdev.co.uk