Community Early Years Therapist

Location: Standlake, Oxfordshire

Job type: Fixed term - part time / term time – currently this is a 3 year fixed term contract.

Normal hours of work: 1.5 days per week (0.3 FTE) (11.25 hrs per week, based on FTE 37.5 hours per week). Working term time only (41 weeks). Specific working days to be agreed as part of the selection process.

Salary: £14,848 - £16,803 (0.3 FTE). (Based on FTE £52,522 - £59,439).

About Mulberry Bush

In response to an unprecedented and growing incidence of social, emotional and mental health issues in young people and adults, we work across a wide range of sectors including special and mainstream education, children’s homes and youth and criminal justice – not only providing education and holistic therapeutic support, but also training, consultancy, insight and thought leadership.

Our approach is founded on nearly 80 years of therapeutic practice and an innovative mindset that looks to the future to ensure we meet the needs of the people we serve and enable them to make the change they need.

About the Role

We are seeking two skilled and enthusiastic therapists to help establish and deliver an innovative new community early years project in Witney.

Supported by funding from the Rank Foundation, this pilot project will offer a therapist-led, relational playgroup for parents, carers and young children. The service will be rooted in psychodynamically-informed practice whilst remaining accessible, welcoming and non-stigmatising. The aim is to strengthen parent-child relationships, reduce isolation and provide early support before difficulties escalate.

This is a unique opportunity to be involved from the beginning of an exciting new service. Alongside delivering weekly sessions, you will help shape the development of the model, build relationships with local services and contribute to learning about how light-touch therapeutic thinking can support families within their communities.

We are looking for therapists who are warm, reflective and able to engage families in a natural and accessible way. This role will suit someone who enjoys working flexibly, values partnership working, and can hold therapeutic thinking within informal community settings.

We’ll look to you to

- Co-facilitate a therapist-led early years carer-under 5 playgroup.

- Build trusting relationships with parents, carers and young children.

- Create a welcoming environment where families feel safe, accepted and able to seek support.

- Use attunement, observation and reflective dialogue to support parent-child relationships.

- Offer light-touch therapeutic support and consultation within the context of everyday play and interaction.

- Support parents to think about their children's emotional needs and development.

- Build positive relationships with local partner organisations including Health Visiting, Family Hubs, Home-Start, Early Help and voluntary sector services.

- Help develop effective pathways for signposting and accessing additional support where needed.

- Contribute to safeguarding decision-making and information-sharing processes.

- Maintain accurate records and contribute to outcome monitoring and evaluation activities.

- Participate in supervision, reflective practice and team meetings.

- Contribute to the ongoing development of the pilot as it evolves.

About you

You'll be someone who combines warmth and emotional resilience with professional curiosity and strong therapeutic skills.

You'll enjoy working in community settings and feel comfortable building relationships with a wide range of people. You'll be able to balance flexibility and informality with good professional judgement and clear boundaries.

You will also need:

- A recognised professional qualification in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Art Therapy, Drama Therapy, or another relevant therapeutic discipline.

- Registration with the appropriate professional body where applicable.

- Experience working therapeutically with children, young people and families.

- An interest in applying psychodynamic approaches in a community setting.

- An understanding of attachment, child development and the impact of adversity and trauma.

- An understanding that families make sense of children's behaviour, development and relationships through a range of cultural, social and family lenses.

- The ability to work respectfully and sensitively across differences, adapting your approach to meet the needs of diverse families and communities.

- Experience of safeguarding children and working within multi-agency systems.

- Strong observation, communication and relationship-building skills.

- The ability to work independently while also contributing to a developing team.

- An interest in early intervention and preventative approaches.

It would be an advantage to have:

- Experience of parent/carer-infant or early years work.

- Experience facilitating groups.

- Experience working in community or voluntary sector settings.

- Experience of consultation or indirect therapeutic work.

- Knowledge of local early years services and systems.

- Experience of developing new projects.

We’ll care for you too

This role offers:

- The opportunity to establish a new and innovative service from the ground up.

- The opportunity to work within a highly experienced and supportive therapeutic team.

- Receive clinical supervision and reflective practice.

- Develop expertise in early intervention and community-based therapeutic work.

- Contribute to a project with the potential for wider impact and future development.

- Paid annual leave pro rata to part time / term time hours. Based on FTE of 40 day.

- A comprehensive range of informal and formal wellbeing support.

- Employer contribution pension of 6% (salary sacrifice).

- Enhanced parental leave benefits.

Apply now

If you believe that you have the experience and expertise required to succeed in this role or please submit your CV via the 'Apply for this job'.

If you are passionate about early intervention, relationships and supporting families in creative and accessible ways, we would love to hear from you.

We welcome applications from therapists who may not have extensive parent-infant experience but who are excited by preventative work and confident building relationships with young children and families.

The Mulberry Bush is an equal opportunities employer.

The Mulberry Bush is fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable people and expects all staff and students to share this commitment.

Applicants must have the appropriate right to work in the UK. For applicants requiring visas we can only accept those with visa’s which allows you to work in the UK indefinitely (we do not have the ability to offer sponsorship).

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore candidates must be prepared to undertake a DBS criminal background check.

Selection process

- CV to be submitted by Friday 13th November 2026.

- Application form to be submitted by Monday 16th November 2026.

- Interviews Monday 23rd November 2026.

If you would like to learn more about the role prior to applying please email  [email protected] and we can arrange a phone call with the Head of Therapies & Networks.