Who are we?

Head in the Clouds is a psychology practice located in Surry Hills on a mission to create a more sustainable model for practitioners – all while aiming to normalise seeking mental health support through a warm, inclusive and nurturing environment for clients.

Head in the Clouds is the brainchild of Dr Valerie Lieu, a Clinical Psychologist with a career spanning multiple public and private roles and her partner Kevin Lieu, a former Psychologist who now spends his time as a strategist advising the leaders of Australia’s largest corporations and Governments on their most critical issues.

What is the model?

Valerie and Kevin both recognised that by-and-large the private practice psychology industry has a number of unhealthy habits – which lead to practitioner burnout, and therefore, worse outcomes for clients. These unhealthy habits include:

The ‘promise of flexibility’ – while enforcing minimum client loads and days

A lack of progression – the only way to increase your income is to see more clients

Providing unsecure working arrangements with contract-only arrangements

At Head in the Clouds our mission to normalise seeking mental health support starts within our own industry. That’s why we’re designing a model to correct these unhealthy habits and create a workplace where our psychologists feel heard and supported in having their needs as clinicians met.

We believe Head in the Clouds is different in the following ways:

Do what you want – As much as we can, we will tailor your caseload to the kinds of presentations you would like to see

Actual flexibility – We are happy to discuss and try to accommodate your ideal client load, how you would like to structure your days/hours, and generally can help you work out what is going to be most sustainable for you

A career not a contract – We have a model where your compensation can increase based on your contribution to our practice (not just the number of clients you see). We would love to also support any innovative ideas you might have in how you might contribute to Head in the Clouds.

Employment or contracting – Have it your way. We recognise people have different priorities and needs, you choose what works best for you

We also do the usual stuff really well too!

Highly competitive compensation

Administration and business support: generating referrals, client bookings, invoicing and processing payment, marketing, etc.

Regular peer group supervision

Funding to support CPD

Team social events

Are you the right fit?

We are very picky when it comes to our team, as it is important to us to build a community of psychologists with shared values. For us, this means clinicians who are genuine in how they show up and care for clients, have a love for learning and self-development, and are committed to engaging in evidence-based practice.

We are currently seeking experienced psychologists or clinical psychologists who are comfortable working with clients presenting with PTSD and complex PTSD and from diverse backgrounds. We are particularly interested in welcoming clinicians with experience in EMDR and/or Schema Therapy.

Essential:

Registration with AHPRA as a Psychologist or a Clinical Psychologist

Use of evidence-based therapies

Experience in treating PTSD and complex PTSD, and/or:

Familiar with working from a therapeutic framework that includes EMDR and/or schema therapy

Next Steps

If this sounds like something you might be interested in, let’s have a chat.

Reach out to Valerie: [email protected]

More information about us can be found at our website www.headinthecloudsco.com.au