As a psychotherapist, your CV needs to articulate your expertise in mental health care and your empathetic approach to patient therapy.
Crafting the perfect resume can be as nuanced as therapy itself, so we’re here to guide you through the process.
Below, you’ll find a Psychotherapist CV example along with our friendly, conversational tips to help you showcase your therapeutic finesse.
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Psychotherapist CV example
This is a good example of a Psychotherapist CV which is professionally formatted, and structured in a way that allows recruiters to easily find and understand the candidate’s key selling points.
Take some time to look at this CV and refer to it throughout the writing of your own CV for best results.
Psychotherapist CV format and structure
In a highly competitive job market, recruiters and employers are often inundated with applications. If they can’t find what they’re looking for in your CV quickly, they may skip past your application and move on to the next one in their inbox
So, it’s crucial to structure and format your CV in a way that enables them to find your essential details with ease, even if they’re pressed for time.
Tips for formatting your Psychotherapist CV
- Length: It’s essential to keep your CV concise, regardless of whether you have one year or thirty years of experience. Recruiters are frequently managing multiple roles and responsibilities and do not have the luxury of reading lengthy CVs. Therefore, limit your CV to two sides of A4. If you have little industry experience, one page is sufficient.
- Readability: By formatting your section headings with bold or a different colour font and using bullet points to break up large blocks of text, you can help busy recruiters quickly scan through your CV. This makes it easier for them to find important details without wasting time.
- Design & format: It’s generally best to stick to a simple CV design, as funky or elaborate designs rarely add any value to your application. A clear, modern font and a subtle colour scheme work perfectly and allow your skills, experience and achievements to speak for themselves.
- Photos: Headshot photos aren’t required in a CV by most employers, but some creative and artistic industries like to see them. If you decide to include one, make sure you look smart and professional in the picture.
Quick tip: Creating a professional CV style can be difficult and time-consuming when using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. To create a winning CV quickly, try our quick-and-easy CV Builder and use one of our eye-catching professional CV templates.
CV structure
When writing your CV, break up the content into the following key sections, to ensure it can be easily digested by busy recruiters and hiring managers:
- Contact details – Always list these at the very top of your CV – you don’t want them to be missed!
- Profile – An introductory paragraph, intended to grab recruiters attention and summarise your offering.
- Work experience / career history – Working from your current role and working backwards, list your relevant work experience.
- Education – Create a snappy summary of your education and qualifications.
- Interest and hobbies – An optional section to document any hobbies that demonstrate transferable skills.
Now you understand the basic layout of a CV, here’s what you should include in each section of yours.
Contact Details
Make it easy for recruiters to get in touch, by heading your CV with your contact details.
There’s no need for excessive details – just list the basics:
- Mobile number
- Email address – Use a professional address with no nicknames.
- Location – Just write your general location, such as ‘London’ or ‘Cardiff’ – there’s no need to put your full address.
- LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL
Psychotherapist CV Profile
Recruiters and hiring managers are busy, so it’s essential to catch their attention from the get-go.
A strong introductory profile (or personal statement, for junior candidates) at the top of the CV is the first thing they’ll read, so it’s a great chance to make an impression.
It should be a short but punchy summary of your key skills, relevant experience and accomplishments.
Ultimately, it should explain why you’re a great fit for the role you’re applying for and inspire recruiters to read the rest of your CV.
How to write a good CV profile:
- Make it short and sharp: Aim for a short, snappy paragraph of 3-5 lines. This is just enough room to showcase why you’d make the perfect hire, without going into excessive detail and overwhelming busy recruiters.
- Tailor it: The biggest CV mistake? A generic, mass-produced document which is sent out to tens of employers. If you want to land an interview, you need to tailor your CV profile (and your application as a whole) to the specific roles you’re applying for. So, before you start writing, remember to read over those job descriptions and make a list of the skills, knowledge and experience the employers are looking for.
- Don’t add an objective: Leave your career objectives or goals out of your profile. You only have limited space to work with, so they’re best suited to your cover letter.
- Avoid generic phrases: Clichés like “blue-sky thinker with a go-getter attitude” might sound impressive to you, but they don’t actually tell the recruiter much about you. Concentrate on highlighting hard facts and skills, as recruiters are more likely to take these on board.
Example CV profile for Psychotherapist
What to include in your Psychotherapist CV profile?
- Experience overview: Showcase your aptitude for the job you are aiming for by giving a brief summary of your past work history, including the industries you have worked in, the kinds of employers you have served, and the roles you have held.
- Targeted skills: Make your most relevant Psychotherapist key skills clear in your profile. These should be tailored to the specific role you’re applying for – so make sure to check the job description first, and aim to match their requirements as closely as you can.
- Important qualifications: Be sure to outline your relevant Psychotherapist qualifications, so that anyone reading the CV can instantly see you are qualified for the jobs you are applying to.
Quick tip: If you are finding it difficult to write an attention-grabbing CV profile, choose from hundreds of pre-written profiles across all industries, and add one to your CV with one click in our quick-and-easy CV Builder. All profiles are written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset.
Core skills section
Add a core skills section below your profile to draw attention to your most applicable skills and make them stand out to readers.
This should consist of 2-3 columns of bullet points that emphasise your relevant skills.
Before creating this section, review the job description and compile a list of any specific skills, specializations, or knowledge needed. Incorporate these findings into your list to portray yourself as the ideal candidate for the position.
Important skills for your Psychotherapist CV
Psychodynamic Techniques – Utilising psychodynamic principles to explore the unconscious mind and past experiences that influence current behaviour and emotions.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – Implementing CBT methods to identify and challenge negative thought patterns and behaviours, aiming to alter unwanted behaviour and symptoms.
Humanistic Therapy Approaches – Employing approaches like Gestalt or person-centred therapy to facilitate self-discovery and personal growth through a non-judgmental therapeutic relationship.
Family Systems Therapy – Applying the principles of family systems to address issues within a family structure, recognising patterns and dynamics that affect the individual.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) – Teaching MBSR techniques to help clients become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and body sensations in the present moment to reduce stress.
Trauma-Focused Therapy – Specialising in trauma-focused interventions to help individuals process and recover from traumatic experiences, often incorporating methods like EMDR.
Neuropsychological Assessment – Conducting comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations to assess cognitive functioning and inform treatment planning.
Group Therapy Facilitation – Leading group therapy sessions, creating a supportive environment where individuals can share experiences and learn from each other.
Addiction Counselling – Providing targeted support for individuals struggling with addiction, including substance abuse and behavioural addictions, using evidence-based intervention strategies.
Psychometric Testing – Administering and interpreting standardised tests to assess psychological functioning and aid in the diagnosis of mental health conditions.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy CV Builder has thousands of in-demand skills for all industries and professions, that can be added to your CV in seconds – This will save you time and ensure you get noticed by recruiters.
Work experience
Next up is your work experience section, which is normally the longest part of your CV.
Start with your current (or most recent) job and work your way backwards through your experience.
Can’t fit all your roles? Allow more space for your recent career history and shorten down descriptions for your older roles.
Structuring each job
Lengthy, unbroken chunks of text is a recruiters worst nightmare, but your work experience section can easily end up looking like that if you are not careful.
To avoid this, use my tried-and-tested 3-step structure, as illustrated below:
Outline
Start with a brief summary of your role as a whole, as well as the type of company you worked for.
Key responsibilities
Next, write up a punchy list of your daily duties and responsibilities, using bullet points.
Wherever you can, point out how you put your hard skills and knowledge to use – especially skills which are applicable to your target role.
Key achievements
To finish off each role and prove the impact you made, list 1-3 stand out achievements, results or accomplishments.
This could be anything which had a positive outcome for the company you worked for, or perhaps a client/customer. Where applicable, quantify your examples with facts and figures.
Sample job description for Psychotherapist CV
Outline
Work as part of a team of therapists at a leading private therapy practise, providing individual and group psychotherapy to clients seeking profound emotional transformation and self-empowerment.
Key Responsibilities
- Collaborate intimately with clients to co-create personalised wellness plans, integrating positive psychology techniques and goal-setting strategies
- Lead dynamic group therapy sessions focusing on resilience-building and emotional regulation
- Contribute as a co-author to a ground breaking study on the efficacy of EMDR in treating trauma-related disorders, enhancing the clinic’s prominence in evidence-based therapies
- Implement trauma-informed practices to facilitate healing for clients with complex trauma histories, cultivating a safe space for catharsis and growth
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy CV Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
Although there should be mentions of your highest and most relevant qualifications earlier on in your CV, save your exhaustive list of qualifications for the bottom.
If you’re an experienced candidate, simply include the qualifications that are highly relevant to Psychotherapist roles.
However, less experienced candidates can provide a more thorough list of qualifications, including A-Levels and GCSEs.
You can also dedicate more space to your degree, discussing relevant exams, assignments and modules in more detail, if your target employers consider them to be important.
Hobbies and interests
Although this is an optional section, it can be useful if your hobbies and interests will add further depth to your CV.
Interests which are related to the sector you are applying to, or which show transferable skills like leadership or teamwork, can worth listing.
On the other hand, generic hobbies like “going out with friends” won’t add any value to your application, so are best left off your CV.
When putting together your Psychotherapist CV, there are a few key points to remember.
Always tailor your CV to the target role, even if it means creating several versions for different roles.
Additionally, remember that the structure and format of your CV needs just as much attention as the content.
Good luck with your job search!