Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

Job summary

Are you a passionate & compassionate Clinical or Counselling Psychologist looking to make a meaningful difference in the lives of adults with severe & complex mental health difficulties? If so, we'd love to hear from you.

We are recruiting for a full-time Clinical or Counselling Psychologists to join our friendly, experienced & supportive Community Mental Health Psychological Therapies (CMHPT) team. Additional training and experience in CBT for Psychosis would be highly valued.

As part of our well-established service, you will provide evidence-based, trauma-informed psychological therapies for adults across Bracknell and Berkshire, working closely with Community Mental Health Services and multidisciplinary colleagues. You'll have opportunities to undertake specialist clinical work, offer consultation, contribute to service development, and support psychologically informed practice across teams.

We are committed to helping our staff thrive. You will receive excellent clinical support, access to a wide range of CPD opportunities, and encouragement to develop your clinical, leadership and consultation skills.

Based at Church Hill House, Bracknell, this role offers flexible working, with an expectation of working on-site at least 50% of the week, and options to work from home where the service needs allow. There may also be a need to travel to other sites for meetings or collaborative projects.

Main duties of the job

Conduct specialist psychological assessments and develop a clear and detailed formulation of the service user's presenting difficulties and/or the systemic issues present.

In collaboration with service users, develop personalised treatment plans based on assessment findings and service user needs, in collaboration with service users, to support their recovery and improve quality of life.

Deliver evidence based therapeutic interventions using a range of psychological techniques and modalities.

Collaborate with multidisciplinary team clinicians and multi-agency representatives to ensure the delivery of integrated and holistic client care.

In line with experience and role development plans, provide supervision and mentorship to junior clinicians and trainees, contributing to their professional development and enhancing the treatment they offer.

Regularly undertake applied research, adding to the evidence base for practice, development activities and participate in quality improvement initiatives to enhance the overall effectiveness of clinical services.

Actively engage in the improvement and development of mental health services, implementing new treatment approaches, providing insights and expertise to enhance the overall quality of care.

About us

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we're committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we're committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:

• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:

• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days' annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• 'Cycle to Work' and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust sites

Job responsibilities

The must haves for this role:

• A post graduate doctoral qualification in clinical or counselling psychology
• Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Experience of and interest in working with adults with significant mental health needs
• An enhanced DBS check
• For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

Were committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

Should you wish to discuss the post then do not hesitate to contact Dr Payal Amin (Principal Counselling Psychologist) by emailing [email protected].

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications/Training

Essential

• Postgraduate doctorate in clinical or counselling psychology (or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996 or for those who completed their training overseas)
• Registered as a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• (Eligibility for) Chartered Membership of British Psychological Society (BPS)

Desirable

• Additional training and accreditations (or working towards these) in relevant therapeutic approaches or psychological models to reflect post qualification interests/ specialism (e.g., CBT for Psychosis, EMDR).

Continuous Professional Development

Essential

• Evidence of training and/or interest and knowledge in psychological models or therapeutic approaches relevant to the post
• Commitment to continuing professional development as recommended by the relevant accrediting body

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in evidence-based ways with services users (and their carers/families) presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the range of settings, maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems, verbal abuse and the threat of physical abuse
• Experience of dealing with highly distressing or emotional circumstances, such as serious mental illness, child and sexual abuse, exploitation, and complex family dynamics
• Experience of working effectively in a multi-disciplinary team and multi-agency environments
• Experience of service development and carrying out clinical audits, evaluative research and applying the findings
• Experience of working with, and addressing, issues of diversity, including experience of working with diversity, multiculturalism, and equality of access to the service

Desirable

• Experience of delivering teaching and training to staff
• Experience of providing clinical supervision, mentoring and structured guidance to other staff

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Demonstrable knowledge, skills and abilities in the practice of assessment, formulation and intervention, relevant to the specialist modality and service area
• Knowledge and understanding of service evaluation, audit and research and how to undertake these activities in an NHS context, including how to implement learning
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, complex, technical and/or sensitive information to service users, their carers/families and other professional colleagues, both within and outside of an NHS setting
• Well-developed interpersonal skills, with the ability to support, influence and engage with clinicians, stakeholders and service users to create change and improvement
• The ability and skills to act as an advocate for the service, to engage and foster positive relationships with all health professionals in promoting the good integration of the service within the wider health care system
• Advanced IT skills and the ability to navigate various systems and software packages (such as RiO, Outlook, databases, MS Office/Teams, One Consultation and the Internet)

Additional Requirements

Essential

• Able to work flexibly around working patterns as required