Job summary
Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
Band: 8A
Base: Royal Berkshire Hospital & Trust sites across Berkshire (hybrid working)
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, is seeking an experienced & motivated Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to join our Clinical Health Psychology Service.
This is a unique split role, offering the opportunity to work across Gastroenterology (0.6) and ME/CFS services (0.4), delivering high-quality, safe & psychological intervention.
Working as a senior clinician you will have the opportunity to contribute to multidisciplinary teamwork & service & person-centred psychological interventions across hospital and community settings.
You will be responsible for conducting highly specialist psychological assessments, case formulations & delivering specialised evidence-based psychological interventions to service users presenting with physical health problems. You will also undertake comprehensive risk assessments, develop and implement risk management plans, and work collaboratively with partner agencies where wider case management is required.
You will work closely with psychological therapists, medical colleagues, & the wider system to develop individualised treatment plans & promote psychologically informed care across services.
If you are an experienced psychologist looking for a varied, impactful & rewarding senior role, we would welcome your application.
Main duties of the job
Clinical Provision
Deliver psychological assessment, formulation & evidence-based interventions for individuals, families & groups with complex physical & emotional health needs. Manage a specialist caseload. Provide specialist consultation & psychologically informed advice to professionals, agencies & carers. Communicate clinical findings & care plans clearly with service users, families & MDTs, promoting inclusive, culturally sensitive, trauma-informed & recovery-focused care.
Teaching, Training & Supervision
Provide clinical supervision, mentoring & training to junior & trainee psychologists, other professionals & MDTs. Develop & deliver high-quality teaching materials, CPD sessions & training programmes.
Leadership & OperationalResponsibilities
Contribute to team leadership, service planning & workforce management, including work allocation & recruitment. Lead & participate in clinical governance, quality assurance & performance monitoring. Provide psychological expertise to service & policy development.
Research, Service Evaluation & Development
Undertake audit, service evaluation & applied research to inform best practice & service improvement. Support implementation of findings into practice & facilitate service user & carer involvement in service design & delivery.
Health & Wellbeing
Promote staff wellbeing & psychologically safe working environments, contributing to Trust-wide psychological support initiatives & major incident responses where required.
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 description
Job responsibilities
The "must haves" for this role:
- Postgraduate doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or overseas)
- Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical or Counselling)
- Eligibility for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS)
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.
We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please dont hesitate to call: Abigail Wroe on 0118 9296474 abigail.wroe@berkshire.nhs.uk wholl be delighted to help.
Applications for this role will be considered on a first come first serve basis and we may close the vacancy early if the right candidate is found
Please note, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The "must haves" for this role:
- Postgraduate doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or equivalent for those trained prior to 1996 or overseas)
- Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical or Counselling)
- Eligibility for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS)
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.
We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please dont hesitate to call: Abigail Wroe on 0118 9296474 abigail.wroe@berkshire.nhs.uk wholl be delighted to help.
Applications for this role will be considered on a first come first serve basis and we may close the vacancy early if the right candidate is found
Please note, 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
- Post graduate doctorate in clinical or counselling psychology (or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996 or for those who completed their training overseas)
- Registration with Health Care Professional Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical/Counselling)
- (Eligibility for) Chartered Membership of British Psychological Society (BPS)
- Additional training and accreditations (or working towards these) in relevant therapeutic approaches or psychological models to reflect post qualification interests/ specialism (e.g., specific therapy models, Health Psychology, Neuropsychology etc.)
- Clinical supervision training for doctorate psychology trainees (BPS Registered course) and other qualified clinicians
Continuous Professional Development
Essential
- Evidence of post-qualification training and expert knowledge in multiple psychological models and therapeutic approaches relevant to the post and service area.
- Comprehensive and up to date knowledge of the current evidence-base and developments within the area of specialism
- Training, and where relevant, accreditation in clinical supervision
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrable post qualification experience working as a qualified specialist practitioner in the area of specialism
- 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 delivering interventions across different modalities (e.g. individual, group and systemic-based approaches)
- Experience of working effectively in multi-disciplinary team and multi-agency environments
- Experience of providing specialist advice and consultation to multi-disciplinary and multi-agency colleagues to support the psychological care of service users
- Experience of providing effective clinical supervision, mentoring and leadership to junior staff
- Experience of developing and delivering teaching to a range of staff groups
- Experience of carrying out clinical audit, evaluative research and applying the findings
- Experience of service evaluation, quality improvement work and of implementing change from this and from a national and local health or social care change agenda that impacts across services and professions
- Experience of working with and addressing issues of diversity, including experience of working with diversity, multiculturalism, and equality of access to service
Desirable
- Experience of line managing staff (including junior psychological roles)
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Demonstrable knowledge, skills and abilities in the practice of highly specialised assessment, formulation and intervention, relevant to the specialist modality and service area
- Up to date knowledge of evidence, theory, research, policy and legislation in relation to the service area
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour
- Well-developed verbal and written communication skills enabling the sensitive communication of complex, technical and/or sensitive information to multiple stakeholders both within and outside the NHS
- 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
- Ability to travel independently between locations in Berkshire to fulfil the requirements and duties of the position
Person Specification
Education/Qualifications/Training
Essential
- Post graduate doctorate in clinical or counselling psychology (or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996 or for those who completed their training overseas)
- Registration with Health Care Professional Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical/Counselling)
- (Eligibility for) Chartered Membership of British Psychological Society (BPS)
- Additional training and accreditations (or working towards these) in relevant therapeutic approaches or psychological models to reflect post qualification interests/ specialism (e.g., specific therapy models, Health Psychology, Neuropsychology etc.)
- Clinical supervision training for doctorate psychology trainees (BPS Registered course) and other qualified clinicians
Continuous Professional Development
Essential
- Evidence of post-qualification training and expert knowledge in multiple psychological models and therapeutic approaches relevant to the post and service area.
- Comprehensive and up to date knowledge of the current evidence-base and developments within the area of specialism
- Training, and where relevant, accreditation in clinical supervision
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrable post qualification experience working as a qualified specialist practitioner in the area of specialism
- 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 delivering interventions across different modalities (e.g. individual, group and systemic-based approaches)
- Experience of working effectively in multi-disciplinary team and multi-agency environments
- Experience of providing specialist advice and consultation to multi-disciplinary and multi-agency colleagues to support the psychological care of service users
- Experience of providing effective clinical supervision, mentoring and leadership to junior staff
- Experience of developing and delivering teaching to a range of staff groups
- Experience of carrying out clinical audit, evaluative research and applying the findings
- Experience of service evaluation, quality improvement work and of implementing change from this and from a national and local health or social care change agenda that impacts across services and professions
- Experience of working with and addressing issues of diversity, including experience of working with diversity, multiculturalism, and equality of access to service
Desirable
- Experience of line managing staff (including junior psychological roles)
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Demonstrable knowledge, skills and abilities in the practice of highly specialised assessment, formulation and intervention, relevant to the specialist modality and service area
- Up to date knowledge of evidence, theory, research, policy and legislation in relation to the service area
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour
- Well-developed verbal and written communication skills enabling the sensitive communication of complex, technical and/or sensitive information to multiple stakeholders both within and outside the NHS
- 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
- Ability to travel independently between locations in Berkshire to fulfil the requirements and duties of the position
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
