Overview

37.5 hours per week, or 2 x 18.75 hours per week considered. This is an excellent opportunity to work in a split post in two well-established Older People’s Mental Health services which include Community Mental Health Teams, Home Treatment Teams and Memory Clinics accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatry. We are looking to recruit an enthusiastic, highly motivated Clinical/Counselling Psychologist dedicated to providing high quality formulation-based care for older people with complex mental health needs and people with dementia. There will be opportunities to further develop clinical skills through CPD, as well as leadership opportunities through service development projects, supervision experience and training. The postholder will be able to work from the team bases (Reading and Thatcham) and home, with visits to clients’ homes in the Reading and West Berkshire areas. Travel across Berkshire for meetings and training will occasionally be required.

Work bases:

• 0.5 WTE: Hazelwood, Prospect Park Hospital, Honey End Lane, Reading, Berkshire
• 0.5 WTE: Beechcroft, Hillcroft House, Rooke’s Way, Thatcham, Berkshire

Parking: Free parking on both sites.

Working pattern and service operating hours: Normal rota hours are 9-5pm, total 37.5 hrs a week (18.75 hrs in each service), and there is some flexibility regarding working days, within the needs of the service.

Responsibilities

• To provide specialist psychological and neuropsychological assessments for clients based upon the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources.
• To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of client’s mental health problems.
• To implement a range of specialised psychological interventions for individuals and groups, adjusting and refining psychological formulations drawing upon different models.
• To communicate in a skilled and sensitive way, orally and in writing, assessment results, formulation, outcome data, treatment plans and other sensitive and complex information.
• To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals contributing directly to clients’ formulation, diagnosis, and treatment plan.
• To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients.
• To receive regular clinical supervision in accordance with professional practice guidelines.
• To engage in regular continuing professional development.
• To participate actively in Service Development to enhance quality of care.
• To maintain accurate clinical documentation as per guidance.
• To ensure adherence to Trust policies.

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.

Values and Benefits

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

Must haves

• Doctoral level training in Clinical/Counselling Psychology, with HCPC registration
• Experience in, and passion for, working with older people and their families/carers
• Experience in offering a psychological perspective in an MDT setting
• Ability to work with people with complex and comorbid presentations, including cognitive impairment or physical health conditions

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.

We’re 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 don’t hesitate to call: Linda Piper (Clinical Psychologist; Beechcroft team, West Berkshire) on 0118 904 3100 or email linda.piper@berkshire.nhs.uk who’ll be delighted to help.

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.

This advert closes on Thursday 2 Oct 2025