Clinical/Counselling Psychologist | Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust


Company:	Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Salary:	£49,387 - £56,515 per annum, pro rata
Hours:	Part-time
Location:	Reading, RG30 4EJ
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	13 Jul 2026
Closing date:	14 Aug 2026

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Summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to work on the Older Adult wards in the Mental Health Inpatients Psychological Therapies Team at Prospect Park Hospital in Reading.

We welcome applications for this band 7 developmental post, with the opportunity to progress to band 8a when developmental competencies are met. There are opportunities for flexible working patterns which would include face-to-face clinical work as well as home working. We are also flexible in accommodating requests for part-time working days.

Please note that we are also advertising this post as a band 8a post - this is one post to be applied for as either an 8a or a 7-8a developmental role.

We have one vacancy where we are looking to fill with a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist ORSpecialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist. This role can be filled by either aClinical/Counselling Psychologist ORSpecialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist.There are currently 14 Psychologists and an art therapist working across the hospital, where we support people experiencing a mental health crisis across seven wards.

If you are a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, please use this link to apply : https://beta.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/jobadvert/C9371-26-0543

If you are aSpecialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist, please use this link to apply: https://beta.jobs.nhs.uk/employer/vacancy/5468754/task-review/job_advert/

• Work on allocated wards – predominantly older adults mental health.

• Offer psychological consultation to community and hospital staff (e.g. team formulation, teaching sessions, joint working, supervision and staff support groups).

• Supervise Assistant Psychologist.

• Clinical work with service users and carers involving assessment (including neuropsychological assessments and behavioural support assessments), formulation and interventions with varied and complex mental health and cognitive presentations.

• Contribute to service improvement initiatives in a ward/community team, as well as contributing to projects arising from the Inpatients Psychological Therapies Team.

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

The  5 “must haves” for you to be considered for this role: 

1. Postgraduate doctoral qualification in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or equivalent)

1. You will have experience working with adults and/or older adults with complex mental health problems, cognitive impairment or other disabilities and have excellent therapeutic and management skills.

1. You will enjoy working in teams and providing psychological consultation, teaching and supervision.

1. Calm, confident and assertive in emotionally demanding situations, you will be astute at setting and maintaining professional boundaries and will be efficient at dealing with distressing or hostile situations and behaviour.

1. Self-motivated and confident, you will show initiative and a determination to support clients and their families through creative engagement. This includes an ability to work integrative in your clinical work.

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 contactDr Claudia Kustner on 01189605277orby emailing claudia.kustner@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 Monday 20 Jul 2026

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