Closing date: 26 October 2026
Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year per annum, pro rata
Band: Band 8a
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Part-time

Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist to work on an adult acute psychiatric inpatient ward as part of the Mental Health Inpatients Psychological Therapies Team at Prospect Park Hospital in Reading. This role would suit a candidate who is keen to apply a broad range of psychological skills, which would include consultation, formulation, behavioural support, therapeutic interventions, and contribution to service development.

We are also advertising this as a band 7 developmental post. 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.

Job satisfaction can come from numerous areas in this diverse role. Under supervision of a Principal Psychologist you will take on a clinical caseload with adults with complex mental health presentations. You will provide regular input to the multi-disciplinary team on your ward in the form of consultation, team formulation sessions, teaching and joint working. You will be part of the Inpatients Psychological Therapies team, supervise the Assistant Psychologist on your ward, and also receive peer support from the other ward Clinical/Counselling Psychologists. You will contribute to and/or lead on service development projects

Main duties of the job

• Work on allocated adult acute mental health ward
• Offer psychological consultation to 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 behavioural support assessments), formulation and interventions with varied and complex mental health presentations.
• Contribute to service improvement initiatives in a ward/community team, as well as contributing to projects arising from the Inpatients Psychological Therapies Team.

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

Essential qualifications and experience

• Postgraduate doctoral qualification in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or equivalent)
• Experience working with adults and/or older adults with complex mental health problems and excellent therapeutic and management skills.
• Enjoy working in teams and providing psychological consultation, teaching and supervision.
• Calm, confident and assertive in emotionally demanding situations, astute at setting and maintaining professional boundaries and efficient at dealing with distressing or hostile situations and behaviour.
• Self-motivated and confident, showing initiative and a determination to support clients and their families through creative engagement, including an ability to work integratively in clinical work.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it is important that examples and responses given in your supporting statement genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey.

In addition to explaining how you meet the person specification, you must complete your employment history for at least the last five years. Any experience, skills or responsibilities referenced in your supporting statement should be evidenced within your employment history. Applications that do not include sufficient employment history to support the experience claimed may not be shortlisted.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Stonewall Proud Employer, 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 contact Catherine Evans-Jones at catherine.evansjones@berkshire.nhs.uk. 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.

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 to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.