Principle Clinical / Counselling Psychologist

Job overview

Band 8b Principal Clinical/Counselling Psychologist in Adult Mental Health Inpatient Services, Prospect Park Hospital, Reading – 37.5 hours / 1.0 WTE (can be fewer hours than this and 30 hours as a minimum)

Are you a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist seeking a role where you can shape practice and bring psychological thinking to the heart of inpatient care? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

We’re looking for a Principal Clinical or Counselling Psychologist to join and help lead our Psychological Therapies team within the adult mental health inpatient service at Prospect Park Hospital. This is a key role for a reflective and relational leader who is passionate about embedding psychologically-informed approaches across systems of care.

You’ll work alongside a supportive and skilled team of psychological professionals, under the clinical leadership of a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. The post offers a stimulating blend of leadership, clinical work, supervision and consultation. You will be the lead in the team for the pathway for those service users who do or might meet criteria for a diagnosis of EUPD.

There are opportunities for flexible working patterns which would include face to face clinical work as well as home working.

Main duties of the job

This is a varied and meaningful role, offering opportunities for influence and development at multiple levels. You will:

• Offer direct clinical work, including assessment, formulation and psychological intervention for people with a range of complex needs, often in the context of significant distress and systemic challenges. Services users are likely to have been given multiple diagnoses, including psychosis, emotional dysregulation and suicidality often in the context of complex trauma, neurodivergence and substance dependence

• Provide psychological leadership within the inpatient service, including taking the lead on our pathway for individuals who meet criteria for a diagnosis of EUPD. Part of this lead role you will regularly chair professionals’ meetings as well as liaison meetings with community services for those service users who meet the criteria for a diagnosis of EUPD

• Offer clinical supervision and line management for members of the Psychological Therapies team

• Contribute to and lead on service development initiatives that centre around trauma-informed care and collaborative practice

• Act as lead Psychologist to one or two inpatient wards through providing direct clinical work, regular consultation, team formulation, reflective spaces and teaching

• Build and maintain collaborative working relationships with community services, including our well-established pathway across the Trust for those services users who meet criteria

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The “must haves” for this role:

• Values team-based working and is confident in using psychological ideas to support staff, through consultation, supervision, and training.
• Has experience in offering leadership in clinical settings and is interested in contributing to service development through a psychological lens.
• Has a strong grounding in psychological formulation and therapeutic models, and is experienced in working with adults experiencing complex mental health difficulties.
• Brings a calm, thoughtful and boundaried approach to working in emotionally demanding contexts, with an awareness of personal and systemic dynamics.
• Is motivated to work creatively and compassionately, bringing psychological understanding to complex situations in ways that support staff, patients, and families.

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 have identified that this is a role where we have underrepresentation of ethnically diverse colleagues. As part of our commitment to inclusion and Unity Against Racism we offer guaranteed interviews to candidates who meet the essential criteria and identify as: Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British, Mixed and ‘Other’ Ethnic Groups.    We welcome a conversation about flexibility and other questions you might have. Please don’t hesitate to email Dr Catherine Evans-Jones on [email protected] 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.