Clinical / Counselling Psychologist or Psychotherapist - DBT
Band 8a
Main area IMPACTT Grade Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 371-TAPMHS523-C
Site University of Reading Town Reading Salary £55,877 - £62,626 per annum (incl of HCAS) Salary period Yearly Closing 25/03/2025 23:59
Are you a passionate Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or Psychotherapist looking to make a genuine difference? We're a CQC-rated ‘Outstanding’ Trust, and we have an opportunity to join our IMPACTT team to support adults living with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD).
You'll be at the forefront of providing evidence-based psychological therapy, with a primary focus on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). You'll join a DBT team that trains and supports therapists to work in a way that is adherent to the therapy model. We’re supportive, highly skilled, and passionate about delivering high-quality care to individuals who struggle with EUPD.
The role and your development:
* Specialist Development – Expected opportunity to complete the Diploma in DBT, leading to therapist accreditation
* Supportive & Compassionate Team – Weekly Consult, regular clinical supervision, team case discussions, reflective practice sessions, and optional social events
* Career Growth – Opportunities for further training and development within a Trust that champions progression
* Flexible Working – A mix of face-to-face and remote work using Microsoft Teams
* Great Locations – Work across Erlegh House (University of Reading), the Athena Centre (Slough), and other Trust sites as needed
Applications for this role will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible, as vacancies may close early.
Main duties of the job
* Clinical Assessment: Conduct specialist psychological assessments to understand a service user’s presenting difficulties and/or the systemic issues present.
* Treatment Planning: Develop individualised specialised treatment plans based on assessment findings and service user needs, in collaboration with service users, to support their recovery and/or support with behaviours that cause difficulties in service users lives.
* Therapeutic Interventions: Deliver all components of evidence based and NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) recommended Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.
* Collaboration: Collaborate with multi-disciplinary team clinicians and multi-agency representatives in the delivery of holistic client care, leading this where appropriate.
* Supervision and Training: Provide supervision and mentoring to clinicians and trainees contributing to their professional development and improving the quality of the treatment provided.
* Research and Development: Regularly lead on and undertake audit and research, adding to the evidence base for practice, development activities and participate in quality improvement initiatives to enhance the overall effectiveness of clinical services.
* Contributing to Service Development: Lead on the improvement and development of mental health services, implementing new treatment approaches, providing insights and expertise to enhance the overall quality of care.
Working for our organisation
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
* 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 site
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The “must haves” for this role:
* Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology OR UKCP recognised individual psychotherapy training or group analytic training, with extensive NHS experience.
* Registered and accredited with Health Care Professional Council (HCPC) or UKCP.
* You must have a passion for working with people with a diagnosis of EUPD and have trained in DBT and have experience of delivering DBT.
* You must have experience of providing supervision and consultation.
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: Sarah Farman on 07827 822062 or email: Sarah.Farman@berkshire.nhs.uk who’ll be delighted to help.
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
* For Clinical/Counselling Psychologist: Post graduate doctoral qualification in clinical or counselling psychology (or equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996 or for those who completed their training overseas) which provides eligibility for Chartered Membership of British Psychological Society (BPS)
* Registered and accredited with the Health Care Professional Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Psychologist
* For Psychotherapist: Recognised master's level qualification in psychodynamic psychotherapy or equivalent and registered with UKCP as a psychotherapist or with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC)
* For all: Additional training/ accreditations (willingness to undertake or working towards these) to reflect post qualification specialism (e.g. Health Psychology, Neuropsychology, BABCP, UKCP, ACAT, EMDR-UK, BPS).
* Trained in MBT and have experience of delivering MBT or trained in DBT with British Isles DBT and experience in delivering all components of DBT (i.e. individual therapy, skills group, telephone coaching and attending consult).
Continuous Professional Development
* Evidence of post-qualification training and expert knowledge in multiple psychological models and therapeutic approaches relevant to the service area. Having a robust awareness of the current evidence-base and new developments within the area of specialism.
* Training in clinical supervision.
Experience
* Demonstratable post qualification experience working as a qualified psychologist/psychotherapist in 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 a range of settings. Also having the ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism in the face of 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 a multi-disciplinary team and multi-agency environments.
* Experience of providing specialist advice and consultation to MDT and multi-agency colleagues to support the psychological care of service users.
* Experience of supervision and/or mentoring and ability to offer effective supervision to junior staff.
* Experience of developing and delivering teaching to a range of staff groups.
* Experience of service development and carrying out clinical audit, evaluative research and applying the findings.
* Experience of service evaluation and implementing change 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.
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
* Demonstrable knowledge, skills and abilities in the practice of highly specialised psychological/neuropsychological or psychotherapeutic assessment, formulation and intervention, relevant to the service area.
* Knowledge of evidence base, 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.
* Strong 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 good professional relationships with all health professionals in promoting the good integration of this service with 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
* Ability to travel across sites in Berkshire and beyond as required.
* Able to work flexibly as required and to travel independently between locations to fulfil the requirements and duties of the position.
These are the values that we live by at Berkshire Healthcare:
* Caring for and about you is our top priority
* Committed to providing good quality, safe services
* working Together with you to develop innovative solutions
We welcome people who share these values to come and work for us.
Please find attached the behaviour framework that underpins these values for this job role.
At Berkshire Healthcare, we foster an inclusive workplace where everyone belongs.
We welcome talent from all backgrounds and offer guaranteed interviews to disabled applicants and armed forces community members who meet the minimum criteria.
Please note we may close positions before the advertised date.
Once you have applied, please check your email regularly for updates. All appointments are subject to NHS Employment Checks, and false information may result in withdrawal of offers. For information on how we store your information, please review our privacy statement.
No agencies, please.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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