Consultant Clinical/Counselling Psychologist

Consultant Clinical/Counselling Psychologist An exciting opportunity has arisen to work in an innovative service within Berkshire Healthcare- the Family Safeguarding Service. This service forms the mental health component of the multidisciplinary 'Family Safeguarding Model'. It is a collaboration between health services and local authority Children's Social Care services (Bracknell Forest Council and West Berks Council). TheFamilySafeguarding Model isamultiagencyinitiative,wheremental health, domestic abuse practitioners and alcohol and substance misuse recovery workers are co-located within Children's Social Care, to provide a 'whole family' approach to safeguarding children.

The service supports adults, who are experiencing difficulties with their emotional wellbeing and mental health, to meet the needs of their children and to better safeguard them. Improving parental mental health, improves family functioning and the outcomes for children, and contributes to the service aims of keeping families together.

Flexible working is available, with a combination of home visits, on-site appointments and remote working.

This is a 12 month fixed term contract but we will be considering secondment options for internal candidates.

Main duties of the job Overall responsibility for the Family Safeguarding Service, ensuring that the service has effective clinical, quality and performance governance, including digital systems and processes

Lead the development of the Family Safeguarding Service to maximise its contribution, ensuring developments are aligned with Trust, local systems and national strategy, policy and practice drivers

Work as an integral member of a co-located multi-disciplinary team, which includes children's social workers, domestic abuse and substance misuse specialists, as well as mental health practitioners and clinical psychologists, to safeguard and reduce risks to children

Contribute to the holistic approach, recognising the impact on children where parents have mental health difficulties and limited coping strategies, as well as problems arising from domestic abuse, and parental alcohol and substance misuse

Provide evidence-based opinion on the role of parental mental health and share this with the MDT through review meetings such as Child in Need reviews and Child Protection Case Conferences

Lead the service in undertakingspecialist clinical work to engage clients in expert assessment and formulation based on relevant theory and research. They will provide evidence-based psychological interventions to improve parental mental health and improve outcomes for the most vulnerable children and their families

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
• 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

Job responsibilities The must haves for this role:

A team player with experience of multidisciplinary working and working flexibly

A holistic understanding of mental health needs and the intergenerational impact of mental health and trauma upon family functioning

A desire to support families to improve outcomes for parents and their children

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.

Were 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 any other questions you may have. Please dont hesitate to contact: Catherine Farr, email : or Poppy Law wholl be delighted to help or to arrange a phone call to discuss further.

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.

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.

Person Specification Education/Qualifications/Training

• For Clinical/Counselling Psychologist - Post graduate doctoral qualification in clinical/counselling psychology (or approved equivalent for those who trained prior to 1996 or for those who completed their training overseas) which provides eligibility for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS)
• Registered with Health Care Professional Council (HCPC)
• Additional accreditations to reflect post qualification specialist training (e.g., BABCP, UKCP, ACAT, BACP, BPS/ACT, EMDR-UK).
• Evidence of post-qualification specialist training to accreditable level in at least two areas of psychological practice directly related to the clinical requirements for this post.
• Evidence of extensive post-qualification training, experience and expert knowledge in psychological models and therapeutic approaches with an evidence base in the area of specialism, appropriate to discipline
• Clinical supervision qualification and accreditation.
• Professional leadership qualification or equivalent level of substantial experience
• Training and/or proven ability in providing effective education, consultation and coaching to develop and support others.

Previous Experience

• Extensive experience working as a qualified (Principal) clinical/counselling psychologist/psychotherapist, including demonstrable post qualification experience at a highly specialist level in the related specialisms.
• Substantial experience of working in evidence-based ways with service users (and their carers and families) presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the range of care settings, maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems and threatening behaviour.
• Extensive experience of managing highly complex situations concerning safeguarding, risk management, clinical governance, complaints and investigations.
• Demonstrable experience of applying professional expertise when leading multidisciplinary teams / in multi-agency environments in a relevant clinical setting.
• Extensive experience of leading services and teams with complex caseloads requiring the application of evidence-based psychological methods, assessments, formulation, and interventions.
• Extensive experience of teaching and professional/clinical supervision as well as experience of developing training and supervisory models
• Evidence of successfully holding responsibility for, delivering and being accountable for services that meet local and national targets

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Able to manage a demanding and complex caseload while supporting junior colleagues.
• High level and well-developed ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to service users, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within the Trust and across the system.
• Extensive experience of successfully managing complex and challenging discussions with system partners, including where there may be disagreement about responsibility for care.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Teaching and group facilitation skills.
• Exceptional and highly effective interpersonal communication skills with the ability to support . click apply for full job details