Advanced Mental Health Practitioner
At a glance
- Band
- Band 7
- Contract
- Fixed-term
- Pattern
- Full-time
- Posted
- 16/09/2026
- Closes
- 29/09/2026
Sponsorship verdict
Candidates needing sponsorship are encouraged to apply.
HiveMind found a sponsorship-friendly statement in the source advert welcoming applicants who require a visa. Always confirm on the source before applying.
“Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.”Quoted verbatim from the source advert
Role summary
This role is for an Advanced Mental Health Practitioner to join the Berkshire West CAMHS Specialist Community Team. The successful candidate will provide assessments, care-coordination, and evidence-based psychological interventions to young people and their families experiencing complex mental health difficulties. As a senior team member, you will also support and supervise junior colleagues. The position is a 12-month fixed-term contract, full-time, based in Reading.
Key responsibilities
- Provide comprehensive assessments and therapeutic interventions to young people and their families.
- Provide care co-ordination for young people open to the service.
- Independently manage an appropriately sized caseload.
- Offer supervision and training to junior colleagues and other agencies.
- Work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team and within a multiagency system.
- Contribute to audit, service development and research.
Essential criteria
- To have undertaken a qualification in one of the core mental health professions with associated professional registration including: Nursing qualification and registration as RMN, RNLD, RNC by NMC OR Social Worker with Social Work England registration OR Occupational Therapy registered by HCPC
- Demonstrates a commitment to ongoing professional development relevant to Mental Health and CAMHS, evidenced through up-to-date CPD activities and certification.
- Provides clear evidence of specific training, experience, and/or interest in the service area, including work with service users presenting with significant or severe mental health difficulties, particularly children and adolescents.
- Training or experience in risk assessment and management, including crisis intervention.
- Strong knowledge of, and significant experience in, mental health practice, including working with CYP presenting with a range of emotional, behavioural, and psychological needs.
- Demonstrated experience of managing highly distressing or emotionally charged situations, including serious mental illness, child abuse including physical/sexual/exploitation, and complex family dynamics
- Experiencing of working with complex situations concerning safeguarding and risk management including understanding of safeguarding legislation, guidance, and multiagency working.
- Demonstrated experience of working assertively with CYP to support their engagement in therapeutic activities.
- Significant experience of working with and knowledge of neurodevelopmental conditions (e.g., ASD, ADHD) and their impact on mental health.
- Experience of working with, and addressing issues of diversity, including experience of working with diversity, multiculturalism, and equality of access to service.
- Demonstrated experience of working effectively within a multidisciplinary team, contributing to collaborative decision-making and high-quality, integrated care.
- Proven ability to work both as an effective team member and independently, using own initiative to make sound clinical decisions without direct supervision.
- Ability to manage difficult situations with service users that have complex presentations and/or challenging behaviours and to manage a demanding and complex caseload.
- Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, technical and/or sensitive information to service users, their carers/families and other professional colleagues, both within and outside the NHS.
- Well-developed 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.
- Ability to confidently cope well under pressure, resolve issues and competing demands, with excellent time management skills and an ability to respond constructively to challenge or resistance, applying practical problem-solving skills in everyday and complex situations.
- 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).
- Able to work flexibly around working patterns as required.
- Able to travel independently between locations in Berkshire Healthcare geographical area to fulfil the requirements and duties of the position.
Desirable criteria
- Additional training in evidence-based psychological approaches (e.g. CBT skills, DBT skills, Systemic approaches, trauma-informed care).
- Relevant postgraduate qualification or equivalent level short courses, such as: Practice Assessor qualification OR Training in clinical supervision and appraisals
- Experience of autonomously managing a caseload in a community mental health setting.
- Experience of service development and carrying out clinical audit, supporting research and applying the findings.
- Experience or training in delivering group interventions.
- Familiarity with ROMs and outcome monitoring tools.
Useful to know
Agenda for Change 2024/25 pays Band 7 at £46,148 – £52,809 a year, across England.
This advert: £51,657 – £58,785 — outside the standard scale; check for HCAS/London weighting.
Posted 1d ago · Closes in 13d
Plenty of time to prepare a strong application.
Full advert · preview
Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust
Advanced Mental Health Practitioner
The closing date is 29 September 2026
Job summary
Are you an experience Nurse, OT or Social Worker looking for a new, exciting opportunity?
Do you have a passion for working with children with mental health complexities?
We are looking for an Advanced Mental Health Practitioner to join our Berkshire West CAMHS Specialist Community Team (SCT) to cover Reading and Wokingham and when needed, Newbury.
CAMHS SCT provides a responsive, formulation led intervention for children and young people experiencing complex mental health difficulties or needing urgent and/or intensive specialist support. The service develops an early, holistic understanding of each young per by coproducing formulations with them, their families and key professionals across education, social care and the voluntary sector. This shared approach clarifies the young person's difficulties and the systemic factors influencing their presentation and creates the best care plan to meet their needs.
You will join a team of clinicians from various disciplines to provide assessments, care-coordination, and evidence-based psychological interventions to young people and their families. As a senior member of the team, you will be supporting and supervising less experienced and junior members of the team.
This role is a 12 month
Join the community to read the full pack, responsibilities and person-specification in one place.
Your seat is reserved — activate it
CareerHive is included with your CareerHive Skool community membership. If you haven't claimed your account yet, join the community (or sign in with the same email you joined with) to unlock the full advert, the apply link, HiveMind AI interview & application suite, your private vault, and daily sponsorship alerts.