Educational Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP)

Maudsley Learning; London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 44,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in mental health care is seeking a dedicated Education Mental Health Practitioner to join their dynamic team. This role involves delivering essential mental health support to children and young people in educational settings, utilizing evidence-based interventions like Guided Self-Help and CBT. You'll work closely with schools, families, and mental health professionals to foster resilience and wellbeing among students. If you are passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of young people and thrive in a collaborative environment, this opportunity could be the perfect fit for you.

Qualifications

• Completion of a 1-year postgraduate diploma in Education Mental Health Practitioner.
• Professional registration as an EMHP with BPS or BABCP.

Responsibilities

• Deliver low-level Guided Self-Help interventions to children and families.
• Work collaboratively with schools to promote mental health awareness.

Skills

Therapeutic interventions

Guided Self-Help

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Mental health assessments

Group programs

Education

Postgraduate diploma in Education Mental Health Practitioner

Professional registration with BPS or BABCP

Job description

NHS AfC: Band 5

Main area: Psychological Therapy

Grade: NHS AfC: Band 5

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week

Job ref: 334-CLI-6840559

Site: Kaleidoscope Lewisham Centre

Town: London

Salary: £35,964 - £43,780 per annum incl. of inner HCAs

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 06/02/2025 23:59

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth, and Richmond.

We are committed to providing high-quality specialist care to our service users and are recognized for the care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission rates our services as ‘good’.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021, together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to positively impact patient care, outcomes, and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will have the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported by learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.

The trust recognizes the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen, and do what I say I’m going to do are at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk about flexible working.

Job Overview

The MHSTs are a new service designed to help meet the mental health needs of children and young people in educational settings. They consist of senior clinicians, CAMHS Practitioners, and Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs), also known in the SLaM Trust as Education Wellbeing Practitioners (EWPs). The MHST is based across educational settings as an additional resource within a whole-system approach to promote resilience and wellbeing, support earlier intervention, enable appropriate signposting, and deliver evidence-based support, care, and interventions.

The post holder will be based in a small MHST Hub working with a cluster of schools and experienced MHST colleagues to plan and deliver direct intervention to children and parents, as well as class groups, assemblies, welcome events, coffee mornings, and access events.

Main Duties of the Job

There is a requirement to work with schools remotely and face-to-face in delivering low-level Guided Self-Help to young people and families across various educational settings within the Lewisham school clusters, including remote working from home and Lewisham CAMHS.

EWPs play a key role as members of the Mental Health Support Team, responsible for delivering the schools' whole school approach to mental health and emotional wellbeing for children and young people.

Ensure confidentiality of information is always maintained in accordance with Trust policies and code of ethics and professional conduct.

Working for Our Organisation

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provides the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK, as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre.

By working at SLaM, you will gain experience as part of an organization with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care. You will have access to professional development and learning opportunities and have the chance to work alongside world leaders in the field.

Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities

The MHST is a friendly and supportive team that has developed a close partnership with Lewisham schools in providing low-intensity interventions, creating workshops and groups, and adapting services to meet the needs of schools, young people, and families in line with CYP-IAPT principles.

The successful candidate will be employed by the MHST to deliver emotional wellbeing interventions using Guided Self-Help strategies. You will be equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge, and capabilities to work as a qualified EMHP, as an autonomous and responsible practitioner within your scope of practice, alongside education and health colleagues.

You will be confident in providing Guided Self-Help to young people and families dealing with anxiety, low mood, and challenging behaviors. You will be flexible and creative in responding to the needs of the school populations, with excellent support from your team and supervision. You will also be able to adapt to working remotely and prioritizing access to services and resources.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Successful completion of the HEE commissioned 1-year ‘Education Mental Health Practitioner’ postgraduate diploma
• Professional registration with the BPS or BABCP as an EMHP
• Evidence of CPD - Continuous Professional Development in Child and Adolescent Mental Health or Family work training

Experience

• Experience of working with children and young people, their families, and others in educational and health settings with mild to moderate mental health problems.
• Experience of delivering specific therapeutic interventions to children, young people, or their families (e.g., Guided Self Help, CBT, parent work)
• Experience of assessing children and young people who present with more severe problems to rapidly access more specialist services.
• Experience of liaising and working effectively with the wider network around the child including educational, social care, family, and health.
• Experience of working with culturally diverse populations and adapting services to improve access.
• Experience of assessing and meeting the communication needs of the schools to deliver psycho-education on mental health or emotional wellbeing to different groups, including parents, teaching staff, and young people.
• Experience of adapting resources to deliver online/via phone/Google Classroom.

Abilities

• Ability to carry out 1:1 therapeutic mental health interventions with children and families.
• Ability to conduct group parenting and group young person programmes.
• Ability to work within educational settings to increase mental health awareness within the staff group.
• Ability to conduct mental health assessments and screenings of children and young people.
• Ability to assess risk and to record and communicate it appropriately and to take appropriate action to mitigate or manage.
• Ability to conduct other group therapeutic interventions with children and their families.
• Ability to teach others about mental health issues.
• Ability to think and work systemically.

The Trust is committed to providing services that embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer and welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect, and dignity while promoting equality and human rights.

Additional Information

• All applications for this post will need to be made online.
• Read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified, as your application will be judged against these criteria.
• The closing date listed is a guide only; the vacancy may close earlier should a sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible.
• Once you have submitted your application, you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs.
• If you have not heard from us within three weeks from the closing date, your application has not been successful.
• Priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees.
• If successful and appointed, you authorize South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process.
• We are a smoke-free Trust.

Contact Information:

Name: Zoe McLeod

Job title: Lewisham MHST Clinical Service Lead North

Email: [e-mail]

Telephone: [phone]

Name: David Linford

Job title: Clinical Service Lead South

Email: [e-mail]

Telephone: [phone]