Trainee Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner

South West London and St Georges Mental Health Trust; Wallington (NJ); On-site; USD 45,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Training funded by NHS

Job summary

South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust is offering a Trainee Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner role. The program combines university-led postgraduate training with practical experience within community teams, supported by supervision from a psychologist.

The role starts with a funded UCL postgraduate certificate and leads to an Agenda for Change band 5 practitioner post on successful completion.

Qualifications

• Demonstrate ability to work at degree level.
• Experience interacting with the public, working as part of a team, analysing complex information and communicating effectively.
• Ability to establish and maintain empathic, supportive relationships with people in significant distress, families and carers.

Responsibilities

• Carry out relevant risk assessments and risk management with the multi-disciplinary team.
• Engage calmly and with empathy to support service users in distressing situations.
• Gather information from service users, relatives and records to develop a formulation.
• Develop care plans with individuals and their families focusing on strengths and outcomes.
• Attend multi-disciplinary reviews and act as a care co-ordinator for a caseload.
• Deliver wellbeing-focused, psychologically-informed interventions under supervision, including behavioural activation and problem-solving.

Skills

Communication

Empathy

Teamwork

Public interaction

Education

Degree 2:2 in any subject

Job description

Trainee Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner

Company:

Company: South West London and St Georges Mental Health Trust

Salary: £33,262 - £36,027 per annum inclusive of outer London HCAS

A Vacancy at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

We are looking for a highly motivated graduate with a minimum 2:2 degree in any subject to join our service as a Trainee Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner. This is an exciting, new role created by NHS England and Improvement to support the transformation of adult community mental health services. Your training will be provided by University College London and fully funded by the NHS. If you successfully pass the postgraduate training, you will transition to a qualified Mental Health & Wellbeing Practitioner post (at Agenda for Change band 5) via a performance and development review (appraisal) where any ongoing support needs can be identified. Please be aware that if you embark on this training, you will not be eligible for other NHS funded training for 2 years after the course has ended.

You will need to have a passion for working with adults with severe and enduring mental health problems. On appointment the trainee Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner will be enrolled on to the University College London one-year postgraduate certificate training which will take up one or more days a week during term time. The training will cover assessment and collaborative care planning with patients and training on wellbeing-focused psychologically informed interventions for serious mental health problems.

Please see UCL website for more information about the course:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/pals/study/postgraduate-taught-degrees/clinical-psychology-and-psychotherapy/low-intensity-cognitive-behavioural-interventions-severe-mental-health-problems-pg-cert

For the remainder of the week, you will work in one of our community mental health teams where, under supervision, you will practice and develop the knowledge and skills taught on the course. This will involve individual work with patients as well as support for their families and carers, in line with the education provider’s expectations.

Supervision of psychologically informed interventions will be from a qualified clinical or counselling psychologist. You will receive case management supervision from another qualified mental health professional in the team.

The Trainee Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner will be required to:

• Demonstrate the ability to work at degree level
• Have experience of work interacting with the public, working as part of a team, analysing complex information and communicating effectively
• Demonstrate the ability to establish and maintain empathic, supportive relationships with people in significant distress, their families and carers

Start training in February 2027

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services, including Tolworth Hospital, as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together.We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety ofbenefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Unless expressly stated in the job advert the role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.

1. 1. Carry out relevant risk assessments and risk management with the multi-disciplinary team
2. 2. Engage calmly and with sensitivity and empathy to support service users in highly distressing or emotional circumstances.
3. 3. Engage with and gather information from service users, relatives and patient records to develop a formulation.
4. 4. To work in collaboration with the individual service user and their family and carers as appropriate to develop care plans that are focused on strengths and are outcome based.
5. 5. To attend multi-disciplinary reviews and act as a care co-ordinator, for a caseload of service users in order to support and monitor progress during the course of multi-disciplinary interventions.
6. 6. To set collaborative goals for intervention with service users
7. 7. To deliver specified wellbeing-focused psychologically-informed interventions, in line with best available evidence, under close supervision from a clinical psychologist or CBT therapist including:
   • a. Behavioural activation and graded exposure
   • b. Teaching problem-solving skills
   • c. Improving sleep
   • d. Recognising and managing emotions
   • e. Guided self-help for bulimia and binge-eating
   • f. Building confidence
   • g. Medication support
8. 8. To be responsive to service users’ needs and choices; and uphold their right to be treated with dignity and respect.
9. 9. To include carers and families in line with the service user’s wishes.
10. 10. To liaise with other health and care providers, including third sector agencies and primary care, to ensure continuity of care for service users.
11. 11. To communicate information concerning the assessment, formulation and care plans of service users in a skilled and sensitive manner in order to promote effective multi-disciplinary working and therapeutic outcomes for clients.
12. 13. To deal with endings appropriately and safely with service users, families and carers.

This advert closes on Thursday 5 Nov 2026

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