Education Mental Health Practitioner

Role description

Job summary

Dorset Mental Health Support Teams in Schools are seeking Qualified Education Mental Health Practitioners in the North and East Dorset including the Purbeck area

The Mental Health Support Teams work with children, young people and their families with the aim of improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in a variety of education settings. We work across all ages, and have established good links with our partners.

We are seeking to appoint enthusiastic staff who are passionate about children's mental health. You will need to have completed an accredited PGDip EMHP training course with one of the recognised universities to be eligible for this role.

Please note visa sponsorship for this role is unfortunately not available. Ensure you hold valid right to work in the UK and will not require sponsorship if successful.

Main duties of the job

As a member of the team, you will work as an autonomous and responsible practitioner, with appropriate supervision and within the scope of your training, experience and local job description.

Your main duties will include:

• Delivering evidence-based interventions to children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties within education settings.
• Identifying children and young people who require additional or specialist support, and facilitating timely access to appropriate specialist mental health services where required.
• Working collaboratively with education staff to support the identification, understanding and, where appropriate, management of issues relating to children and young people's mental health and emotional wellbeing.
• Developing effective relationships with schools, colleges and other education settings to improve access to mental health support and specialist services.
• Working across education and mental health services to promote integrated and effective pathways of care for children and young people.
• Using your knowledge, skills and professional expertise to provide a high-quality mental health service within education settings.
• Building on and complementing existing wellbeing and mental health initiatives within education settings, ensuring that the service enhances rather than replaces the support and resources already available.
• Working within professional, organisational and clinical governance frameworks, seeking appropriate supervision and support to ensure safe, effective and evidence-based practice.
• Promoting the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people, working in partnership with them, their families/carers and education professionals wherever appropriate.

About us

At Dorset Health Care we're on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We're a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We're an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you'll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don't know. And you'll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion and expertise in all we do.