Therapeutic Practitioner - Academic Services

Position Details

Student Wellbeing

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £31,406 to £40,927, with potential progression once in post to £43,434.

Grade 7

Full Time 37.5 hours per week, Fixed Term contract up to 28th February 2023.

This post is available to internal applicants only.

This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager.

Closing date: 1st June 2022

Role Summary

This is a role for a creative and dynamic Wellbeing Practitioner with a mental health background to include qualifications and experience in Nursing (RMN) Social Work (AMP), Counselling or Psychology. The post holder will need to respond to changes in the higher education sector and work collaboratively with services on and off campus to ensure students have access to appropriate resources and services that will support them to achieve their academic and personal development goals.

The Wellbeing Practitioner (Mental Health), will work within a multi-disciplinary team to develop and deliver an exceptional range of proactive support to include; planned face to face and online interventions and psycho-educational workshops and mentoring to help students engage in developing skills for managing and maintain good mental health and wellbeing. The post holder will act as a point of contact in mental health emergency situations and respond to crisis, students causing significant concern and critical incidents. The post will have substantial experience of assessing and managing risk and a commitment to delivering a 'stepped care' model of support. The post holder will also develop proactive responses to promote a sense of community within the University through social and educational programmes and individual services, to ensure that students have the opportunity to succeed in their studies, fully participate in University life, and develop resilience, good physical and mental health.

Responsibilities include working to embed innovative and inclusive practices across the University through networking and contributing to training. The post holder will be required to operate flexibly to meet the demands of the service, working at least one late evening per week.

Main Duties

• To conduct Triage appointments to assess student need and facilitate access to the most appropriate service or Wellbeing resource of students presenting to the Student Wellbeing Service.
• Formulate comprehensive intervention and support plans which have measurable impact as part of the assessment by;
  
  • identifying areas where the person wishes to change how they feel, think or behave
  • carrying out thorough risk assessments
  • making referrals to other health and mental health professionals as appropriate.
• To work with students presenting in person, email and by phone including connecting with those unable or unwilling to engage with support to promote the provision of specialist support and referral.
• To deliver a comprehensive group work and workshop programme with a focus on psycho-education and mental health and wellbeing
• To liaise directly with Wellbeing Advisors in colleges to ensure appropriate referrals into workshops.
• To act as point of contact in mental health emergency situations.
• To manage and support casework including responding to crisis, students causing significant concern, critical incidents, and use of emergency procedures, reviewing and evaluating student progress.
• To respond to complex or emerging issues by focusing on early intervention to minimise crisis.
• To liaise with students and those involved with their care as appropriate, during periods of temporary withdrawal.
• To work with students to determine at which point there is a need to prioritise mental health treatment over current continuation of study.
• To deliver and promote peer mentoring both to prospective mentors and mentees and provide training and supervisory support to mentors.
• To be accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of caseload, ensuring an exceptional standard of work.
• To maintain accurate, confidential paper and electronic records (knowledge of General Data Protection Regulation required) through maintaining databases in order to be able to provide relevant information as requested.
• To maintain a high level of clinical expertise by fulfilling the requirements for on-going accreditation by appropriate professional bodies.

Shared Responsibilities

• To participate in the development of collaborative working partnerships within Student Wellbeing Services, staff across the University and with outside agencies to ensure a high quality experience for students and to embed best practice.
• To contribute to the development of new initiatives and ways of working to meet changing needs and demand of students, including development of online and digital self-help resources for students and staff.
• To work collaboratively with academic and professional service staff to ensure a delivery of accessible mental health and wellbeing support to students, and to ensure that best practice around inclusiveness is disseminated across the University, with a particular focus on mental health awareness.
• To contribute to the development of an ongoing and responsive mental health policy in conjunction with Service managers, drafting policy and procedures for delivery of mental health services within the University.
• To contribute to the wider work of Student Services and Academic Services work, including supporting, for example, Open days, Welcome, and Graduation activity.
• To work as an accountable member of the service, acting as a role model for colleagues by displaying enthusiasm and the values of inclusivity and professionalism expected of all staff in the Division.
• To work flexibly to support the delivery of wider Wellbeing service responsibilities by undertaking other tasks and duties as needed to meet the requirements of the service.

Communication

• To communicate effectively with students, University staff and outside agencies as appropriate. This communication will include verbal, written reports, case conferences and team and committee meetings.

Person Specification

Essential Qualifications

• Relevant qualification and substantial experience in a related area. For example, substantial experience in supporting people with mental health conditions and a qualification in Counselling, Psychology, Nursing, (RMN) Social Work (AMP).
• Membership of an appropriate professional body, such as NMC/RCN/HCPC/BACP/UKCP.
• All post holders are subject to a satisfactory and enhanced DBS check.

Knowledge and Experience

• Significant demonstrable experience of working with clients with mental health difficulties and also of assessing and managing 'at risk' clients.
• Experience of case working/support working of clients with mental difficulties.
• Experience of assessing the mental health needs of people from diverse backgrounds.
• Experience of working with mental health issues in a group setting, and an ability to deal with difficult and challenging group dynamics.
• Experience of assessing and working therapeutically with people who self-harm and experience suicidal feelings.
• Experience in health promotion or health education.
• Experience of delivering training and workshops
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to deliver a service.
• Experience of delivering training as part of health and wellbeing, e.g. personal resilience.
• Experience of Developing effective working relationships with internal partners and external agencies.
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to deliver mental health and/or wellbeing services.

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent IT skills and experience of using systems to manage work requirements.
• Ability to keep thorough and accurate client case notes, and ensure compliance with confidentiality policies and procedures, professional standards, and Data Protection and GDPR legislation.
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of the mental health needs of people including an awareness of issues of diversity, the social context of their lives and of the different ways they may express stress..
• Ability to engage people individually and in groups in developing strategies and skills for managing their mental health and wellbeing by using creative methods, models and processes.
• Demonstrable experience of partnership and collaborative working.
• Excellent communication skills; both written and oral, and an ability to deal with people at all levels.
• Experience of developing and delivering training for a variety of audiences.
• Ability to plan, organise and prioritise own workload and manage time effectively in an environment of change and conflicting priorities.

Professional Commitment

• Ensuring that issues of equality and a respect for diversity are reflected in all aspects of work.
• Continued professional development through undertaking training and participating in other learning opportunities in line with role and service needs
• Recognition of the need to be accountable for work through supervision, performance management and other relevant processes.
• Work as part of a multi disciplinary team.

Informal enquires to Sue Knight, via S.J.Knight@bham.ac.uk