Mental Health Practitioner (wellbeing Advisor)

Mental Health Practitioner

Salary: 15 hours – Up to £16,438 OR 20 hours – Up to £21,917

Based off of a FTE of £40,000 per annum

Location: Cambridge, St Edmunds College

Contract type: 6-month fixed term contract, Part Time 15-20 hours (Monday & Friday are required, whilst there is flexibility regarding other days)

Are you an experienced Mental Health Practitioner (counsellor, psychologist, or therapist) with education experience?

At St Edmund’s College we are recruiting a Mental Health Practitioner to support a small but experienced Wellbeing team.

The role of Mental Health Practitioner (Wellbeing Advisor) will support students who have or believe to have a health condition or disability to find appropriate support and care. You would be responsible for the assessment of care needs and will complete clinical assessments of students, triaging to the correct support and care at the right level, utilising both external and internal facilities.

Job responsibilities

• Undertake clinical assessments and formulate care plans to manage and minimise risk, including follow up checks, triaging care as appropriate and with consent.
• Ability to manage emergency situations, where there is moderate to high risk.
• Compile referral letters which are accurate and confidential.
• Providing advice and information to students (and carers, if applicable) in order to alleviate distress and work in partnership, as far as possible, with all the available support facilities.
• Provide medical input for university processes.
• Participate in professional supervision on all allocated cases.
• In liaison with the Wellbeing Team to set objectives for the delivery of care and devise ways of implementing and monitoring these.
• To expertly manage, and oversee the response to, incidents of challenging behaviour by employing de-escalation techniques, or by implementing the least restrictive intervention required to maintain the safety of the student or others.
• To complete risk management assessments, planning and intervention for students who are at risk of self-harm or suicide.
• Review regular intervals with the DoSW, the overall nature of the caseload, work methods, techniques and patterns.
• Have a knowledge/understanding of the legislation likely to be encountered as part of the role e.g. Mental Health Act 1983; Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; Access to Information Act 1986; Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. Advising the DoSW of any breaches of professional conduct as required.
• Communicate complex or distressing information to individuals and their families as necessary, ensuring any challenges are negotiated and any conflicts resolved.
• Participate and support proactive duties as deemed appropriate by the College, including the delivery of Beginning-of-Year briefing to new students, including guidance for students on Mental Health support.
• Support the maintenance of the College’s healthcare webpages with self-care advice and signposting to other areas of support.
• Attend relevant in-house and external meetings related to health and wellbeing.
• Maintain and develop Mental Health specialist knowledge and competencies required for the College.
• Demonstrate commitment to own personal and professional development
• Mental Health Group facilitation
• Work with colleagues to share best practise and ensure policies are adhered to
• Ensure the upkeep of the College, report any problems as necessary and help to keep the College litter free.
• Suggest and implement new ways of working and ideas, be an advocate for Continuous Improvement.
• Adhere to Health and Safety policies and procedures
• Complete ad hoc tasks as required

The successful candidate

The successful candidate will be a driven, self-starter, who can work independently using their own initiative.

They will have strong emotional intelligence and will be able to understand confidentiality and when to escalate matters. Due to the nature of the role they will remain and act in a calm and professional manner in emergencies and complex situations.

The successful candidate must have:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Computer literate, with the ability to quickly learn new systems

• Counselling qualification with a minimum of 100 counselling hours OR Therapist qualification
• Knowledge of local mental health
• Experience of working with students with complex and challenging needs in an education setting (higher education is advantageous)
• Knowledge of recovery or rehabilitation principles
• Working knowledge and experience of the Mental Health Act and legislation
• Mental Health Group facilitation in a community or prevention setting.
• Current professional registration such as BACP, NCPS (desirable)

If you feel that you fit most but not all of the above criteria, we would still love to hear from you.

As well as a great salary and friendly team you will also receive:

• Working daily allowance for food and drinks*
• Free car parking (where available)
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays (increasing with length of service)
• Generous pension contributions
• Discounts at restaurants, shops & more
• Outdoor gym
• Death in service
• Access to LinkedIn Learning & Business Disability Forum

About St Edmund’s College

St Edmund’s College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. Our vibrant student body is made up of around 420 post-graduates and 130 mature undergraduates. With over 260 senior members – academics working at the cutting edge of their field or eminent members of their profession – and around 70 staff, you will be joining a dynamic and growing College with an ambitious vision for our role in shaping the future of higher education and collaborative research.

The maturity of our community means that we have earned a reputation as the friendly college. Relaxed, non-hierarchical and diverse, we pride ourselves on being a place in Cambridge where people of all backgrounds are welcomed, will feel at home and can flourish. Therefore, we welcome all candidates regardless of their demographic characteristics such as gender, race, disability, neurodiversity, religion, age, sex & sexual identity to apply for our opportunities.

How to apply

To apply, please send in you CV and a Cover Letter to Nicky Chalklin, HR Administrator by email to [email protected]

Closing date for completed applications: 18 February 2024

If you have informal enquiries about the post, please email the Director of StudentWellbeing, Nqobile Msomi, on [email protected]

In applying for this role, you will provide personal data which the College will process in accordance with its data protection obligations and its Data Protection Policy: http://www.stedmunds.cam.ac.uk/data-protection Any offer of employment is subject to evidence of your right to work in the UK and the receipt of satisfactory references.

*conditions apply.