Education mental health practitioner

Education mental health practitioners provide mental health support to children and young people in schools and colleges

As an education mental health practitioner (EMHP) you'll work to increase the mental health support that young people receive, in an environment that is well known to them. The role is part of the government initiative to provide more mental health support in schools and colleges.

Your aim is to give early support for emerging mental health needs, possibly to those who may not already receive, or be eligible for, a specialist mental health service. You'll offer low-intensity interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and guided self-help, to children and young people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties, such as depression, anxiety and behavioural difficulties.

You'll work with children and young people in primary and secondary schools or further education colleges in group or one-to-one sessions. You will also support the school or college in promoting a whole school mental health and wellbeing approach. In some settings, you'll collaborate with parents and carers.

As an EMHP you'll be part of a mental health support team (MHST) with other mental health professionals. You will work collaboratively and may need to refer the children and young people you see to other agencies.  

Responsibilities

As an EMHP you'll need to:

• undertake early interventions and assessments of children and young people in schools and colleges who have mild to moderate mental health problems
• provide both group and one-to-one interventions, generally based on CBT and guided self-help techniques, including behavioural activation, CBT-informed worry and anxiety management interventions, graded exposure, behavioural experiments, and sleep and stress management
• evaluate the success of interventions
• develop and review support plans for children and young people on a regular basis
• build meaningful therapeutic relationships with children and young people
• empower children, young people and their families to make informed choices about the intervention and its delivery (e.g., face-to-face, group or remote sessions)
• refer children and young people to alternative services or to a high intensity support service where appropriate
• plan, implement and manage your own caseloads
• write up confidential notes from client meetings and keep records in accordance with relevant ethics and confidentiality guidelines
• discuss in clinical supervision any issues that need addressing
• provide training to schools and other mental health agencies about the mental health needs of children and young people
• establish and maintain effective professional relationships with a range of staff at schools or further education colleges, with relevant social care and mental health colleagues and with other agencies as needed
• involve, consult and educate family members or carers, particularly in primary schools, as appropriate
• develop and deliver a whole school approach to mental health
• promote awareness of mental health and the training of self-management of mental health
• keep up to date with developments and best practice in child and young people's mental health.

Salary

• Trainee education mental health practitioners are appointed at Band 4 of the NHS Agenda for Change pay rates, with salaries ranging from £27,485 to £30,162.
• Salaries for qualified EMHPs range from £31,049 to £37,796 (Band 5).
• With experience and further training, you can become a senior EMHP, earning between £38,682 and £46,580 (Band 6). Salaries for clinical supervisors and clinical team managers may be higher (Band 7).

The NHS pays a London high-cost area supplement at 20% of basic salary for inner London, 15% for outer London and 5% for fringe areas.

Salaries and conditions may vary outside the NHS.

Income data from NHS Agenda for Change - Pay Rates. Figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

You will typically work around 37 hours a week, usually 9am to 5pm. However, you may at times need to work outside normal working hours to support the needs of the school of college.

Part-time and flexible work opportunities may be available.

What to expect

• You'll usually work both from the office of your employer and at different school and college settings.
• You will typically work within a mental health support team (MHST). The teams work in schools and further education institutions and usually consist of a group of EMHPs and other more senior mental health and social care professionals.
• The work can be challenging as you will hear and read about distressing experiences from children and young people. It can also be rewarding, however, when you see children growing in confidence.
• Local travel is common to visit schools and colleges, and you will usually need a driving licence and access to a car.
• Men and those from an ethnic minority background are generally underrepresented in psychological professions in the UK. The NHS is working to increase diversity and inclusion in their workforce.

Qualifications

You will usually need to complete a Postgraduate or Graduate Diploma in education mental health practice, commissioned and funded by NHS England. Course titles vary and are offered by a range of universities and training providers. You can view accredited courses at BPS Accredited courses.

To get a place on a course, you must first apply for a trainee EMHP role with a local mental health support team (MHST). Once you've been offered a trainee position, you can then complete an application to enrol on the Diploma course. Trainee roles are typically advertised on NHS Jobs and through voluntary sector organisations.

Although you don't need a degree in a specific subject, the following areas of study are particularly useful:

• children and young people
• health and wellbeing
• health and social care
• education
• psychology
• psychology with child development.

You may be able to train to be an education mental health practitioner without a degree, as long as you can demonstrate the ability to study at degree level and have relevant experience. Applications are welcomed from people from a wide range of backgrounds, particularly those with relevant professional or personal experience.

There are no set requirements for previous experience. However, many trainee roles ask for experience of working or volunteering with children, young people and families, ideally in a mental health or educational setting. A broad understanding of mental health and wellbeing issues is also beneficial. Check job adverts for the amount and type of experience required.

The course lasts 12 months and includes both academic study and supervised practice with your own client caseload. You'll need to manage your time effectively between seeing clients and completing university assignments as part of your trainee role. You will usually spend around 60 to 70 days at university over the year.

The training is fully funded by the NHS and includes a salary at Band 4 on the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale. Upon successful completion, you typically progress to a Band 5 role, with a guaranteed position in an MHST working in schools or colleges.

You will need to complete an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Check as the role involves working with children and young people.

On successfully completing the training, you must register with one or both of the following professional bodies if you are working in the NHS:

• British Psychological Society (BPS) - Wider Psychological Workforce Register
• British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) - Register of Wellbeing Practitioners.

Skills

You'll need to have:

• excellent communication and interpersonal skills build positive therapeutic relationships with children and young people
• emotional resilience to support children and young people who may have experienced trauma or distress
• empathy and compassion to understand and respond to the needs of the children and young people accessing the service
• teamworking skills to work effectively as a part of a multidisciplinary team
• organisational and time management skills to manage your own caseload, diary and sometimes competing priorities
• the ability to work independently as you may often be the only EMHP in the school
• basic IT skills to create and keep records of client sessions and progress
• the ability to reflect on your own practice and critically evaluate your performance
• an understanding of professional ethics, safeguarding and confidentiality related to working with children and young people
• up-to-date knowledge of child and adolescent mental health and relevant legislation
• understanding of ethics and confidentiality surrounding working with children and young people.

Work experience

Getting work experience with children and young people, particularly in a mental health or education setting, is important.

Experience within mental health support work (or related services), such as working as a healthcare assistant in a mental health ward or supporting individuals with additional needs, is highly valued by employers. Roles in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), youth work or counselling support services can provide particularly relevant experience. Social care work, especially with children, young people or families, is also helpful.

Experience in schools is also useful, to gain an understanding of how schools operate, how they're structured and how to engage with pupils in a classroom setting. You may be able to get paid work in a variety of roles, such as a teaching assistant, learning mentor, pastoral support worker or through involvement in summer schools or holiday activity programmes.

There are also opportunities to get valuable experience through voluntary work. Contact your university volunteering department for a list of opportunities relevant to mental health and/or education, or get in touch with local charities, youth organisations or schools offering placements. Volunteering with organisations that support emotional wellbeing or early intervention for young people can help demonstrate your commitment to this area of work.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

You usually work in a mental health support team (MHST) connected to a local NHS trust, council and/or a voluntary agency. As part of the team, you'll be based in primary and secondary schools and further education colleges with young people up to the age of 18.

Trainees that successfully complete the 12 months training programme typically move into a band 5 role within the same local service.

Look for job vacancies at:

• NHS Jobs
• Jobsgopublic
• BMJ Health Careers

Jobs are also advertised directly by local authority and third sector services.

You can set up an alert through NHS Jobs to receive details of new vacancies.

Professional development

To remain registered with the BPS and/or BABCP, you'll need to carry out a certain amount of continuing professional development (CPD) each year and undertake supervision from a qualified supervisor.

The registers also offer public protection as they allow those looking for an EMHP (employers, agencies or members of the public) to know they're accessing practitioners who are meeting high levels of professionalism and practice.

You're expected to undertake further training relevant to your role throughout your career, as well as courses on topics such as safeguarding, confidentiality and data protection. EMHP supervision training is available once you have experience as an EMHP.

Both the BPS and BABCP provide access to CPD opportunities, resources and professional networking. CPD activities can include:

• attending events, workshops and webinars
• self-directed study
• mentoring
• attending and presenting at conferences
• reading and writing articles for journals.

Career prospects

Once qualified, you will receive ongoing training to keep your skills and knowledge up to date, as well as regular supervision to support your practice and wellbeing.

With experience, you can train to become an EMHP supervisor, supervising trainee and qualified EMHPs in your team, or train as a senior wellbeing practitioner (SWP) to move into a more or senior mental health role with management responsibilities. You'll usually need at least two years' experience as an EMHP before undertaking another NHS-funded psychological professional training course.

As this is a relatively new role, the EMHP role may develop further in the future, with opportunities for clinical specialisms and research opportunities.

There are also opportunities to move into related roles in education, the NHS or in the charity sector.