Mental Health Practitioner

Requirements the employer expects applicants to meet.

• Skills

  Computer literate including use of IT packages – word processing, e-mail and internet, Excel and Access

• Skills

  Being able to work flexibly across local environments

• Skills

  Awareness of diversity of cultural norms and being able to respond to this appropriately

• Skills

  Concentrate intensely for a substantial proportion of working time, during client contact, teaching/supervision sessions, team meetings, preparing written work etc.

• Skills

  Ability to use or learn NHS clinical systems such as SystmOne and EMIS

• Skills

  Work cross-culturally and/or in different languages

• Skills

  Work to professional guidelines

• Skills

  Accept accountability for own work, and of working towards defined results

• Skills

  Plan, organise and prioritise own workload

• Skills

  Record and report on clinical information as required

• Knowledge

  Basic understanding of health care systems and structures: staffing, roles and responsibilities, the role of hospitals, primary care and community care

• Knowledge

  Team/self-management and organisation skills that enable a number of complex activities and clinical work to be undertaken, revising and adjusting these according to the needs of individual patients and the service

• Knowledge

  Knowledge of counselling skills/cognitive behavioural skills, psychosocial interventions

• Knowledge

  Knowledge of recovery approaches as used with those with mental health conditions

• Knowledge

  Work with people from a wide range of backgrounds

• Knowledge

  Contain and work with organisational stress and able to hold the stress of others

• Knowledge

  Manage effectively exposure to distressing/highly emotional circumstances

• Knowledge

  Manage effectively verbal aggression from service users, families, etc. and the risk of physical aggression

• Knowledge

  Respectful and collaborative approach to service users, families, carers, colleagues and other professionals

• Knowledge

  Able to negotiate and ability to handle confrontation effectively and professionally

• Knowledge

  Ability to engage challenging and/or acutely distressed patients in potentially hostile and/or antagonistic situations and use de-escalation techniques effectively

• Knowledge

  Assessment and treatment of Deliberate Self Harm

• Knowledge

  Risk assessment/management and crisis intervention skills

• Knowledge

  Use of psychosocial assessment methods

• Knowledge

  Higher level communication skills, both written and oral

• Knowledge

  Sufficient clinical knowledge to be able to make autonomous decisions, based on an analysis of complex presenting problems and judgement about available options, with senior clinical support/supervision

• Experience

  Experience of work in the NHS, PCNs or outreach work, or local engagement work (e.g. youth worker, mentoring, peer support etc.), experience of working in voluntary sector, working in community groups.

• Experience

  Experience of working with Complex Emotional Needs (previously termed Personality Disorders) Work with client groups with serious mental health problems:

• Experience

  mental health care and/or

• Experience

  working with carers and/or

• Experience

  delivering therapeutic group interventions and/or

• Experience

  working in MDTs and/or

• Experience

  Work in multi-cultural settings and work with interpreters

• Qualifications

  Professional qualification in mental health e.g. Occupational Therapy, Social Work or Mental Health Nursing (RMN) with current NMC/HCPC / SW England registration or Psychology as accredited by the BPS.

• Qualifications

  A recorded/registered qualification in one of the following – psychology, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, arts therapy and registration with the appropriate body for that profession

• Other Requirements

  Ability to influence without authority

• Other Requirements

  Work as part of a team spread across multiple locations operating with a matrix structure

• Other Requirements

  Ability to work effectively, timely and independently

• Other Requirements

  Ability to frequently work under pressure and maintain intense concentration, particularly in unpredictable situations where there will be exposure to highly distressed and/or disturbed patients, often exhibiting challenging behaviours and the risk of physical violence

• Other Requirements

  Ability to meet deadlines

• Other Requirements

  Commitment to equal opportunities

• Other Requirements

  Ability to accept constructive feedback

• Other Requirements

  Self-motivated, able to work autonomously and independently with confidence when required.

• Other Requirements

  Exercise initiative, flexibility and tact and self-awareness

• Other Requirements

  Willing to use peer and group supervision creatively

• Other Requirements

  Be able to work flexibly if required

• Other Requirements

  Be aware of the limitations in your competencies and seek appropriate senior advice and leadership.

• Other Requirements

  Personal experience of a mental health condition