Tell me a bit about your role.
I’m a Children’s Low-Intensity CBT Practitioner, which means I work with children, young people, parents, caregivers and families to help support young people in understanding their mental health difficulties. We focus on the connections between thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and look at making changes to improve mood. This can be through 1:1 sessions with young people, their parents or in group settings.
What is a typical day in your CBT Practitioner role?
A typical day would be going into one of my assigned schools, this could be a primary or secondary. I have 30-60 minute sessions with each young person on my caseload from that school, session time is dependent on what feels manageable for that young person. They’re always at the centre of our work! We typically see up to 4 young people in a day, during the rest of the day we have time to write up our notes, make session plans for our appointments the following day and supervision/team meetings. Sometimes slotted in our days we might be holding workshops for staff at schools, parents and young people, offering information and education on a range of mental health topics. So really your diary varies a lot from week to week!
What would you say makes your role different from any other at the trust?
Our days are so varied, which I love about my role. No day is the same, and having to work across different areas and organisations means you get to work with so many different people outside of your direct service and team.
You do a lot of work with our Thought-Full: Mental Health Support Teams in Schools. Do you think that it is important that we teach Mental Health support in school?
Massively important! As a service, we’re not only supporting children and young people but schools, staff and families. Having the right information available at the right time can have a huge impact, not only on the individual seeking it, but has a ripple effect. They can pass on that information and so on and so on. We all go through periods of difficult mental health, so having a mental health supportive school environment, being taught about what that looks like, how it can feel and what you can do, can make a huge difference.
Why is working at Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust different from any other place?
Getting to work in partnership means you get a wealth of experience on the team.
If you could go back in time and tell yourself one thing on your first day what would it be?
It’s a really supportive team, someone’s always available to talk through concerns or just be a listening ear to offload to. And also ask for school maps!! I’m always getting lost.
If you would like to know more about the support we provide to young people click here