Mental Health Practitioner

The Opportunity

Salary

NJC Grade 10 £39,862 to £42,839 per annum

Contract Type

Permanent

Working Pattern

37 hours per week, full time, 09:00-17:00 Monday to Friday

Location

You can work from one of the following locations: Chichester, Worthing, Crawley, and East Grinstead

Please note

You must be able to travel throughout the county including to locations that are not always accessible by public transport. There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public.

Closing date

25 May 2026

Interview date

01, 03, & 05 June 2026

Do you have experience of working with people with mental health difficulties?

Have you trained in low or high intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?

We have exciting opportunities to be part of West Sussex County Council's Mental Health Support Team; we are expanding our Mental Health services to meet the growing needs of our community.

As a Mental Health Practitioner, you will hold cases of children and young people with mild to moderate mental health problems within schools, being responsible for developing packages of care for them.

You will deliver a variety of evidence-based interventions against a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model, working collaboratively with children, young people, their families, schools, and other mental health professionals.

As part of this role, you will be required to complete the PGCert Supervision of Therapeutic Practice at the University of Sussex to be able to carry out supervision for a team of trainee and/or qualified clinical practitioners, depending on service need and capacity.

Key areas of responsibility

• Providing advice to schools and families, and liaising with external specialist services, to get the right support for children and young people.
• Keep clear records, case files, assessments, and data.
• Work in line with safeguarding protocols and follow the Local Safeguarding Board guidance.
• Attend and participate in multi-disciplinary and multi-agency meetings relating to the people you are supporting.

You will need to be able to demonstrate personal resilience as some cases may be sensitive, traumatic, or potentially emotionally distressing.

About You

We are looking for someone who has carried out Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and has experience of low or high-intensity CBT mental health assessments.

You will travel independently to carry out assessments, and there will be periodic physical requirements to the role.

If you are interested in making a difference and working in a friendly and supportive team with a role that offers variety and challenge, then this could be the role for you.

Please refer to the key skills in your cover letter as these will be used for shortlisting criteria.

Key Skills

• Ability to carry out low-intensity,

CBT-informed 1

1 therapeutic mental health assessments and interventions with children and young people, and/or their families.

• Ability to carry out initial (mental health) assessments which will include thorough assessments of risk and safeguarding or where there may be additional complexities.
• Ability to work flexibly with a range of professionals and other adults including teachers, parents/carers, social workers and other mental health professionals in the best interests of the child or young person, communicating complicated or sensitive information effectively.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to quickly build effective therapeutic rapport with a child, young person and / or their parents.
• Ability to effectively manage an allocated caseload including assessing, recording and communicating risk appropriately and taking necessary actions.
• Ability to positively make use of clinical and peer group support supervision.
• Ability to complete and maintain data recording and paperwork appropriate to the work undertaken.

For more information on the Key Skills, Qualifications and/or Experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

About Us

Our Mental Health Support Team is made up of over 70 professionals, and we are continuing to increase our service to support the growing needs of our communities.

We currently have opportunities for Mental Health Practitioners to make a real difference in supporting Mental Health in Children. You will be working within our Mental Health Support Team (MHST) on exciting new initiatives and an important strand of the Government's 2017 Green Paper 'Transforming Children and Young People's Mental Health Provision'.

We fulfil 3 core functions

• Delivering evidence-based interventions in education settings (primary and secondary schools and colleges) for mild to moderate mental health issues.
• Supporting the senior mental health lead in each education setting to introduce or develop their whole school or college approach.
• Giving timely advice to school and college staff, and liaising with external specialist services, to help children and young people to get the right support and stay in education.

For more information, please visit our Thriving in Education Thought-Full website

Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following

Employer Pension Contribution

TBC, this alters per annum on the 1 April each year (previous employer contribution for 2025 18.70%)

Annual leave

27 days holiday + Bank Holidays = 35 days

How to Apply

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06333.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact thought-

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter.

In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, five years referencing, and an occupational health check.

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application, please contact Natalie Greene, Recruitment Specialist, at