Mental Health and Wellbeing Specialist

At our school, we foster a supportive teaching and learning environment that reflects student needs and backgrounds. Our clear strategic intention is to maximize opportunities for all students by developing their talents and challenging them to achieve their potential.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner works closely with the wellbeing team, leaders, teachers, education support staff, and families to provide a coordinated approach to student mental health and wellbeing. Students can access support through our referral process.

• Provide mental health and wellbeing support and intervention across three tiers of practice:
  • Tier 1: School-wide positive mental health and wellbeing promotion
  • Tier 2: Early intervention and cohort-specific mental health support for students
  • Tier 3: Targeted one-to-one support for students with complex mental health needs
• Crisis Response: Provide immediate crisis care for students presenting with risk and offer follow-up care, which may include a single session appointment with the wellbeing team or referrals to external support services within the community
• Single Session Appointment: Offer timely therapeutic support without the wait through our single session appointment model
• Short-term Case Management and Advocacy Support: Provide short-term case management and advocacy support to students and their families to ensure students are connected to the right supports in the community
• Therapeutic Groupwork: Offer therapeutic groupwork programs designed to support students' mental health and wellbeing
• Whole-school Education and Capacity Building: Equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to navigate the challenges of adolescence

Responsibilities:

• Participate in the wellbeing triage roster providing crisis care to students presenting with immediate risk
• Conduct comprehensive risk assessment and safety planning to manage and coordinate student presentations of risk
• Provide secondary consultation to leaders and staff regarding a range of mental health and wellbeing presentations
• Complete case formulation using the five P's formulation framework to support individualized intervention in collaboration with the young person and their family
• Provide therapeutic counselling support to students using the single session appointment model
• Provide short-term case management and advocacy support to students and their families to ensure students are connected to the right supports in the community
• Develop and deliver therapeutic groupwork to students using a variety of approaches, depending on presenting themes and identified need
• Provide psychoeducation to students and their parent/carers around a range of mental health and wellbeing concerns
• Provide recommendations to parent/carers and school staff regarding specific strategies to support the behavioural, emotional, and social needs of students
• Attend and contribute to Student Support Group (SSG) and Care Team/Professional Meetings
• Develop and deliver professional learning to school staff on a range of wellbeing issues
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with internal and external key stakeholders and professional networks
• Ensure student privacy and confidentiality is maintained
• Maintain clear and accurate documentation/record keeping including case notes, assessments, case formulation, support letters, and data collection processes
• Maintain documentation to support Disability Inclusion Profile (DIP) requirements
• Participate in regular supervision with a chosen external supervision provider
• Participate in regular internal supervision with the wellbeing team leader
• Adhere to departmental values and child safe standards of practice