Mental health professionals

• GPs
• Psychiatrists
• Clinical psychologists
• Mental health nurses
• Mental health social workers
• Pharmacists
• Occupational therapists
• Vocational specialists
• Support, time and recovery workers
• Arts therapists
• Counsellors
• Approved Mental Health Professionals

GPs

A GP will often be the first point of contact with mental health services. He or she can make a referral to the appropriate specialist services, and will know what, and how services are provided in a local area.

Back to top

Psychiatrists

Psychiatrists are qualified medical doctors who have decided to specialise in psychiatry and have gone on to complete specialist training. To practice psychiatry, people have to pass an exam to qualify for membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Psychiatrists also have to be licensed and registered by the General Medical Council, the organisation that checks doctors are up to date and fit to practise.

Psychiatrists work in hospitals, specialist outpatient clinics and in community-based teams supporting people with mental health problems.

Because psychiatrists are qualified doctors they can prescribe medication.

Consultant psychiatrists may supervise and monitor the work of junior psychiatrists who are still training.

Back to top

Clinical psychologists

People sometimes get confused between a psychiatrist and a psychologist. A psychiatrist is a qualified medical doctor, while a psychologist is not (and cannot therefore prescribe medication).

Psychologists study the mind and behaviour of people, and clinical psychologists offer psychological therapies – like cognitive behaviour therapy or family therapy – to reduce people’s distress. After a first degree, psychologists have to train for a doctorate in clinical psychology (DClinPsych) before they can become registered as a chartered clinical psychologist.

Since 1 July 2009, clinical psychologists and some other sorts of psychologists need to be registered with the Health Professions Council, a UK wide regulator that sets standards of professional training and conduct.

Psychologists are based in hospitals, outpatient clinics and work in community-based teams offering support to people with mental health problems.

Some psychologists specialise in working with children and young people, helping to treat mental health problems or come to terms with traumatic events. Educational psychologists also work with children and young people, and sometimes with adults too, helping those who have having difficulties learning because of psychological or emotional problems.

Back to top

Mental health nurses

Mental health nurses are registered nurses who have had specialist training in mental health. (All nurses have to be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, an organisation that sets standards of education, training and conduct.) They are based in specialist wards, day hospitals and outpatient departments. When they work as part of a team offering support to people with psychosis in the community, they are call community psychiatric nurses or community mental health nurses. You may see or hear these specialist nurses referred to as CPNs or CMHNs.

Some mental health nurses have had special training that means they can prescribe medication.

Back to top

Mental health social workers

Mental health social workers support people with mental health problems and their families. They are usually employed by local authority social services departments, but may work within a community mental health team. Most mental health services are run by NHS Mental Health Trusts but are usually ‘integrated’ services. This means they include social workers employed by the local authority.

Mental health social workers can help with practical issues such as benefits, housing and respite care. Mental health social workers also assess the needs of family members who are supporting someone with psychosis, and plan individual packages that can best help them.

Social workers study for a degree in social work (or a qualification that preceded the introduction of this professional training) and then Post Qualifying Awards in mental health. All social workers have to be registered with the General Social Care Council, the organisation that regulates training and professional conduct in England, or the Care Council for Wales.

Back to top

Pharmacists

Pharmacists are experts in medicines and work alongside specialist mental health professionals in psychiatric hospitals and outpatients clinics. When pharmacists have completed their training, they have to register with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, which is also responsible for regulating the profession.

Back to top

Occupational therapists

Occupational therapists offer support to people with mental health problems to get on with their daily lives, helping them live independently and safely. They help people feel more self confident and can support employment, social and leisure activities. Occupational therapists have an important role in the process of recovery, helping people to learn skills that mean they can look after themselves. They work in community-based teams and in hospitals.

Most occupational therapy training programmes are university-based degrees. Occupational therapists have to be registered with the Health Professions Council in order to practice in the UK.

Recovering Ordinary Lives is a 10 year-strategy for developing occupational therapy mental health services, published in 2007 by the College of Occupational Therapists.

Back to top

Vocational specialists

Vocational specialists or vocational practitioners are sometimes based within community mental health teams. Their role is to work with people to help them either keep their jobs, or get back to work. They are often also based in Early Intervention teams when people are experiencing symptoms that may herald an episode of psychosis, and may be worried about losing their job. Vocational specialists can negotiate with employers on behalf of an individual – about initially working reduced hours, for example. Employers are required by law to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ if they know about a diagnosis of a mental health problem.

Staff who help people find jobs are also sometimes called employment specialists, employment consultants or job coaches (see Employment page).

Back to top

Support, time and recovery workers

Some community-based mental health teams include a support, time and recovery worker (STR worker). A STR worker promotes people’s recovery by doing what their title suggests – offering support and time to people who have mental health problems. They offer practical support to help people get on with the lives they want to lead. A STR worker may be someone who has experience of mental health problems themselves. STRs are trained through a nationally agreed induction programme and then work towards an NVQ Level 2 or 3.

Back to top

Arts therapists

Arts therapists are trained psychotherapists who use a creative medium – such as art, music, drama or dance – instead of words to help people express their feelings and emotions. Arts therapists are based in psychiatric hospitals and also run community-based groups for people with psychosis. Arts therapists in the UK are specially trained in psychotherapy and the use of their chosen ‘art’ during a Masters degree, and are registered and regulated by the Health Professions Council.

Back to top

Counsellors

Counsellors are trained to help people to cope better both with their life and their mental health problem. Counselling can be carried out informally by GPs, or any mental health professional – psychiatrists or community psychiatric nurses, for example.

There are no legal minimum qualifications needed to practise as a counsellor in the UK, but many counsellors are members of a relevant professional association, such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, which offers accreditation to training and counsellors who meet their professional standards.

Back to top

Approved Mental Health Professionals

An Approved Mental Health Professional is a social worker, mental health nurse, occupational therapist or psychologist who has received special training and is approved by a local authority social services department to carry out duties under the Mental Health Act. These duties involve assessing, in collaboration with other mental health professionals, whether someone should be compulsorily treated under the Act. People are approved for a period of five years. Most Approved Mental Health Professionals are social workers.

The training for Approved Mental Health Professionals is accredited by the General Social Care Council (or the Care Council for Wales).