Mental health social work

We all experience mental health. Like our physical health it changes constantly and is affected by what is happening around us. Around 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their life, and for some they will need urgent support. 

Social workers focus on social factors, like housing, employment, and relationships with family and friends that have a strong impact on mental health. A difficult social situation can be part of the root causes of mental illness, and improving the social factors in someone's life can have a transformative effect.

Great social workers are great leaders. Every day, mental health social workers need leadership skills to understand and inspire people, to make tough judgement calls about people's rights, and to assert their views with other professionals.

What mental health social workers do

Social workers can work in a variety of mental health settings. The Think Ahead programme qualifies you for any social worker role providing your application on to the register with Social Work England have applied for registration with Social Work England and have been acc, including work in specialist mental health settings like forensic services and child and adolescent mental health services, but the main focus is on experience in adult community mental health services. Teams within these services are multi-disciplinary, and can include social workers, nurses, support workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

As a social worker in community mental health services you will:

• build relationships with people
• provide guidance and therapeutic interventions
• arrange support and care
• ensure people's safety
• stand up for people's rights
• improve community services

Great social workers are great leaders. Every day, mental health social workers need leadership skills to understand and inspire people, to make tough judgement calls about people's rights, and to assert their views with other professionals.

This means that as a social worker you will test and develop a wide range of leadership skills. Social workers typically follow the following career routes.

Become a leading frontline practitioner

If you want to focus on frontline work, you can specialise in a particular area - for example working with younger or older people, or in the criminal justice system.

You can also train and qualify to take on roles with greater statutory powers and responsibilities. You can become:

• An Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) with powers under the Mental Health Act, including the final say in whether an individual can be temporarily detained in hospital for treatment.

As you become a recognised expert, you can increasingly get involved in promoting best practice and designing and implementing policies across services and organisations.

Move into service leadership

If you want to create change in mental health services by taking on management roles, you can pursue a career in management.

You could progress through positions managing teams, groups of teams, whole services, and entire organisations, taking on increasing responsibility for service delivery and strategy.