Does anyone work in youth mental health in the UK?

Hello friends!

I know this is probably a bit of a niche, but I figure I might aswell ask here to see if I can get any answers!

So, at the moment, I'm a learning support assistant in the UK (The same job as a teaching assistant, but some different roles).

I LOVE working with children. I love seeing them develop as little people, and I like being instrumental in their part in growing up!

However, this sort of work isn't looking good in the future. Funding is being cut left right and center in the UK for support workers in schools, so I'm concerned that one day I'll just be out of that line of work. So, I'd like to continue working with children, but in a different environment!

At work a few weeks ago, the teacher I work with said I should seriously consider looking into youth counselling and therapy. She knows I've struggled with anxiety/depression and the fact I have tourettes, so I can totally empathize with the children. I think I'm quite a good role model, being a young man, and I'd love to be able to help influence young lives in a positive manner.

But...I'm not entirely sure how to go about doing it? Do I take a course? Do I need to do mental health nurse training?

I'm worried that I can't afford to go back to uni either. I've already had 5 years uni funding, and I couldn't get another year on there.

Does anyone else have experience in this field? I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

I can't help you with your questions but I'm a male working with childen my self and it is awesome! *fistbump* Good luck going forward!

I work in mental health in the UK, but not with children. As a starting point, I'd look into counselling or psychotherapy diploma courses to see if there are any around your area specialising in child and adolescent groups. I'm not sure about the rest of the UK, but in Scotland you can get part-time funding for such a thing through SAAS (provided you haven't taken that already). I could look more into courses, if you're feeling lost or if no one else in here has any more info to share off the top of their heads, but it may be the case that you need a general counselling or psychotherapy diploma first and then a specialisation. I don't think you'd need mental health nurse training for what you're thinking of. Have a look at the BABCP and BACP websites, as well as the HCPC one (and maybe have a look into CAMHS, as well, if you're interested in eventually working in the NHS).

In any case, your starting point, I think, would most likely be the certificate in counselling skills. Pretty much any training course for any kind of counselling or therapy requires that, and I think it's a very useful and valuable course, both in terms of teaching you some basic skills and in developing your self-awareness and reflective skills which are central to any listening profession of the sort.

That's in terms of training. Have you considered or looked into doing any mental health support work with children? You should be able to get into that now, especially if you already have experience working with children.

It's crazy that this has just been posted. Me and my girlfriend were talking about the same thing this weekend.

I'm in a decent job at the moment (project manager in telecoms), but I cannot stand it. I decided this weekend that I want to get into something working with disadvantaged kids.

I'd just like to say that any advice on this thread will also be appreciated by myself.

@sombre: I work in mental health here in the UK, in adult care but i work with people who do youth care. Although I will say that funding is being cut across the whole health sector so whatever job you get will always be likely to disappear.

To answer your questions about qualifications, it depends what role you want and where you are based. Different areas have different rules and offer different training opportunities. The best way to find out what you need is to look up job listings and see if there is a qualification they all ask for, look up that qualification and see if you already have it in experience with your previous role. If so, you can sometimes apply and take the training while working.

Working with children is harder to get a job in for obvious security reasons but very few people apply so opportunities are out there. Although they differ hugely depending on area and specific role (who is funding it). NHS/some charity positions usually require more qualifications and are offered based on the NHS Trust itself. Other charity and local positions are funded by the local council so they require different qualifications but higher security checks (although working with youths/infants is the highest DBS check regardless). Each will offer different training opportunities as well.

It is probably also worth volunteering at the same time as some positions will pay you a small amount for your time and you get a lot of good experience working with people who don't have access to more formal care.

Good luck though, more power to you for doing good work!