Accredited Practitioner Membership
Open to Mental Health Practitioners currently working in Higher Education. All Specialist MH Mentors must apply at this level.
This is an audited membership type, subject to UMHAN's supervision and CPD requirements. It is suitable for Mental Health Advisers, Specialist Mental Health Mentors and some other staff working directly with students with mental health conditions in Higher Education. It is also open to managers who still undertake casework with students with mental health conditions. Please see our page on language and terminology to understand what we mean by students with "mental health conditions".
Accredited Practitioners are listed on our Public Register and are eligible to provide Specialist Mental Health Mentoring, funded by Disabled Students' Allowances.
- This membership type is not designed for more therapeutic roles, or those involved mainly with the wellbeing of the general student population. Please see our Associate Membership for these roles.
If you are eligible to apply at Accredited Practitioner level we will not accept your application at Associate level. This is to ensure ongoing high quality support provision for students and also that you are able to access the benefits and support appropriate to your role.
Criteria and Requirements
Essential
- Assess and respond to the support needs of university students with mental health conditions to facilitate the management of their mental health and academic studies
- Provide practical individual and/or group support to students with mental health difficulties to help them to manage their mental health and academic studies
- Refer and signpost to university-based and external support services and liaise with specialist services where required
- Assess risk and understand paths for appropriate escalation
- Promote equality, inclusion and the rights of those with mental health conditions studying in Higher Education
- Hold a professional qualification (such as social work, nursing, occupational therapy etc) or postgraduate qualification related to mental health. See below for requirements to register as a mentor member.
Desirable
- Deliver staff training and/or consultation on issues relating to support for students with mental health difficulties
- Promote student mental health through campaigns and initiatives
- Research and implement strategies and systems, including reasonable adjustments, to facilitate the inclusion of students with mental health difficulties into the University
- Planning and implementation of risk management processes.
All new members need to agree to abide by our Membership Framework, which has been developed specifically for Mental Health Practitioners working in education. Please read this thoroughly before making your application.
Benefits
As an Accredited Practitioner member you will be able to access:
- Tailored Specialist Mental Health Mentor or Mental Health Adviser member meetings
- Our community forum
- Monthly Lunch & Learn sessions
- Recordings of past meetings
- And more...!
Please see our membership benefits page for detail.
New Specialist Mental Health Mentor memberships
We do not accept mentor membership applications unless you're already a member of one of the professional bodies listed below. If that's the case you can apply for the Accredited Practitioner membership through our application link.
There is no current accreditation route to become a Specialist Mental Health Mentor (SMHM) through prior experience only, or through post-graduate study on its own. If you are interested in working as a SMHM we suggest researching what qualifications are needed to become, for example, a registered member of BACP. Please be aware that there are no quick routes to gain the qualifications required.
The qualifications are set by the Department of Education and reflect the demanding and complex nature of the role.
- Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) - Full member.
- The British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) - Accredited membership.
- The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) - Registered Member MBACP or MBCAP (Accred.)
- British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) - Under a member institution - Practitioners become registrants of the BPC through their membership of one of their member institutions. They do not have a category for individual membership.
- British Psychological Society (BPS) - Chartered Member (CPsychol)/Graduate Member (MBPsS) AND a PG qualification in Psychology or Mental Health.
- Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA) – Accredited (Other UK Professional body)
- Counsellor/Psychotherapist Member of COSCA This category of membership requires you to be currently accredited with another recognised UK professional body for counselling and psychotherapy
- Federation of Drug and Alcohol Practitioners (FDAP) - National Counsellor Accreditation Certificate (NCAC)
- General Medical Council (GMC) - Psychiatry – Full member or above.
- Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) - Education and training programmes approved as a route to registration - Arts Therapist/ Occupational Therapist/ Practitioner Psychologist
- Social Work England
- Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) - Accredited member
- National Counselling Society (NCS) - Accredited Registrants (MNCS Accred), Accredited Professional Registrant (MNCS Prof Accred), Senior Accredited Registrant status (MNCS Snr Accred), NCS Fellowship (FNCS).
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) - Mental Health Nurse/ Community Mental Health Nurse / Psychiatric Nurse
- Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)
- Social Care Wales (SCW)
- Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC)
- UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) - Full clinical individual member
- Association of Christian Counsellors (UK) - Accredited Counsellor
Cost
£96 per year.
We offer a discount for larger teams - please see our webpage for more information.
