One applicant was concerned that they did not have a core mental health profession. Originally they had been a secondary school English teacher, and then later completed a 4 year psychodynamic psychotherapeutic counselling training. Following this, they gained BACP accreditation. They had then worked full-time as a school counsellor for 8 years. In the last 4 of those they also volunteered as a 'responsible adult' for minors or vulnerable adults who were taken to the local police custody suite for Mental Health Act assessment.
This applicant had a first class honours degree in English, and had completed a good quality counselling training. They also had considerable clinical experience with children and adolescents. They therefore stood up well against the second and third criteria. The concern was that they did not have a core mental health profession. As a result they may not therefore have sufficient knowledge and experience in relation to adult mental health problems of a degree commonly seen in secondary care NHS settings. However, their role as ‘responsible adult’ may have provided sufficient exposure and experience in relation to working with people with mental health difficulties, including adults. They were therefore offered an interview.
At interview, they described how their ‘responsible adult’ training had been delivered by the local NHS mental health Trust . This was deemed to be quite extensive. The applicant presented well at interview in all areas and the interviewers offered them a place on the Practitioner Training.
