Wellbeing Mental Health Mentor (Part time)

Heriot Watt University

Purpose of Role

Heriot-Watt University, in common with all other Higher Education Institutions, has seen a significant rise in both the extent and severity of mental health difficulties in the student community. The main purpose of student wellbeing is to provide advice, information and support to undergraduate and postgraduate students throughout the student lifecycle from enrolment to graduation.

The role involves assessing the needs of students referred to the service who present with emotional difficulties to ensure that appropriate interventions are delivered for students. Additionally, provide support for students with enduring mental health difficulties and with students of determination, working closely with other University services including the Determination Advisor and the Wellbeing Counsellors.

The successful candidate will carry a caseload of students who need ongoing support. Interventions will focus on providing on-going mentoring, developing ongoing support plans to support academic success (including the development of organizational skills, personal motivation and time management); providing therapeutic support; making referrals to external agencies; and liaising with external professionals to ensure appropriate care and support.

There are no line management responsibilities for this role currently.

Summary of Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• To undertake assessments of the individual support requirements of students with enduring mental health problems or disability, and to co-ordinate support in conjunction with the University support services and external practices.
• To accept referrals from colleagues and provide individual support to students, to enable them to manage their mental health and to help them realise their potential during their time at the University.
• To work with individual students on the development of bespoke strategies to support independent study, self-management, time management and personal motivation.
• To provide professional support for an agreed priority caseload of students experiencing significant mental health difficulties and to deliver specialist individual sessions to assess and manage changing levels of risk.
• To work closely with colleagues to ensure a holistic approach for students who have disclosed a mental health disability, raising awareness of the support available to them to enable full engagement with all aspects of university life.
• To provide group support for students with mental health difficulties as agreed with the Wellbeing Manager, and in close liaison with the Determination Advisor.
• To maintain confidential client records to a professional standard and to liaise with other professionals to help manage risks faced by individual students.
• To communicate effectively across a wide range of audiences including academic colleagues and student bodies.
• To lead the development and implementation of university activities and campaigns to proactively promote mental health and disability inclusion through education and prevention-focused strategies.
• To identify students who are returning from Temporary Suspension of Study owing to a mental health crisis and provide support for their transition back into study.
• To provide crisis response and occasional out of hours support, liaising with relevant staff and external agencies.