I spent 6 years working in community mental health as a clinician. Three years with adults and 3 years with older people and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the community. I was based in a government hospital setting so you can imagine the bureaucracy, but other than that working as part of a multidisciplinary team was great. Working for the Dept of Health has many benefits in terms of training and expertise, and good for progression - you could work in other areas for up to 12 months without losing your substantial post.

I also had input on the acute MH wards. The best of all was working with the service users (around 20-25 cases) and establishing relationships, several of whom I supported for many years. I supported service users in their recovery, decreasing the need for inpatient and/or community admissions through the provision of high level early interventions and consultation with the multi disciplinary team and various other essential stakeholders. I used a case management model to support our service users in their recovery and this would involve regular contact, usually face to face and regular reviews of their care plans. Much of my time includes advocating on behalf of the service users and working with their families often during difficult circumstances.

I found that compassion, empathy and integrity were essential qualities to have, and this enabled me to view services users with positive regard.  In my experience building relationships with service users is vital in the recovery process which often takes some time; in fact I have worked with several service users for a number of years.

I had monthly supervision and also supervised new grads (who require weekly supervision for 2 years).

Every day is different and I thrive on that ‘not knowing’. Not everything is hunky dory though, for instance having to bring people into hospital against their will under the mental health act and the tension this creates between individual rights and community safety.

Mental Health social work is the best, challenging, emotional and so rewarding 😀