Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are a new resource, funded by and accountable to the National Health Service (NHS). They will work with, and in, schools and colleges to support you with mental health and wellbeing and to treat mild to moderate mental health issues.
How the MHST supports you and your education setting?
Across County Durham we have 3 teams: North, East and South (including west). We will be working with approx.. 26 education settings in each area. To find out if your education setting has access to the Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) contact them and ask to speak to the mental health lead.
The MHST has 3 functions:
Interventions
- Individual face-to-face work, for example, effective, brief, low-intensity interventions for children, young people and families experiencing anxiety, low mood, friendship or behavioural difficulties, based on up to date evidence.
- Group work for pupils or parents such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for young people for conditions such as self-harm, and anxiety.
- Group parenting classes to include issues around behaviours that challenge and communication difficulties. Offering evidence based interventions
Whole School/ college approach
- Supporting the senior mental health lead in each school or college to introduce or develop their whole school or college approach:
- Work with the senior mental health lead and existing service providers, to map what provision is already in place in settings and where the gaps are.
- Provide targeted help as agreed with the lead, eg to support monitoring of well-being across the schools and colleges, teaching about mental health (in the context of health education becoming compulsory from September 2020), understanding how peer support and interpersonal relationships impact on children and young people well-being and mental health, train others to help children and young people, parents/carers and teachers to identify and manage stress and anxiety.
Consultation/ advice conversations
- Where there is an emotional wellbeing or mental health concern the MHST staff to will support school/ college staff to keep the young person in education or signpost to appropriate services
To find out more contact the team on this email: tewv.mhstcountydurham@nhs.net