Read this guide to find tips on how to become a mental health support worker.
If you want to become a mental health support worker Perth cbd, it is crucial to know what the career entails. Regardless of who you work with, you should know that your focus should be on providing support to that person. You will want to devote your time to helping them cope with their challenges and achieve their goals. To do this effectively, you will work alongside a team. This would include a psychiatrist, social worker or therapist and the local community health team.
Your job as a mental health worker varies depending on the nature of the challenges faced by your clients. You could be arranging support groups for people with specific mental problems, providing general emotional support or administering medication.
You will be catering to your clients’ needs. This could be helping them with daily chores to help people live independently or helping them access the necessary resources to meet their goals. You will work with health professionals and mental health service users. You will use various value-based practices to deliver care that supports mental well-being to reduce the impact of the challenges the individual is facing.
Personality traits that employers look for
Aside from having the right knowledge of mental health and healthcare practices, you should have certain personality traits to become a mental health worker. Employers want to find people with the right attitude and approach to mental health issues. It is therefore important to align with these values.
A mental health support worker should provide reassurance and comfort to people in distress. They should have the enthusiasm and sensitivity to provide a stimulating, trusting and varied lifestyle for clients. They also need to pay attention to and get in tune with the needs and behaviours of patients. Mental health workers should help mental health service users without bias or overshadowing them.
If you want to become a mental health worker, you should cope with the physical demands of your role, be comfortable working with people with unusual behaviour, remain calm in stressful environments and situations, and focus on safety and dignity at all times.
The kind of role you should expect to have
You will provide help and basic care to users with a range of mental health illnesses and issues. This means that depending on their severity and symptoms, mental health support workers can work in a wide range of settings. These include psychiatric units, supported accommodations or working in the home of the client.
Different areas of mental health
It is essential to understand that mental health is a diverse area. People experiencing challenges with mental health could be dealing with short-term or mild issues while others could be dealing with more severe mental health disorders. This means you can help individuals facing challenges such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis, personality disorders, eating disorders, and people in need of acute mental health care services.
Where can you work?
As a mental health support worker Perth cbd, you can be positioned in psychiatric hospitals, residential facilities, and in the community.
