What do the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) offer?

This service is available through MHST schools for children and young people aged 5-16, providing low intensity CBT interventions and support to schools to adopt a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. The Mental Health Support Team is available in primary, secondary and special educational needs schools in the Taunton Mendip South Somerset and Sedgemoor areas.  

Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) offer short-term support to children and young people who are experiencing difficulties with things like anxiety, worries and low mood. EMHPS can help children, young people and their parents/carers to learn new skills to make changes and help themselves to feel better. Practitioners also offer support to parents/carers of primary age children up to age 12, through parenting and parent led Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (LICBT), which is suitable for mild to moderate mental health needs and is different to counselling. It requires a degree of motivation and involves children/young people practising skills outside of the sessions. If accepted, interventions are weekly over 6-8 weeks.

The service is accessible via a request for help through the school’s Designated Mental Health Lead. 

Confidentiality

The policy on confidentiality is based on your right for privacy, and your information not being shared with anyone who does not need to know this, in order to establish open, honest and trusting communication. MHST practitioners do promote sharing this with parents/care givers, and select other significant adults involved in your care such as your school's Mental Health Lead (MHL) and maybe your General Practitioner (GP).