This is the place for a real insight into what the experience of being a Together Mental Health Practitioner is really like.

Case studies

The case histories at the foot of this page feature true accounts of practitioners' involvement with clients. These should give you genuine insight into the role. 

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A Day in the Life of a practitioner

There's no such thing as a typical day in our service, but the 'Days in the Life' of Dee and Jake (see the downloads below) will give you a feel for what two of our team members did one day.

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Linda and Leanne: practitioner experiences

	Linda I had been working in forensic mental health since graduating in psychology from Cardiff University (now a very long time ago!) and the work had taken me on a journey through regional secure hospital to therapeutic community to assertive outreach and into management. I had been living in Cambridge for some time and finally decided that living in a predominantly white and affluent city and rubbing shoulders (or rather handlebars) with a vast amount of students was no longer my cup of tea. So a move to London allowed me to set up home in Stepney, East London, a fantastically different experience. The majority of the work I took on before joining MACA in 2002 (as it was known then) was as a manager and then as a senior manager focusing on developing services in the voluntary sector, primarily with offenders with mental health problems (although I did spend a short-term working as a counsellor in a fabulous local MIND organisation. This was until I discovered that full-time counselling was really not my bag and that I shouldn’t inflict myself on clients in this way!). Although this work still allowed me to have direct contact with clients, I was starting to think that I needed a chance to further develop my clinical skills and perhaps to look at returning to the scary field of academia in order to both enhance my qualifications and to take my professional development a bit more seriously. I then saw the ad in the Guardian for the job of Forensic Mental Health Practitioner with Together and decided that the role sounded ideal for what I was looking for - I would be able to use my past skills and expertise in forensic mental health and return to developing a more clinical focus to my work. I was also aware that the organisation may be able to support further training and, indeed, just last year, I completed a part-time masters in forensic psychology at Portsmouth University.  It was definitely hard work and during that time I also transferred between the boroughs of Wandsworth and Tower Hamlets in order to gain experience as the practitioner in Thames Magistrates Court. However, I was greatly supported both by Together and colleagues and managed to gain my masters qualification. I am now the full-time Co-ordinator of the FMHP service, so I am living proof that there are any number of opportunities for practitioners to develop their skills within the organisation!

	Leanne Having completed my Psychology training in Australia in 2000 I was unsure which direction I wanted my career to take. At this stage I commenced working as a Psychologist in an Adult Community Psychiatric team in rural Australia where I was to stay for the next five years.  This provided me with the opportunity to further develop my skills of psychological assessment, treatment, and intervention. In 2003 the travel bug bit and I decided to head to England. I am lucky enough to have unlimited work and travel in the United Kingdom but the pressure was still on to gain employment as soon as possible. Unfortunately, gaining my Certificate of Equivalence from the British Psychological Society has been a lengthy and time-consuming process. Without this, I was unable to practice as a Psychologist in the UK so I had to find other employment that would best utilise my skills. I came across Together’s advertisement for Forensic Mental Health Practitioners and, as I was interested in learning more about forensic services and treatment, I felt this was worth applying for. I was fortunate to be granted employment with Together in the Borough of Greenwich. The role of the Forensic Mental Health Practitioner was to provide assessment and treatment to offenders with mental health difficulties who fell below the eligibility criteria for statutory mental health services. Interagency liaison with these services was paramount, as often I needed to assist clients to gain access to these services. I also offered assessment, treatment, and intervention to clients involved with mainstream mental health services who were at risk of offending. Treatments I was able to offer clients included assessment, illness education, anger management and assertiveness training, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for anxiety and depression. Although I was not employed as a Psychologist I was still able to apply my training. I was also able to further develop my interest in evaluating the effectiveness of interventions and treatments by using outcome measures. I participated in the process of designing groups for clients with a Personality Disorder and also an anger management group. After twelve months I decided to leave London and, thus, Together. I have now returned to mainstream services working for a private Psychiatric Hospital providing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to both inpatients and those attending for day treatment. My experience at Together prepared me well for this further career change. The bulk of my work is now facilitating Cognitive Behavioural Therapy groups and evaluating the effectiveness of these groups, which are skills I had developed further whilst working for Together. Overall, during my twelve months working as a Forensic Mental Health Practitioner for Together I was able to further develop my skills and increase my confidence in delivering psychological treatment. It was an invaluable introduction to how mental health services and forensic services operate in the UK and how the Mental Health Act is applied. I found both the team and the organisation as a whole to be extremely supportive, giving me the space and encouragement to work autonomously whilst being a member of an experienced and professional team.

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What people say about Together

Here are some examples of what staff, providers and service-users say about Together and how the organisation has supported them.

About the FMHP service:
'Working for the FMHP service is very challenging. It impels a practitioner to be highly adaptive in a very dynamic post. It also provides and creates opportunities for professional development.' Daisy Rutter, Forensic Mental Health Practitioner, Together

'The work of the probation officer with mentally disordered offenders is
complex and having access to good assessments and quality information is
essential to balance the needs of the individual and the protection of the
public. Together provides an essential professional service which assists
probation officers to negotiate this difficult area.'

'I’ve always found that they know what they’re talking about . . . Together has a market lead in Criminal Justice, in the forensic division; other providers just don’t have the same level of understanding.' Angus Cameron, Mental Health Advisor, London Probation Area

'Examples of good, joined up community health provision for offenders do exist . . MACA [the former name for Together] is a community focused partnership aimed at combining good probation practice and good community health practice "to enable mentally disordered offenders . . . to have access to appropriate social and health services in the community". MACA has been working with the London Probation Area and partner agencies in health and social care to respond to changing priorities . . . which leads to improved health and criminal justice outcomes, but also avoids placing unnecessary pressure on stretched inner city Community Mental Health Teams.' London Resettlement Board, London Resettlement Strategy (phase one of the London Reducing Re-Offending Action Plan: September 2005), p 51. Government Office for London

Service-users’ experiences:
'She [the FMHP worker] was excellent and very helpful at a difficult time.'

'She [the FMHP worker] has helped me a lot through my anger and I now have a better understanding.'

'When I met him [the FMHP worker] I was in a hostel, now I have my own flat.'

About Together:
'Together can make things happen quicker than a local authority or the NHS, because they’re flexible and they don’t have the same hurdles as they do . . . Together can adapt to what you need and when and how you need it and they make things happen – they’re effective, and that’s invaluable for a commissioner.' Phil Gander, former Mental Health Services Commissioner, East Sussex

'Together are very good to deal with, a very professional unit . . . they are very good at partnership working – resourceful, energetic.' Pat Scott, Mental Health Business and Development Manager, Hastings and St.Leonards PCT, Sussex

'Together is an organisation that puts values at the heart of the services it provides, and is resistant to pressure to cut corners and compromise its guiding principle of client-centred care – namely that services should be designed and delivered around the client and his or her needs.' Catherine Jackson, Editor, Mental Health Today

Working for Together:
'I like working for Together because I feel valued as an employee. I have never worked for another organisation where the people are so caring and dedicated.' Gwen, Regional Admin Manager

'Together is a dynamic organisation to work for. There are always creative ideas for improving our services and innovative new developments in the pipeline.' Fariba, Head of Fundraising

'My experience is that the organisation encourages creativity and allows for a degree of flexibility. What I particularly like about Together is that the people I've met who work within the organisation generally seem unpretentious.' Franco, Project Manager