FAQs
A list of our most frequently asked questions.
Membership
1. Is an Institutional membership transferable to new members of staff?
No, all new members must apply individually. This is because the application process has been developed as part of our quality assurance mechanisms.
2. I see students 1:1 as part of my work but I don't meet the criteria to apply as an Accredited Practitioner.
We are not currently able to audit and quality assure any members who do not meet this criteria. Please apply as an Associate Member. You may still want to follow our CPD and Supervision guidelines which are designed to support members of staff in student-facing roles.
If you have any questions about eligibility, please contact [email protected]
3. My role has changed. What do I need to do?
Please check the eligibility criteria for membership to ensure that your new role fulfills our requirements. If your role has changed significantly you will be asked to complete a new application form. You will also be asked to complete an application form if we do not have one on file for you.
If you have any questions about eligibility, please contact [email protected]
4. Can my membership be suspended?
Please inform us if you are planning on going on maternity/paternity or other carer's leave, or are experiencing long term ill health. We can then discuss suspending your membership with you, for example, the period of time likely to be needed.
We aim to be flexible to suit your needs, and will try to help lessen the impacts of ill health or long term leave on your working practice. To avoid any undue anxiety for you, please contact us as soon as possible.
5. What are the effects of suspending my membership?
- Your web account will be unavailable, meaning your access to members-only materials.
- You will be removed from any forums and will not be able to attend networking events unless prearranged with the Charity Manager.
- You will be removed from the Public Register, meaning you will not be eligible to undertake DSA paid mentoring work.
- You will not be liable for audit during the period your membership is suspended.
Please see our policy on membership suspension.
Mentoring
1. I want to become a Specialist Mental Health Mentor but don't have the right qualifications.
Please see our webpage for the full list of required qualifications. The mandatory qualifications for mentoring were set by the Department of Education after consultation within the sector. We can not provide further advice about how to obtain the qualifications listed. The UMHAN accreditation route is now closed and so we can only accept members with the listed qualifications.
Supervision
1. If I were to change my supervisor how might this impact my renewal for membership?
If you are in a position where you must change supervisor, please ensure your CPD and supervision logs are signed off by the person supervising you at the time in question in order to have a clear record of your adherence to UMHAN's requirements. Please update your Supervisor details on your web account.
2. Does the supervisor have to be a specifically trained supervisor, who can supervise therapists, or can it be anyone who is a member of an approved professional body?
Supervisors must be members of an approved professional body and we recommend that they have supervisory experience or training. Please see our webpage about supervisors for more detail.
3. I don't work in the summer - do I still need to have supervision?
Accredited Practitioner members (Mentors and Mental Health Advisers) are expected to have a minimum of an hour's supervision each working month i.e. you will need to have 9 hours in total if you do not work in the summer. Please see our most up to date guidance which gives more detail about this.
Audit
1. I only work term-time. What do I need to do if I am randomly selected for audit?
If you only work term-time and are randomly selected for audit, please ask your clinical supervisor or employer to send us a short email explaining that you only work during term-time and do not see any students over the summer.
2. I was not working for part of the year - am I still liable for audit?
Please see the question above about informing us if you are not working and need to suspend your membership. If you have not told us this information in advance, we may request some further evidence.