Tanika Elliott, High Intensity cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) Therapist, Northpoint WellbeingÂ
Tanika is a CBT Therapist working with adults with moderate-severe mental health issues who have been referred to Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service (Leeds IAPT).
She also provides guest lectures at Leeds Beckett University about progressing in the field of mental health as a person of colour.
Prior to this role, Tanika trained as a Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner and has spent the last five years working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and a Mental Health Support Team (MHST) providing Low intensity CBT interventions.
Our 60-second interview with Tanika:
Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health?
I currently provide High Intensity CBT to adults struggling with Anxiety, Depression or PTSD. This is a new role for me as up until May 2023 I was working as a Clinician/Supervisor in the Calderdale MHST. My three main responsibilities in that role were to provide Low Intensity CBT interventions to children and young people experiencing mild-moderate mental health issues; deliver workshops to schools to support them with developing their whole school approach to mental health and provide Clinical and Caseload supervision to other Low Intensity Practitioners.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
I am passionate about supporting people who are struggling with their mental health. So, I love that I can offer an evidence-based intervention to help children, young people and adults overcome their issues. It is really rewarding when clients are able to achieve their goals and report a significant improvement in their quality of life and happiness.
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
I think the most challenging aspect of this work presents itself when the issues a person is having require a multi-service approach alongside or instead of CBT. Services can differ depending on the locality and funding. Therefore, much needed services in the community may close down, or have very long waiting lists, made worse due to the impact of the Covid Pandemic. This can mean that it can be difficult at times to provide the right support for some people.
What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?
I hope on a 1:1 basis my clients are able to learn skills from CBT that they can continue to use throughout their lives. On a wider scale, I hope that through my lectures and working as a therapist who is a person of colour, I can encourage other people of colour to become professionals in the field of mental health. Representation matters!
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
I always make sure that I have some protected time in my week, even if just 30 minutes but preferably a couple of hours, that I can dedicate to doing the things I enjoy or look forward to as part of my self-care.