About UMO
UMO is the leading provider of specialist mentoring.
Our services include:
- Specialist mental health mentoring.
- Specialist AS mentoring.
- Wellbeing mentoring (short term mentoring).
- Mentoring for international students.
- Mentoring for students undertaking a BSc/BA, MA/MSc, MRes, MBBS, PhDs or other degrees.
- Consultations to universities and colleges.
- Workshops and trainings to university staff.
- CPD for specialist mentors and Wellbeing Practitioners.
- Individual and group supervision.
- Group facilitation.
UMO is also the leader in providing evidence based research (both quantitative and qualitative) in
Specialist Mentoring.
How can mentoring help me?
Mentoring can help people in many different ways depending on the need of the individual student and
what they would like to work on themselves. Mentoring can also work in association with the needs
assessment. In all instances, the mentor will help the mentee to identify, define and articulate their
individual goals and personal motives.
For some, mentoring can help by:
- Motivating and empowering the student to identify their own issues and targets, and help them to
find ways of resolving or reaching them.
- Supporting and encouraging the student to find ways to manage their own learning and development.
- Creating a space to stop and think and talk about the psychological pressures and stresses they may
be under with a well qualified and experienced person who understands the needs of students at
university.
Mentoring can be all or a mixture of the above, depending what is right for the person. Most importantly,
mentoring enables the student to establish a private and safe relationship with their mentor who understands
the demands of university life and the psychological difficulties and problems that face the individual
student.
UMO's research
UMO has strong evidence to prove that our approach to mentoring enhances the whole student experience.
Students report better engagement with university life and university experience in general:
- over 90% of students assessments grades improve.
- over 90% of students are able to keep up with the demands of their work.
- Over 89% of students feel more sure of themselves.
- Over 75% of students have a more positive view of their future.
- Over 90% of students feel they have more future options.
- Over 89% of students participate more in their learning.
- less than 5% drop out.
90% of students mentored for more than 3 months say that they are more able to keep up with their work, have a more positive attitude towards their time at University and what can be learned, and also feel more motivated and/or productive with work. Research feedback has included:
I don't think I would have been able to continue with my course without the help of my mentor...
(Student at HEI, 2015).
Mentoring has provided strategies to help me stay calm, planning techniques, motivational approaches....
(Student at HEI, 2016).
Mentoring has helped me settle at college, helped me to untangle how to access various resources, made me more confident in asking for things and how to connect with people at college
(Student at HEI, 2016).
I honestly feel that my mentoring help was one of the reasons I managed to successfully complete my MA as I was truly struggling
(MA Student, HEI 2014).
I very much appreciate the service because it has helped me to focus on my studies, strengthened me and guided me to other services for more support things I was not aware of. I was about to give up but my mentor encouragement gave that support I needed to focus and improved studies skills as I have not done any formal education for more than 15 years
(MA Student, HEI, 2013).
· ....I am now confident that I will complete my degree to the best of my ability
(Student at HEI, 2016).
Our Team
UMO provides a unique specialised mentoring service
- All mentors working with DSA students are registered with DSA-QAG QAF, are fully insured and have
enhanced DBS checks.
- All mentors attend compulsory regular supervision and peer group supervision.
- All mentors follow highly considered risk and safeguarding procedures.
- All mentors are highly qualified and experienced in relevant fields.
- All mentoring occurs in a confidential setting.
- Mentoring sessions can be arranged in the evening or at weekends.
- Mentoring occurs in person (Skype can be used if appropriate on occasion).
- All mentors have a highly secure mentoring email address.
UMO mentors are very well qualified and experienced in their field. They all hold post graduate
qualifications and at least five years post qualification experience. Most have 20 or so years
experience. All have extensive experience of the university environment and work to the highest levels
of professional governance where appropriate. For safeguarding purposes, all our mentors are enhanced
CRB checked.
The MD of UMO is the national lead for specialist mental health mentoring for UMHAN.
We adhere to the NMH Charter. UMO
is a member of the
National Association of Disabled Practitioners and
adhere's to its mission statement and aims of promoting "excellence in the quality and consistency of
educational support services provided for disabled students."
UMO endeavours to deliver a highly professional, respectful and thoughtful service for all who
engage.
Practices, Procedures and quality of the service is regularly monitored and reviewed to ensure the
highest level of quality control and professionalism is maintained at all times.
We regularly ask for feedback from all our clients and aim to take on board constructive
feedback. If you would like to find out more, do feel free to contact us
CPD Events
UMO host regular CPD events for specialist mentors and wellbeing staff, hosted at King’s
College,
London.
All presenters have been selected for their ability to apply their knowledge to the field
of specialist
mentoring and/or wellbeing practitioners in HEIs. Although some may have a background in psychological
therapies they understand the context of the work of
specialist mentors and wellbeing staff.
UMO's CPD events are open to:
- Specialist Mentors.
- Wellbeing Practitioners - head of service, mental health advisors, disability advisors etc.
- Needs Assessors.
- Others staff within HEIs who feel they would benefit from attending.
Below are a sample of recent CPD events offered by UMO:
On Autism and Asperger’s
Dr Anne Alvarez
Anne described some of the difficulties in reaching such clients in all settings. She discussed their experience of other people as remote as well as the problem of how to distinguish real despair from an addiction to unhappiness. Anne finally offered some thoughts on the mentoring approach in relation to autism and aspeger’s
Anne Alvarez PhD, M.A.C.P is a Consultant Child and Adolescent psychotherapist.
She is a retired Co-Convener of the Autism Service, Child and Family Dept. Tavistock Clinic, London, where she still teaches.
She is author of Live Company: Psychotherapy with Autistic, Borderline, Deprived and Abused Children and has edited with Susan Reid, Autism and Personality: Findings from the Tavistock Autism Workshop.
A book in her honour, edited by Judith Edwards, entitled Being Alive: Building on the Work of Anne Alvarez was published in 2002.
She was Visiting Professor at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society in November 2005 and her latest book, The Thinking Heart: Three Levels of Psychoanalytic Therapy with Disturbed Children, was published in April 2012 by Routledge.
She was interviewed for Meet the Author at the International Psychoanalytic Congress in Prague in 2013.
She teaches Child Analysts at the San Francisco Centre for Psychoanalysis and at the British Psychoanalytic Society.
Gender and Transgender Issues
Dr Sarah Davison MBE & Dr Jay Stewart
Jay and Sarah described their work with gender non-conforming young people and their families, paying attention to the connections between the individual and socio-political elements and themes and the connections between these. They considered what is useful in providing mentoring support to gender non-conforming individuals and what institutions can usefully attend to. The session included a combination of presentation, discussion and interaction.
Dr Sarah Davidson MBE, has over 25 years extensive clinical experience. For the past ten years, Sarah has been a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, in the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock & Portman Foundation NHS Trust. The GIDS is the only UK wide NHS service for young people experiencing Gender Dysphoria and their families. Additionally she works at the British Red Cross as Head of Psychosocial which is a role with national and international responsibilities.
Dr Jay Stewart is co-founder and Director of Gendered Intelligence - an organisation that works with the trans community and aims to increase understandings of gender diversity. Jay carries out and oversees the main activities that take place across the organisation. Jay is also a mentor. Jay's own PhD was carried out in the department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths College. The thesis is entitled Trans on Telly: Popular Documentary and the Production of Transgender Knowledge and explores understandings of trans identities through mainstream televisual documentaries.
On Mentoring PhD Students
Professor Geoffrey Cantor
Most of the students we see are undergraduates. However, a significant minority are studying for a PhD and they may need very different forms of support from undergraduates. In this talk professor Cantor identified some key differences between the experiences of undergraduates and PhD students. For example, PhDs are in a very close (and often fraught) relationship with a single all-powerful member of staff – the supervisor. He discussed the nature of the PhD and explained not only its form and structure but also why it is often a source of great anxiety and / or depression.
Professor Cantor is a Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at the University of Leeds and an experienced (but not always successful) supervisor. For the last few years he has worked for UMO and mentored not only undergraduates but also several PhDs.
On Suicide
Antonia Murphy
The audience were asked to engage in thinking about suicide so that they could gain greater awareness and understanding of suicide and would be more confident in supporting students; in signposting them to appropriate services; more able to collaborate with colleagues to identify support and treatment pathways; and most importantly face the fears associated with suicide. The focus was on an understanding of the suicidal mind and an elaboration of the suicidal fantasy behind the act. The emphasis was on the aims of working with suicidality so that mentors are more knowledgeable and more confident.
Antonia Murphy MA, UKCP registered psychotherapist with over 25 years of clinical experience in the NHS, the third sector and private practice. Antonia managed the primary care counselling service in Derbyshire from 1998 - 2006. She was a founding director, responsible for professional and training standards, of Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Primary Care (CPC). More recently she has developed her long term clinical interest in working with suicide into a training which has been delivered to over 40 universities and other settings. Antonia is the author of several papers on clinical aspects of psychotherapeutic practice in organisations. She is the former editor of the Journal for the Foundation of Psychotherapy and Counselling and an editorial board member of the Journal of Psychodynamic Practice. She is co author of Psychological Therapies in Primary Care: Setting up a Managed Service (Karnac 2004) and author of Out of This World: Suicide Examined (Karnac 2017).
On Mental health, mental disorders and risk assessment
Dr Beate Haege
Dr Beate Haege gave an overview on psychiatric disorders and their manifestations. Following on from this she provided an approach on how to assess risks and how to manage these.
Dr Beate Haege, MSc, MD, MRCPsych, is a consultant psychiatrist at the South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. She has broad experience in the assessment and management of mental health problems including anxiety, depression, bipolar and personality disorders and psychosis. She trains junior psychiatrists as well as medical students, and has a special interest in psychotherapy and the treatment of patients with personality disorder.
Accreditation
UMO has formed a consortium with Royal Holloway, University of London and UMHAN to provide a Government recognised certification and
accreditation scheme for Specialist Mental Health Mentors who are working with DSA funded students.
Find out more on the DSA MHM website
Cloud Solutions
UMO has created a bespoke electronic timesheet and invoicing software system to simplify administration
so mentors can spend more time with the student on essential work. The system has been designed to focus
on simplicity, security and reliability.
The timesheet and invoicing software system developed by UMO meets SFE requirements.
If you would like to enquire about this software please contact: info@umo.london
Feedback
“I don't think I would be able to continue with my course without the help of my mentor. The
opportunity to discuss and reflect on the problems that my disability causes in relation to my
studies has been invaluable. I may have got more out of learning through reflection about my
capabilities and overcoming my limitations from my mentoring than I have from my course in fact. I
think the mentoring is also going to be very important in enabling me to confidently manage a return
to employment following my course.”
“My mentor is amazing - she asks the right questions, responds in the right way, always encourages
and
supports me, and we work at a personal level”
“The mentor was very honest, and genuinely cared about my
well being.”
“My mentor was very well matched to my background and interests - almost as if each student is
'hand-picked' a mentor.”
Work at UMO
Mentors
UMO recruits highly qualified and experienced mental health practitioners who also have a background of
working with students at university. Applicants, with a CV and covering letter should be made to: jobs@universitymentoring.org.
Internships
If you are suitably experienced and are studying or have studied within the field of psychology and are
interested in widening your skill set with an internship in relation to social media communication,
please email your CV and a covering letter to: jobs@universitymentoring.org.
