Senior Psychosocial Counsellor

Summary: To provide direct clinical services to survivors of torture and trauma arising from war or armed conflict to enable them to rebuild their lives and their communities. To provide supervision to CVT staff located in CVT’s office in Amman and in partner organization facilities as required.

Internally

The senior psychosocial counsellor will provide supervision and support to the interdisciplinary team on MHPSS (mental health psychosocial support) interventions including workshops and children’s groups. They will provide supervision, mentoring and coaching to psychosocial counsellor on screenings, assessments, individual and group sessions with adults and/or children who are eligible for services at CVT.

Senior psychosocial counsellors are also expected to manage their own caseload of clients, especially clients who are classified as ‘high risk’ individuals. This includes providing individual sessions ad facilitating groups. This position will include participating in significant training and capacity building activities so as to develop unique trauma-focused treatment skills required to address the needs of clinicians supporting survivors of trauma and its bio psychosocial impact. The senior psychosocial counsellor will also be expected to invest time and energy into learning and developing reflective supervision skills. They will also be responsible for demonstrating improved supervision skills beginning with co-supervision and graduating to independent supervision and demonstrate skills conducting physiotherapy assessment and treatment services at a high-quality.

Externally: This position will provide supervision, mentoring, coaching, education and/or trainings, capacity building and organizational support to clinical staff in partner organizations so that they can deliver high-quality non-specialized project activities.

Organization: CVT is an international nonprofit dedicated to providing trauma healing services to survivors of war and other violations. CVT works toward a future in which these violations cease to exist and victims have hope for a new life. We are headquartered in Minnesota, USA with offices in Africa and the Middle East. We work locally, nationally and internationally through programs that provide trauma rehabilitation, conduct technical assistance and capacity building to human rights activists, civil society organizations, and local service providers around the world who can prevent and treat gross human rights abuses, and advocate for human rights and an end to gross human rights violations.

Job Responsibilities:

40% Clinical Supervision, Mentoring and Leadership:

• Participate in hiring processes of new psychosocial counselors
• Assist in training, mentoring and orienting new staff
• Co-develop and organize orientation schedule and materials
• Co-facilitate counseling groups with new staff
• Regularly organize and attend Senior meetings
• Coordinate and facilitate interdisciplinary team case discussions and collaboration
• Serve on at least one committee, working groups, and or task force. Ensure that the reporting and documentation of these processes is completed and minutes of meetings are filed and disseminated to the clinical team
• Provide supervision on non-specialized services with partner organizations.
• Provide leadership, facilitate and participate in interdisciplinary supervision of relevant services
• Provide feedback to Trainers on their observations of staff during supervision
• Assist Trainers in monitoring quality and consistency of rehabilitation services (this could include reviewing assessments to assure accurate documentation, ensuring appropriate consent processes are in place,etc.)
• Provide oversight and support to other psychosocial counsellor s on managing and supporting high risk cases
• Upholds the highest humanitarian standards, including the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) six key principles related to prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation. Upholds the highest humanitarian standards, including the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) six key principles related to prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation.
• Coordination between psychosocial Counsellor s and operations: Ensure all stationery and documentation requests are provided to operations prior to cycle. Ensure all stationery is kept neat and tidy in their designated areas during the duration of the cycle. Ensure all stationery is collected and returned to the operations department upon completion of the cycle.
• Coordination between psychosocial Counsellor s and clients: Ensure clients have all been confirmed in time for the group cycle.
• Coordination of IDT meetings: Facilitate IDT meetings by creating a schedule, and coordinating and communicating with all parties.

Coordination between psychosocial counsellors and Clinic Systems Assistant: Provide Identification numbers to Clinic Assistant when groups are confirmed and provide ongoing suggestions on the group formation, particularly in the case of groups with multiple drop outs. Ensure client status is regularly updated on the system.

• Assist with clinical program development

10% Training:

Internal

• Work through Training Development Pathway to ensure continued improvement and capacity building on key supervision skills.
• Based on the training development pathways, assist Trainers in internal trainings . This could include developing materials, facilitating small groups, or presenting on certain topics
• Contribute to completing documentation and reporting of internal trainings

Capacity Building of external partners:

• Needs assessment of partner training needs for non-specialized interventions
• Provision of orientation, training and mentoring
• Provide evaluations and feedback for partner staff in conjunction with partnership leadership
• Alongside other clinical team members assisting in the planning, material development, and delivery of external capacity building activities with strategic local partners, and in so doing provide coaching for less experienced team members.

40% Direct Service

Render psychosocial services to individuals, groups and communities to assist them to recover from the effects of torture and trauma arising from war or armed conflict

Progressive responsibility according to training and experience level in:

• Provide comprehensive counselling support to clients by conducting mental health assessment and providing individual/group treatment, case management and referral and follow up assessments.
• Have greater involvement (higher percentage of case load than PSCs) in the management and clinical treatment of high-risk cases.
• Providing simultaneous interpretation between clients and other CVT staff members when needed.
• Complete comprehensive documentation for all client work
• Ensuring that all required documentation is competed in a timely and professional manner.
• Ensuring that all work with clients is confidential and that ethical practices are observed at all times.
• Assist in planning and logistics to implement services in targeted areas.

5% Promote Self Care, staff support and healthy organizational dynamics:

• Contribute to healthy team dynamics, role model conflict resolution skills, following staff code of conduct and solution focused discussions with colleagues.
• Actively participate in supervision and training with Social Services & outreach Manager, Social Services & Outreach Manager, SSOM.
• Actively participate in trainings provided by CVT and other agencies as directed and demonstrate application of new knowledge and skills
• Develop and implement self-care, staff care and team building workshops for both the CVT team and partner organizations
• Request support from SSOM and peers as needed.
• Set and follow through on a personal self-care schedule.
• Discuss challenges related to self-care or vicarious trauma within the team and partner organization regularly with supervisors to allow for ongoing support and management of self-care and potential vicarious trauma.
• Recognize and seek support when needed from internal and/or external resources to address personal concerns of any workplace stress, signs of burnout and/or vicarious traumatization in an expedient manner.
  • Provide direct and independent supervision of screenings

5% Administrative and other responsibilities as required

Additional job responsibilities that Senior may grow into dependent on skill and experience level, progression along the co-supervision pathways and as determined by direct supervisor. Assignment may be informed by incumbent interests and is based on successful accomplishment of set milestones or objectives in work plan as well as aligning with program needs:

• Provide oversight to screenings and coordination of the screening schedule
• Provide direct supervision of intakes assessments
• Provide direct supervision of individual and group counseling
• Provide direct supervision of external trainings
• Conduct informed consent processes for client interviews or special data usage
• Contribute to intervention, documentation and manual development
• Write and review case studies
• Peer support supervision
• Support on external relations, social media events, focus group discussions with donors
• Support University activities (curriculum development, internships, guest lectures etc.

Minimum Criteria

• Minimum BA degree in Psychology ability to register as a licensed professional with MoH
• Minimum 5 years working in MHPSS and rehabilitation settings
• Extensive experience working with populations who have experienced psychological trauma including war, violence, armed conflict and/or torture
• Understanding of and experience implementing culturally appropriate interventions,
• Understanding of and experience developing training programs and providing trainings for health professionals using interactive methodologies.
• Experience working with, training and supporting diverse implementing partner organizations.
• Experience and as least basic competencies in managing and providing clinical supervision
• Must consistently promote and represent a humanitarian and human rights understanding of their work internally and externally, including promoting acceptance of differences and non-discrimination
• Commitment to and role modeling of human rights approach including: maintaining respect regarding any sensitive issues such as religion, minority or political affiliation and treating colleagues equally regardless of differences. Strong commitment to serve beneficiaries of CVT’s project regardless their religion, gender, minority affiliation or political background.
• Must demonstrate leadership and organizational skills
• Must be an effective communicator
• Prioritizes quality client care
• Demonstrates excellent knowledge of interdisciplinary approaches to trauma rehabilitation and a commitment to to the organization’s interdisciplinary approach in trauma rehabilitation service delivery.
• Ability to maintain and promote strict confidentiality.

For internal CVT candidates:

• Must demonstrate proficiency in core competencies, and high standards in performance areas, demonstrated through technical/performance reviews and observation.
• Must make consistent progress towards current work plan.
• No disciplinary actions over the past 12 months.

Desirable:

• Demonstrable effective oral and written communication skills in Arabic English an asset
• Demonstrable effective interpersonal skills, including assertive communication style, ability to work on a team, ability to accept and integrate constructive feedback, ability to maintain positive relationships with CVT colleagues, and willingness to support and mentor new CVT staff members.
• Demonstrable timely and accurate completion of assigned intake and follow up assessments and data reporting
• Demonstrable active engagement in internal trainings, meetings, and staff activities.
• Demonstrated capacity for effective time management and work load organization.
• Demonstrable analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proven flexibility and adaptability to work in challenging areas, changing, procedures and/or policies, client needs, program needs, and required tasks
• Computer literacy in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook).

Must demonstrate and model best practices in self-care

Work Environment:

Office environment with off-site meetings

• Remote working from home when necessary due to public health conditions or other reasons
• Time spent on the computer/tablet is approximately 20%
• Regular work week is Sunday through Thursday

Travel: Regular travel to locations one hour away, as well as travel within Amman

Physical Demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk, see and hear. The employee frequently is required to sit and stand for up to 2 hours; walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms. This position requires the ability to occasionally lift supplies, of 30 pounds. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions