Supportive Counsellor

**Supportive Counsellor Job Description**
- Working from a holistic, culturally and religiously responsive approach, Nisa Homes provides residents with a safe transitional shelter for healing. Our staff _provide assistance_ through casework, referrals, and counselling with the goal of helping residents attain long-term independence and self-sufficiency._

**Job title**

Supportive Counsellor

**Reports to**

Mental Health Lead

**Location**

Hamilton Nisa Homes

**Job Status**

Part-time 3 Months Independent Contractor (10-15 hours/week)

Under the supervision of the Mental Health Lead, the Supportive Counsellor is responsible for providing mentorship, emotional support, problem-solving, goal setting, crisis risk assessment, and referrals to other community support. Supportive Counsellors promote empowerment and self-determination through non-judgmental listening and client-centred goal setting. The Supportive Counsellor will use the peer counselling model to assist residents in identifying and achieving life goals as part of their experience at Nisa Homes.

**KEY RESPONSIBILITIES**

**CLIENT SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT**
- Conduct one on one peer to peer supportive counselling sessions with residents on a weekly basis to set and achieve goals, address challenges, and refer where necessary to external resources.
- Develop and implement a regular mental health and wellness support groups on topics such as self-esteem building, empowerment, selfcare strategies, addressing depression, anxiety, and stress. for the women in the home.
- Use basic counseling skills to create a safe connection with the client to work on supportive care, goals and referrals to community professionals and resources for ongoing MH needs.
- Work with the resident ant their caseworker to support the housing process and integration into the community.

**TRAINING**
- Provide training to staff and volunteers on trauma-informed practices, mental health resources and other training where needed.
- Responsible for assigning and overseeing counselling volunteers to residents.
- Attend training provided by NF and external training opportunities that are important to counselling skill development.

**CASE MANAGEMENT**
- Participate in intake assessments when needed to assess eligibility, and flag for signs of referrals for increased MH care.
- Coordinate with caseworkers to ensure the best service and case management available to clients.

**REPORTING**
- Summarize/organize information for discussion in event that a unique case has arisen for current residents for decision making.
- Provide weekly updates to House Manager for client progress.
- Report to Mental health lead weekly for briefing sessions, concerns, directions, collective support, case management.
- Maintain counselling notes, incident records and other documentation on CRM data base according to regulations.

**OUTREACH**
- Liaise with other services, agencies, and professionals.
- Maintain current knowledge of issues and resources related to abuse and violence to provide presentations and public awareness activities about services and issues of abuse.
- Facilitate community networking, attend meetings and workshops as needed.

**AD HOC**
- Attend meetings as needed.

**COMPETENCIES**
- Communication Skills & Active Listening
- Positive Attitude
- Building Trust
- Emotional Intelligence
- Conflict Management Skills
- Crisis Intervention Skills
- Counselling Skills
- Assessment Skills

**QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES**
- Must speak and write English proficiently.
- Language Proficiency in a second language would be an asset (Urdu, Arabic, Hindi, Somali, Punjabi, Dari, Pashto, French)
- Relevant degree such as Social Work, Psychology, Counselling, or related field especially with regard to homelessness and vulnerable women and will have a minimum of 2-3 years experience. Other combinations of education, experience and training may be considered.
- Able to adhere to highest standards of ethical care and confidentiality policies.
- Demonstrates a commitment to Professional Practice, adheres to professional code of ethics.
- Demonstrate Wellness Practices: Can identify personal stressors and knows when to ask for help. Can identify and manage signs of burnout.
- Criminal record check and Vulnerable sector check prior to employment.
- Strong understanding of the needs and issues of different social groups, including women experiencing or at risk of homelessness, women fleeing abuse, and newcomers.
- Nisa Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to complying with both the _Ontario Human Rights Code_ and the _AODA_._