Gender Based Violence Counsellor

**Position**: Gender Based Violence Counsellor (formerly Women’s Counsellor)
**Reports to**: Team Lead (Child & Youth Counsellor)
**Collaborates with**: Counselling and Housing Departments
**Salary**: $48,000 - $66,000

**Summary**

The primary function of this position is to:

- provide assessment, counselling and recovery support for women who have experienced, domestic violence, abuse, or trauma in the home by an intimate partner.
- provide criminal injuries counselling for external clients.
- provide DV Court support, advocacy, and special project advancement.

**Responsibilities**

Assessment and Counselling
- Assesses the emotional, physical, and mental needs of women to determine their counselling and psychosocial needs and provides comprehensive trauma counselling services.
- Delivers one-on-one trauma informed/specific, counselling sessions to women virtually, in office and/or in pre-approved safe locations offsite.
- Facilities and maintains client safety plans and risk assessments.
- Ensures barriers to access counselling are reduced including transportation to and from appointments or services.
- Liaises with community supports (ie. Physicians, mental health care practitioners, etc.) on behalf of the client when requested; provides advocacy as needed,
- Implements various goal-oriented, time-limited counselling and psychoeducational strategies, including such modalities as cognitive behavioral therapy, short-term solution focused therapy, and family counseling.
- Facilitate referrals to other services.
- Provides therapeutic crisis intervention services when required.
- Participates in the review of clinical issues, program policies, procedures, and client case management.

Outreach Counselling Services
- Pursues opportunities to provide victims of DV trauma counselling services through AH by being on the CIC list of counsellors, developing relationships with government and community service providers including but not limited to the Halifax Domestic Violence Court.
- Develops and delivers therapeutic, community and social programming to women in breaking the cycle of violence to enable healing, recovery, and skill development. Ensures offered group programing is responsive to the needs of service users and community while grounded in research and best practices.
- Other duties as assigned; including but not limited to Case Management assistance, organization-wide activities and miscellaneous job-related duties.
- As needed, provides counselling support to DV Court victims, advocates for victims amongst court support workers and with the judge and executes court-driven special projects.

Administration
- Participates in operational protocol development and team decision making as directed.
- Tracks and records client interaction, feedback and outreach services in HIFIS and reports to team or Coordinator.
- Compiles and tracks client service access in HIFIS.
- Maintains good review of all case notes, good working relationships with Safe Housing clients and proactive/reactive support to women throughout their housing transition into and out of Alice House programs.
- Works with Operations Director to ensure counselling hour billing to CIC are up to date.

Professional Development
- Maintains and develops professional competence through ongoing professional development.
- Stays current and aware of opportunities to implement new, evidenced based methods of trauma assessment and treatment for women.
- Participates in self-directed learning to ensure that her practice remains relevant by attending professional conferences, e-learning and journal reviews; maintains ongoing tracking of study commitment during and outside of work hours.

**Skills/Qualifications**
- Bachelor of Social Work or related Human Services education and experience combination, required.
- Master of Counselling or Social Work or other accredited counselling program, strong asset.
- Minimum 1 year work experience with children, women and/or families and/or trauma counselling.
- Demonstrated advanced group work skills working with children, families, and communities.
- Must be cognizant of the issues, concerns, and struggles that are faced by women and their children experiencing family violence.
- Must have strong understanding of different counselling methodologies.
- Must have a developed understanding of Trauma Informed Practice and actively integrate this practice into interactions with clients and fellow staff members.
- Have extensive knowledge of community agencies and services available to women in Halifax Region.
- Hold in strictest confidence client’s personal information and have the ability to react confidently as well as competently to any given situation.
- Must be resilient and have a balanced holistic approach and outlook towards work and life.
- Must be comfortable working in a self-directed environment and navigating ambiguity.
- Extremely reliable and accountable to clients and obtainment of program targets.