Mental Health Counsellor

**Mental Health Counsellor**:
**Primary Purpose**: To contribute to student success by addressing the mental health needs of students through the provision of timely and accessible mental health assessment and therapy within an Interdisciplinary Primary Care team.

**Nature of Work**: Counsellors report to the Manager of Student Wellness Services and are supervised by the Counselling Clinical Leader. Individual counselors vary in the primary focus of their work in areas of mental health counselling. They must be able to work in a confidential environment with individuals who are often distressed and who frequently need to be assessed and monitored for risk of suicide.

Counsellors are situated in the Student Wellness Centre, which offers urgent and non-urgent physical and mental health services to U of S students and their dependents. The vast majority of our services are provided in person in Saskatoon, though there may be a need to offer services to remote clients through phone and web platforms, or on other USask campuses.

The Student Wellness Centre serves a diverse student population with diverse cultural backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.

The University of Saskatchewan values diversity and Indigenous engagement is a strategic priority. It is expected that counsellors will develop a solid understanding of the University’s Indigenous engagement and Indigenization priorities and will recognize and support the importance and value of diversity.

**Accountabilities**:Counsellors’ responsibilities include the following:

- Manage an appropriate caseload in a clinically effective manner (i.e., in accordance with professional expectations of the clinician’s respective discipline).
- Share in the responsibility to provide timely initial assessments and follow-up treatment to clients.
- Conduct intake interviews with new clients and assess their mental health functioning, risk indicators, and treatment needs.
- Provide follow-up services, such as psychotherapy (individual, couple, or group), psycho-educational programs, administrative interventions, and referrals to health providers and community services.
- Perform urgent risk assessment of students who present in crisis, at risk of harm to self or others, and develop plans for risk and crisis management.
- Participates in the supervision and training of graduate students in individual and group counselling.
- Performs other duties consistent with the mandate of Student Wellness Services as requested.

**Qualifications**

**Education**: Doctoral or master’s degree in Psychology, Social Work, or Education. Registration with the appropriate professional association and eligibility for professional liability insurance is a requirement of this position.
- A minimum of five years of experience in clinical mental health counselling and have engaged in clinical counselling supervision throughout their career.
- Post-graduate experience in the areas of assessment and psychotherapy
- A sound knowledge of adolescent and adult development.
- Demonstrated ability to work successfully with varied client mental health presentations supporting client directed outcomes and services
- Experience performing urgent risk assessments, crisis interventions, and psychotherapy interventions related to mental health and suicide
- An expressed commitment and experience with equity-deserving student populations. Proven sensibility and appreciation of the role that gender, race, disability, gender identity, sexuality, class and social background play in the experience of health, mental health, and wellbeing.
- Expertise and experience in clinical treatment of a wide range of concerns that post-secondary and professional program students may experience including trauma, stress, depression, anxiety, substance use, relationship difficulties, eating/body image issues, transition issues and violence.

**Skills**:

- Strong psychotherapy skills particularly in the area of brief treatment with a young adult population.
- Advanced abilities to conduct clinical interventions and treatment that are informed by a strong working knowledge of psychopathology, assessment, trauma, and psychotherapy.
- Advanced ability to assess risk of harm to self and violence to others with capacity to facilitate a variety of brief and medium-term interventions.
- Demonstrates commitment to working respectfully on a team which values and draws on a breadth of clinical perspectives.
- Commitment to serving the needs of a diverse student population. Demonstrated ability to provide services that are responsive and sensitive to the needs of specific populations including Indigenous students, international students, graduate students, racialized students, students with disabilities and LGBTQ2S+ students.
- Ability to handle interactions and maintain positive relations with diverse clients with tact, discretion, cultural sensitivity, and in a courteous, confidential, and professional manner.
- Ability to