Counsellor - Sessional

**Please see Special Instructions for more details.**:
**Posting Details**:
Position Information

**Position Title**
- Counsellor - Sessional**Faculty/Instructor Profile**

**Faculty at Red Deer Polytechnic**:

- Are passionate about teaching, learning, and student success.
- Pursue professional learning to continually enhance their practice and their discipline.
- Are recognized for their contributions to both local and global communities.

**Role Description**
As Red Deer Polytechnic’s future takes shape, growing our breadth of credentials (to include our own degrees) and programs, our institution has high expectations of our amazing faculty. But we do recognize that new hires may not have all the skills and experiences when applying. We want you to know that there is some flexibility to develop your talents over time. The initial focus for new faculty will be on teaching and student success with lots of opportunity for professional development, growth and collaboration. Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) is committed to all faculty acquiring the identified Key Attributes over time.
- **Teaching**
The faculty member combines discipline expertise with evidence-based teaching to facilitate effective and varied learning experiences.
- **Student Success**
The faculty member encourages student success in an engaging, supportive environment by being responsive to student needs and ideas.
- **Professional Development**
The faculty member engages in the continuous pursuit of knowledge to maintain currency in their discipline and their teaching practice.
- **Research, Scholarly and Creative Pursuits**
The faculty member has the opportunity to pursue impactful scholarly and creative activities and disseminates knowledge that advances the discipline, enhances the reputation of Red Deer Polytechnic, and improves communities.
- **Community Contributions**
The faculty member values engagement, contributing knowledge and their own expertise to the betterment of Red Deer Polytechnic and local communities, as well as discipline-based, national, and global communities.
- **For More Information**:

- **Faculty Profile**

**Position Responsibilities**
- Counselling Services at Red Deer Polytechnic is an inclusive, safe, community-focused, and accessible support service that works to cultivate mental health and well-being within the Red Deer Polytechnic learning community. Students can access free one on one counselling, groups, and peer support. Counselling Services also offers a space for independent student reflection and regulation.
- The Counsellor is a faculty position and part of Counselling Services. Counsellors have an awareness of the developmental needs and counselling concerns presented by a diverse post-secondary student population. The Counsellor provides individual and group counselling services to Red Deer Polytechnic students with a focus on strengths-based, brief counselling in a non-clinical setting. In addition to providing individual counselling, the Counsellor plans and provides workshops, develops outreach and psychoeducational activities and liaises with diverse internal and external stakeholders. As part of an integrated service team, the Counsellor will provide risk assessment, crisis intervention and referral, on an as-needed basis as well as participate in regular group supervision and case consultations.
- **Responsibilities/Duties**
- Provide individual, crisis and group therapeutic counselling for Red Deer Polytechnic students in a non-clinical, Stepped-Care model. Issues include:

- Educational, personal, interpersonal, vocational, and substance use counselling.
- Work in accordance with their regulatory and accrediting bodies professional responsibilities, ethics and guidelines (e.g., The College of Alberta Psychologists; Alberta College of Social Work), especially:

- Adhering to the limits of confidentiality and understanding the parameters of sharing information with permission.
- Maintaining updated information on file management
- Show diplomacy and good judgment in interpreting Red Deer Polytechnic values, policies and procedures.
- Have proficiency in understanding topics surrounding the developmental needs, mental health and wellbeing typically associated with a diverse post-secondary student population. For example:

- Depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, relationship issues, academic achievement, gender and sexual diversity, financial, career, family relations
- Respond to urgent mental health situations, as appropriate.
- Assessment of student progress and risk using a variety of formal and informal assessment tools with timely and appropriate management of these assessment results.
- Collaborate and consult with other departments and disciplines within Red Deer Polytechnic and the wider community:

- Campus and community crisis and critical incident intervention and response
- Seamless and integrated referrals to appropriate resources and liaise to support Red Deer Polytechnic studen