MHPSS Counsellor

War Child Canada is a registered Canadian charity based in Toronto that works to accelerate peace and disrupt the cycle of violence by investing in and empowering local communities to build brighter futures through comprehensive, evidence-informed programs that foster resilience, self-reliance, and self-determination.

War Child Canada is globally recognized for our grassroots, community-driven model of humanitarian action that’s rooted in collaboration and entirely locally led. We have developed a solid track record of long-term, sustainable impact supporting children and families living in areas dominated by conflict and crises.

War Child’s flagship Afghanistan program advances social impact in the lives of vulnerable children, women, and their families through its humanitarian and development programming in Protection, Health, Education and Livelihood sectors in various provinces of Afghanistan.

The MHPSS Counsellor is responsible for providing quality mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services to individuals, children, adolescents, and families affected by conflict, displacement, violence, or other crises. The position delivers individual and group counselling, conducts psychosocial assessments, develops care plans, provides psychological first aid (PFA), and facilitates referrals to specialized services when required. The MHPSS Counsellor also conducts awareness sessions, promotes community well-being, maintains confidential case records, and works closely with project staff, health providers, and community stakeholders to ensure integrated, survivor-centered, and culturally appropriate MHPSS services in accordance with organizational policies, national guidelines, and humanitarian standards.

Specific duties and responsibilities:

·       Contribute to the development of and reviewing the resource materials on PSS based on the needs of youths and adolescents.

·       Prepare lesson plans for individual and group counseling sessions.

·       Conduct intake and post-session assessments for all PSS beneficiaries.

·       Assessing and identification of beneficiaries for psychosocial support, who will be visiting the YSC..

·       Conduct psychosocial counseling sessions to adolescents and youths in groups and individually and if needed with their families.

·       Follow up with youth and adolescents provided with psychosocial counseling and support.

·       Ensure timely referral and follow-up of cases in need of further support to other service providers.

·       Maintain regular follow up with the project team and provide them with technical support and advice when needed.

·       Proactively participate in professional development activities with strong commitment of learning knowledge and skills

·       Perform any other tasks as assigned by the supervisor that are within the general scope of the described responsibilities or of project

·       Provide PSS trainings to YSC staff to support their own well-being, i.e. stress management

Qualification:

·       Bachelor’s degree in education, Social Work, Psychology, Counselling in any other relevant discipline (e.g: General Psychology, Counselling, Mental Health

·       Additional qualification or certification in Mental Health, Psychology, Counseling or in another relevant field is highly desirable

·       Minimum of 3 years’ experience working with adolescents and youths

Experience:

·       Capacity to work with young people from diverse cultural background

·       Ability to manage a large number of youths and adolescents in a session

·       Strong interpersonal and communication skills

·       Excellent communication skills in local languages and English

·       Strong understanding of PSS in Afghan context

·       Respect confidentiality

·       Flexibility and ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines

·       Good reporting writing skills Have relative experience working with reporting and data collection tools such as Kobo, Survey Monkey, Google forms etc. 

Skills and Abilities:

·       Strong understanding of local contexts, including cultural and political dynamics in Afghanistan.

·       Proficiency in English, Dari and Pashto. Proficiency in other languages will be considered a plus point.

·       Strong reporting, presentation, training facilitation, and budgeting skills.

Strong inter-personal and communication skills, ability to work under stressful conditions, and able to meet tight deadlines.  

War Child Canada is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified Afghan women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Interested applicants are invited to complete the application process using the link below. If the link does not work when clicked, please copy and paste it into your browser's address bar:

https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/3QUAKLuq