Job Summary

The job of the TOL Counselor is to assesses the psychological, emotional, developmental, and social wellbeing of children, house mothers, and parents/guardians at the Tree of Life Children’s Village (TOL)/Brothers & Sisters Residence and provide clinical therapeutic interventions to address their specific psychosocial needs.  It is the responsibility of the TOL Counselor to conduct psychosocial assessments, receive referrals, triage and prioritize clients’ needs, provide a variety of counseling interventions, perform administrative duties, and facilitate other therapeutic activities as directed. The TOL Counselor will ensure that all departmental, HWC, TOL, Family Legacy, and governmental policies and procedures are followed correctly to ensure that the department works in accordance with the law.

Specific Tasks:

Psychosocial Care Services:

• Provide daily clinical counseling therapy to all children, house mothers, and parents/guardians at TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence
• Receive counseling referrals from other departments and communicate client’ needs and treatment plans effectively to other members of staff
• Triage and prioritize clients’ need to effectively manage assigned client caseload
• Conduct informal and formal assessments of clients’ psychological, emotional, developmental, and social needs
• Create individualized treatment plans to meet clients’ personal needs
• Provides timely and appropriate assessment, treatment planning, therapeutic interventions, and follow-up to all clients
• Use a variety of evidence-based counseling techniques & interventions to conduct individual and group therapy sessions (play-based interventions, therapeutic art activities, sand tray therapy, CBT, trauma-focused interventions, coping skills development, anger management techniques, etc.)
• Routinely monitor clients’ progress and adjust their treatment plans as needed
• Receive intake and handover from LA counselors, social services staff, and medical staff for all new TOL admissions
• Work on department-specific TOL Care Plans (intake, ongoing progress, reforecasting, reintegration) for assigned clients
• Prepare TOL children for reintegration (reintegration questionnaires, Google Sheet inputs, post-reintegration counseling follow-ups, handover to LA counselors, etc.)
• Conduct HIV disclosure processes with children who are HIV+ and their parents/guardians
• Conduct family-centered therapeutic activities within individual TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence houses
• Provide intensive counseling assessments and debriefings to children who have run away from TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence
• Provide house mothers at TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence with counseling related to child concerns
• Facilitate regular therapeutic support groups across TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence (HIV, sickle cell, sexual abuse, grief, trauma, etc.)
• Participate in family-centered counseling sessions with children and their parents/guardians on a variety of issues as needed
• Conduct death and/or sick family member disclosures with children and accompany them to funerals and hospital visits as needed
• Acts as a resource for other departments and staff across the ministry in understanding the significance of developmental, psychological, emotional, and social factors related to children’s trauma, growth and development, coping, and wellbeing
• Participates in trainings for staff across the ministry on a variety of topics related to psychosocial care including, but not limited to, trauma and coping, children’s development, psychosocial needs, treatment strategies, etc.
• Promotes the continuous development of children to optimize their responses to traumatic experiences, to minimize psychological stress, and to increase understanding of and coping with trauma and illness.
• Assess, determine, and make referrals to other departments when special services or care are needed for clients, such as medical evaluation, social services, community services, or specialized psychological/psychiatric testing.
• Facilitate additional therapeutic activities and programming at TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence as directed
• Ensure high quality care for clients by reviewing and researching concerns or complaints and recommending corrective action as needed
• Implement trauma-informed programming across Tree of Life
• Conduct clinical child life specialist interventions with medical patients across Tree of Life
• Conduct clinic and/or hospital visitation with Tree of Life children and parents/guardians as needed

Communication

• Clearly and respectfully communicate with children, house mothers, parents/guardians, and staff across TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence
• Practice clear communication with coworkers, direct supervisor, other departments, management, and relevant stakeholders
• Closely collaborate with other departments across Family Legacy to communicate about children’s psychosocial needs, goals, and treatment plans
• Participate in multidisciplinary team treatment conferences when needed to review and plan for specific client cases
• Receive and give clinical counseling handovers to/from LA Counselors and Medical Staff for assigned clients
• Closely collaborate with LA counselors to provide continuity of care with clients

Record Keeping and Administrative Duties

• Complete appropriate mental health documentation, including but not limited to patient care plans, performance outcomes, progress reports, and daily activity tracking as required by HPCZ, the Zambian Counselling Council, the Psychological Association of Zambia, the HWC, and Family Legacy
• Perform daily scheduling tasks to manage and maintain an independent caseload of clients
• Document and submit daily individual counseling statistics to direct supervisor in a timely manner
• Attend and participate in daily counseling department meetings
• Attend and participate in weekly departmental professional development activities (including trainings, case presentations, etc.)
• Perform record-keeping duties by maintaining clients’ counseling records in confidential files
• Compile comprehensive counseling reports for the ministry as directed
• Follow all departmental, HWC, and government policies and procedures as instructed
• Comply with rules and regulations of the Zambian Counselling Council (ZCC) and Psychological Association of Zambia (PAZ)
• Maintain working knowledge of the legal issues pertaining to the counseling program so they are in-line with relevant government agencies and rights of all stakeholders.

The Employee shall also be expected to undertake any additional responsibilities as delegated by his or her supervisor.

Knowledge, Skills, Behaviours, and Experience Required to Achieve Role’s Objectives:

Skills Required

• Demonstrates commitment to FL mission, vision, and values.
• Exhibits and promotes Christian principles of servant leadership in decision making and working with other members of staff, especially in conflict resolution.
• Develops, motivates, and coordinates team members by setting and holding high standards for performance.
• Promotes innovation and learning amongst team members to achieve goals.
• Communicates clearly and effectively both verbally and written.
  Gains, develops and retains credibility for personal relationships with others.
• Ability to work well with others in a multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural environment.
• Strong planning and organizational skills
• Financial management and budgeting skills
• Ability to adapt personal views to get best outcome for the ministry.
• Cooperates effectively with other departments for the benefit of the ministry.
• Aware of own strengths, weaknesses and pro-active in using feedback for self-development.
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

Other Competencies/Skills:

• Demonstrates commitment to Family Legacy mission, vision, and values
• Has a heart to work with vulnerable children and families even when faced with challenges
• Has a heart for counseling other staff members within Family Legacy
• Very strong clinical counseling skills/knowledge, especially working with families
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Strong oral and writing skills
• Maintain confidentiality and privacy of all clients
• Basic computer proficiency skills (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, & email)
• Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view
• Solicits feedback from coworkers about the impact of his/her behavior
• Relational and personable
• Ability to work as a team and collaborate with others
• Adheres to all deadlines
• Must have no prior convictions of harm to a child

Educational Qualification and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in psychology or psychosocial counselling is strongly preferred
• Have a minimum of Associate-level license in psychosocial or child counselling accredited by the Zambia Counselling Council (ZCC) or Psychological Association of Zambia (PAZ)
• Certificate level qualification in psychological, child, and/or clinical counselling will be an added advantage
• Maintain current Zambian licensure as a counselling practitioner.
• Have at least 1 year of experience in a similar position or persuasion