Mental Health Counsellor - NH Montreal

Nisa Foundation is a community-based charity that has promoted safety, security, and mental wellness for racialized women across Canada since 2014. The organization provides toll-free peer-to-peer counseling services, transitional homes for women & children fleeing abuse or homelessness, and facilitates educational workshops. Nisa Foundation's mission is to transform communities by engaging, equipping, and enriching the lives of women and children to reach their full potential.

Under the supervision of the Mental Health Lead, the Mental Health Counsellor is responsible for providing mentorship, emotional support, problem-solving, goal setting, crisis risk assessment, and referrals to other community support. Mental Health Counsellors promote empowerment and self-determination through non-judgmental listening and client-centred goal setting. The Mental Health Counsellor will use the peer counselling model to assist residents in identifying and achieving life goals as part of their experience at Nisa Homes.

What You’ll Do:

Client Support And Development

• Conduct one on one peer to peer supportive counselling sessions with residents on a weekly basis to set and achieve goals, address challenges, and refer where necessary to external resources.  
• Develop and implement a regular mental health and wellness support groups on topics such as self-esteem building, empowerment, selfcare strategies, addressing depression, anxiety, and stress. for the women in the home.  
• Use basic counseling skills to create a safe connection with the client to work on supportive care, goals and referrals to community professionals and resources for ongoing MH needs. 
• Work with the resident ant their caseworker to support the housing process and integration into the community.  

Training

• Provide training to staff and volunteers on trauma-informed practices, mental health resources and other training where needed.   
• Responsible for assigning and overseeing counselling volunteers to residents.   
• Attend training provided by NF and external training opportunities that are important to counselling skill development.  

Case Management

• Participate in intake assessments when needed to assess eligibility, and flag for signs of referrals for increased MH care.   
• Coordinate with caseworkers to ensure the best service and case management available to clients.   

Reporting

• Summarize/organize information for discussion in event that a unique case has arisen for current residents for decision making.  

• Provide weekly updates to House Manager for client progress.   
• Report to Mental health lead weekly for briefing sessions, concerns, directions, collective support, case management.
• Maintain counselling notes, incident records and other documentation on CRM data base according to regulations. 

Outreach

• Liaise with other services, agencies, and professionals.   
• Maintain current knowledge of issues and resources related to abuse and violence to provide presentations and public awareness activities about services and issues of abuse.   
• Facilitate community networking, attend meetings and workshops as needed.   

Ad Hoc

• Participate in additional meetings and undertake related responsibilities as reasonably assigned, including special projects, cross-departmental initiatives, and other tasks necessary to support the effective operation of the organization.

What you’ll bring to the team:

• Communication Skills & Active Listening 
• Positive Attitude 
• Building Trust 
• Emotional Intelligence 
• Conflict Management Skills 
• Crisis Intervention Skills 
• Counselling Skills 
• Assessment Skills 

What we’re looking for:

• Must speak and write English proficiently. 
• Clear Vulnerable sector check.
• Language Proficiency in a second language would be an asset (Urdu, Arabic, Hindi, Somali, Punjabi, Dari, Pashto, French) 
• Relevant degree such as Social Work, Psychology, Counselling, or related field especially with regard to homelessness and vulnerable women and will have a minimum of 2-3 years experience. Other combinations of education, experience and training may be considered.
• Able to adhere to highest standards of ethical care and confidentiality policies.
• Demonstrates a commitment to Professional Practice, adheres to professional code of ethics. 
• Demonstrate Wellness Practices: Can identify personal stressors and knows when to ask for help. Can identify and manage signs of burnout.