MHPSS Counselor

Médecins du Monde - France (MdM-F) is an international humanitarian organization whose mission is to provide medical care for the most vulnerable populations, the world over, including Afghanistan. It seeks to stimulate voluntary commitment from doctors, other health care providers, and from those whose expertise in other fields is needed for its activities, to enlist all competent support required for the achievement of its projects, and to seek at all times to encourage close working relationships with populations in its care.

Scope of Work:

The Psychosocial Counselor will be responsible for providing professional mental health and psychosocial counseling services to patients in accordance with BPHS guidelines and project procedures.

Responsibilities:

·         Select clients-friendly and secure place/corner/room for organizing consultation and awareness raising sessions in terms of compliance with confidentiality and privacy related issues in the field.

·         Conduct psychosocial counselling sessions with individual or group discussion for all target and vulnerable clients and provide required treatment, specific dignity kits, including offering volunteer referral services.

·         Keep special focus on keeping all clients’ individual consultation & referral data/records confidential and limited to official use only.

·         Identification of most vulnerable and affected individuals in internally displaced and host communities through awareness raising, regular health education, and OPD triage .

·         Report and share any unexpected issues or security-related issues immediately to the line manager or project office.

·         Work with local communities to help them identify and refer vulnerable and shock-affected individuals from the host community and IDPs.

·         Advocate for local community support for minimizing further harm to vulnerable populations via awareness raising and health education.

·         Assist target communities in developing & adapting a safety plan for life-threatening situations, considering local context and available resources.

·         Considering the nature of work with these clients and local context, all possible measures should be in place to ensure confidentiality & privacy related issues of all clients to avoid any unwanted/unexpected stigma, harm, or any life-threatening condition.

·         Prepare and submit daily consultation, referral reports to the in-charge medical doctor.

·         Ensure active participation in local community mobilization activities in consultation with in charge medical doctor. 

·         Organize exclusive psychosocial counseling sessions for daily eligible clients visiting as individuals and or in small groups with full compliance to privacy and required technical counseling techniques and communication skills.

·         Regular and proper registration of all clients and documentation of all data according to standard reporting tools and formats, and make sure that no unauthorized staff or individual has access to clients' personal profiles or counseling data sheets. 

·         Maintain close working coordination within the health facility for internal referrals of people with mental problems, victims, survivors, or those who are in potential risk and need immediate counseling support and kits. 

·          Ensure integration of MHPSS support within TFU clinical care through coordination with medical, nursing, and nutrition staff for holistic patient management.

·         Regular report of all counseling and kits distribution with health facility in-charge and project supervisor with proper documentation and performance record in the target health facility. 

·         Gender equality and inclusion are fundamental at MdM, promoting equal rights and challenging discriminatory norms to achieve social justice. We foster an inclusive workplace respecting diverse gender identities, abilities, backgrounds, and experiences through dialogue, training, and diversity initiatives. All MdM staff must uphold ethical standards, following codes of conduct to prevent abuse, including harassment, exploitation, and neglect. Regular monitoring ensures accountability to uphold these principles and support our mission of social justice and poverty alleviation.

·         Ensure compliance with safeguarding, child protection, confidentiality, and Prevention of Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) policies.

Safety and Security Responsibility:

We all have a responsibility to promote a safe and secure work environment, foster a safety and security culture, and ensure consistent application of, and compliance with, MdM safety and security policies and procedures.

Education: He or she should hold a diploma in psychosocial counseling or a bachelor’s degree in clinical psychology from a recognized institute within the country/from abroad. 

A bachelor's degree in psychosocial counseling, or a nurse/midwife with counselling training.

Experience: 

The Candidate must have at least one year of previous experience in the provision of psychosocial counseling services in BPHS-related health facilities or a similar working context. More than one year of relevant work experience in a similar context of a project with the same scope of work as clinical psychology is preferred.

He/she is basically responsible for professionally handling mental health/ psychosocial problems of individual clients with proper orientation to the visitor and, if needed, close family members upon request and consent of the patient. For any community-level problem, the staff is bound to directly report to the health facility in charge and the field supervisor for needful support.  

The interested candidates should submit their applications with the updated CV, motivation letter, including references details to the following email – recruitment.afghanistan@medecinsdumonde.net – no later than the closing date.

The reference MHPSS Counselor must be stated in the application subject to be valid. If you do not clearly state the position for which you are applying & attach the required diploma & other supporting documents, your application may not be considered.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Please note that MDM-F does not reimburse transportation cost if applicants are asked for interview or a test.

MDM-F does not charge fee at any stage of its recruitment process. All applications are free for all candidates, and no one should require any payment or compensation during the recruitment process.