Position Purpose
The MHPSS Counsellor will be responsible for providing quality mental health and psychosocial support services to vulnerable and affected individuals and families, with particular attention to women, girls, boys, caregivers, and persons with disabilities.
The position holder will conduct psychosocial assessments, provide individual and group psychosocial support, facilitate structured psychosocial support activities through Community-Based Child-Friendly Spaces (CFSs), support psychosocial interventions for GBV survivors, facilitate safe referrals and follow-up, and support parenting and community awareness activities.
The MHPSS Counsellor will work closely with GBV Case Management Officers, Child Protection Officers, Protection staff, community-based teams, and relevant service providers to ensure coordinated, survivor-centred and child-centred services.
All services must be provided in accordance with relevant MHPSS, GBV, Child Protection, safeguarding, confidentiality, informed consent, and Do No Harm principles, while maintaining professional boundaries and respecting the dignity, choices, and rights of individuals receiving support.
The MHPSS Counsellor will provide psychosocial support within the scope of their professional competencies and will facilitate appropriate referrals for individuals requiring specialized mental health, medical, protection, or other services beyond the scope of the position.
3. Key Responsibilities and Duties
A. Psychosocial Assessment and Support
- Conduct safe, respectful, and confidential psychosocial assessments of individuals and families according to approved tools and procedures.
- Identify psychosocial needs, concerns, vulnerabilities, protection risks, and available coping mechanisms.
- Provide appropriate individual psychosocial support based on identified needs and within the scope of the position.
- Facilitate group psychosocial support sessions for women, girls, boys, caregivers, and other identified groups.
- Provide emotional and practical psychosocial support to individuals experiencing distress, while maintaining professional boundaries.
- Support beneficiaries to strengthen positive coping mechanisms, social support, resilience, and access to available services.
- Ensure that PSS interventions are inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
- Recognize signs of severe psychological distress or other concerns requiring specialized services and facilitate appropriate referral.
B. Structured Psychosocial Support and Child-Friendly Spaces
- Facilitate structured PSS activities through Community-Based Child-Friendly Spaces (CFSs) in accordance with approved programming and technical guidance.
- Conduct age-appropriate and culturally appropriate psychosocial activities for children and adolescents.
- Support activities that promote children's emotional well-being, social interaction, positive coping, resilience, and safe participation.
- Ensure that CFS activities are safe, inclusive, child-centred, and accessible to children with disabilities.
- Coordinate closely with Child Protection Officers regarding children requiring additional protection or specialized support.
- Identify and safely refer children presenting protection concerns or requiring specialized services through established referral pathways.
- Maintain appropriate professional boundaries and ensure that children's dignity, safety, privacy, and best interests are protected at all times.
C. Support to GBV Survivors
- Provide appropriate basic psychosocial support to GBV survivors within the scope and competency of the position.
- Coordinate closely with GBV Case Management Officers to ensure that survivors have access to appropriate psychosocial support.
- Respect survivor choice, confidentiality, informed consent, safety, dignity, and privacy.
- Avoid unnecessary questioning or collection of sensitive information from GBV survivors.
- Support safe and confidential referrals to specialized MHPSS, health, protection, legal, or other services when required and with informed consent.
- Participate in multidisciplinary support and coordination while strictly following information-sharing and confidentiality protocols.
- Never pressure a survivor to disclose information, accept support, make a referral, or take any action against their wishes.
D. Parenting and Caregiver Support
- Facilitate parenting and caregiver-focused psychosocial support activities.
- Provide information and practical guidance to caregivers on positive parenting, child well-being, stress management, communication, and supportive caregiving.
- Support caregivers to identify positive coping strategies and strengthen family-level protective factors.
- Promote non-violent, respectful, and child-sensitive parenting practices.
- Identify caregivers requiring additional psychosocial or protection support and facilitate appropriate referrals.
E. Community Awareness and Engagement
- Support community awareness activities related to psychosocial well-being, available services, positive coping mechanisms, child well-being, parenting, and protection.
- Provide accurate and culturally appropriate information about available MHPSS and referral services.
- Engage respectfully with community members and community-based structures while maintaining confidentiality and professional boundaries.
- Support awareness activities that reduce stigma related to mental health and psychosocial support.
- Ensure that community engagement activities do not expose beneficiaries, GBV survivors, children, or other vulnerable individuals to additional risks, stigma, discrimination, or harm.
- Promote inclusive participation of women, girls, children, caregivers, and persons with disabilities.
F. Referral and Follow-Up
- Maintain an updated understanding of available MHPSS, health, protection, GBV, Child Protection, legal, and other relevant services in the project areas.
- Facilitate safe and informed referrals according to established referral pathways.
- Obtain informed consent before making referrals, except where applicable procedures provide otherwise for immediate safeguarding concerns.
- Follow up on referrals, where appropriate and with consent, to understand whether beneficiaries were able to access required services.
- Coordinate with relevant service providers while maintaining confidentiality and adhering to approved information-sharing protocols.
- Immediately escalate emergency or high-risk concerns through established organizational procedures.
G. Documentation and Data Management
- Maintain accurate, complete, confidential, and up-to-date records of MHPSS activities.
- Document individual and group PSS activities using approved tools and procedures.
- Ensure that beneficiary information and sensitive records are securely stored and accessed only by authorized personnel.
- Maintain appropriate documentation of referrals and follow-up activities.
- Ensure that personal and sensitive information is not shared through insecure communication channels.
- Support timely reporting using non-identifiable and aggregated information.
- Ensure that documentation meets OAWCK and project quality standards.
H. Coordination and Teamwork
- Coordinate closely with the Project Manager, Protection/GBV staff, GBV Case Management Officers, Child Protection Officers, and other relevant project personnel.
- Participate in case discussions, technical supervision, team meetings, coordination meetings, and relevant review sessions as required.
- Maintain professional relationships with relevant service providers and referral partners.
- Support integrated programming and appropriate linkages between MHPSS, GBV, Child Protection, and other protection services.
- Communicate operational challenges, service gaps, and emerging psychosocial concerns to the supervisor.
- Contribute to strengthening functional referral pathways and coordinated service delivery.
I. Quality Assurance, Supervision and Capacity Building
- Participate in regular technical supervision, coaching, mentoring, and case discussions.
- Seek technical guidance for complex or challenging situations.
- Participate in relevant trainings, workshops, and capacity-building activities.
- Apply learning from supervision and training to improve the quality of MHPSS services.
- Support the identification of technical and operational challenges affecting the quality and accessibility of MHPSS services.
- Contribute to continuous improvement of MHPSS programming.
J. Safeguarding, PSEA and Accountability
- Fully comply with OAWCK's Code of Conduct, Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) policy, safeguarding procedures, confidentiality requirements, and other relevant organizational policies.
- Immediately report safeguarding, PSEA, abuse, exploitation, or serious protection concerns through established reporting mechanisms.
- Ensure that all interactions with beneficiaries are professional, respectful, non-discriminatory, and free from exploitation, abuse, harassment, or coercion.
- Promote Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and ensure that beneficiaries know how to safely provide feedback or raise complaints.
- Maintain appropriate professional boundaries at all times.
- Ensure that children, women, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable beneficiaries are protected from harm.
