This position will be working closely with the Community-Based Protection Monitoring (CBPM) Teams in designated locations of the North and North East Regions within the Internally Displaced People (IDP) and Refugee Returnee communities with an aim to:

• Improve the persons of concerns’ (PoCs) mental health wellbeing and psychosocial conditions;
• Support the referred cases by providing qualitative psychosocial care and mental health activities;
• Assist the CBPM teams in the identification of beneficiaries in need of specific psychosocial counseling and ensure individual or group support for identified beneficiaries.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:

Psychosocial counselors aim to reduce the distress and improve the psychosocial wellbeing of his/her beneficiaries. He/she use psychosocial methods and research to make positive changes to his/her beneficiaries' lives and offer various forms of treatment.

The MHPSS triangle should be in mind, our programme is mainly dealing with the bottom 2-3. However, if we have specialized staff i.e., doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists, we can handle with the Specialized Services at the top of the triangle.

He/she will closely work with beneficiaries of all ages who have a variety of different mental or physical health issues, such as:

• depression and anxiety;
• mental illness;
• adjustment to physical illness;
• neurological disorders;
• addictive behaviors;
• challenging behaviors;
• eating disorders;
• personal and family relationship problems; and
• learning disabilities.

Tasks may include:

• Organize the initial assessment with survivors to assess the situation (and complete the relevant data-collection form). Keep detailed paperwork about PoCs in order to monitor the progress of the clients' treatments.
• Assess the beneficiaries’ psychological condition by using psychological tools to detect the vulnerable cases and ensure psychological follow up.
• Support survivors, with assistance from the WAW protection coordinator and team in serious cases.
• Refer survivors to the appropriate medical services and accompany them if necessary or upon their request.
• Refer survivors to established referral mechanisms as appropriate eg., legal services, the mental health centre or other facilities depending on the services available and everyone's needs and requests.
• Assist in the development of referral networks between partners implementing SGBV and implement referral pathways if not yet available.
• Help the community outreach workers to raise awareness in the community.
• Facilitate and/or run meetings on psychosocial issues with community leaders and other influential members of the community, with the consent of the community outreach workers.
• Fill in the relevant data-collection form for each session and any other resource made available by WAW or UNHCR.
• Ensure the safety of team members from any harm, abuse, neglect, harassment and exploitation to achieve the programme's goals on safeguarding implementation.
• Act as a key source of support, guidance and expertise on safeguarding for establishing a safe working environment.
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team alongside Protection Monitors and Community Mobilization Officers.
• Offer psychosocial therapy and treatments for difficulties relating to mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, addiction, social and interpersonal problems and challenging behavior;