• Provide expert consultation and clinical behaviour intervention services to LGBTIQA+ clients as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Permanent role | Part time 15.2 hours per week
• Abbotsford Location 

Mind strongly encourages applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, people with a lived and living experience of mental distress and recovery, and applicants from all cultures, genders, sexualities, bodies, abilities, spiritualties, ages and backgrounds.

Mind Australia is one of the country’s leading community-managed specialist mental health service providers with a range of residential, mobile outreach, centre based and online services. Mind has been supporting people experiencing mental health and wellbeing challenges to find help, hope and purpose in their lives for more than 45 years.

We provide practical and motivational support that helps people to develop the skills they need to move on, thrive and improve the quality of their lives. It’s an approach to mental health and wellbeing that looks at the whole person in the context of their daily life. Mind is committed to diversity and social inclusion.

About the role

Aftercare has proudly provided care for the LGBTIQA+ community since 2019. The Aftercare service offers a safe place of psychological healing and holistic support for people from the LGBTIQ+ community who are having thoughts or intentions of suicide and experiencing mental health challenges at no cost. Aftercare delivers short-term, lived experience based recovery-focused outreach, counselling and therapeutic services to support clients, families, carers and loved ones move forward with a life of meaning and purpose. 

We are seeking a compassionate, experienced LGBTIQA+ Counsellor for a Permanent, Part Time (15.2 hours per week) position. The primary purpose of this role is to provide quality therapeutic and mental health intervention support to LGBTIQA+ clients who experience thoughts of suicide and can have complex care needs. The Counsellor will provide expert clinical assessment and interventions including a strengths-based approach and provide assertive follow-up.

Key responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive and flexible therapeutic support service to customers and their family/carers including an advanced level of assessment, support, brief intervention, planning and evaluation, education and research capacities.
• Responsible for individual professional practice. Demonstrates a high degree of autonomy, self-motivation and professional judgment.
• Ensure that risks are identified and managed according to the policy, procedure and processes of the organisation and best practice standards of a Lived Experienced based service.
• Lived experience as an LGBTIQA+ person with thoughts of suicide/mental health difficulties.
• Operate within the scope of the role, professional standards and Mind policies and procedures (as amended from time to time and/or adapted for Aftercare specifically).

What you’ll bring

• Tertiary Masters qualification in Psychology, Mental Health, Peer Work, Social Work or other health related field as designated by Mind.
• Registration with Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) or equivalent accreditation.
• A minimum of five years’ experience and expertise, including lived expertise, in working directly with people in the LGBTIQA+ community with mental health issues, and/or with their families and carers.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in the application of theoretical approaches, practices and appropriate service responses including family inclusive practice, trauma informed theory, cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing and harm reduction therapy.

Benefits

• Salary packaging up to $15,899 p.a. allows you to allocate a portion of your pre-tax income to cover living expenses (e.g. rent, mortgage, child care, car leasing expenses etc.)
• Professional development through regular supervision sessions
• Fitness Passport - Access to our corporate health and fitness program, providing you and your family with access to a wide choice of fitness facilities.

Interested?

To obtain a position description and apply online click on Apply Now to visit Mind Careers - reference number 495269.  Please contact the person below for more information.

Christopher Brett-Renes, LGBTIQA+ Allied Health Practice Lead
[email protected] 

The successful applicant is required to complete comprehensive reference and background checking prior to employment, including a Working with Children Check, NDIS Workers Screening Check and the ability to obtain vaccinations against COVID-19.