Counselor Educator at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

Médecins Sans Frontières is a private, international organisation. The organisation is made up mainly of doctors and health sector workers and is also open to all other professions which might help in achieving its aims. Médecins Sans Frontières provides assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict. They do so irrespective of race, religion, creed or political convictions.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Counselor Educator

Location: Abakaliki, Ebonyi
Contract Period: Definite (March 2023 to April 2023) 2 months, with possibility of renewal

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Perform counseling and/or psycho-education sessions with patients and families affected by Lassa Fever, following different medical and mental health MSF protocols and procedures, in order to assist them to return to their baseline psycho-social function.
• Identify the psycho-social, needs of patients who were directly or indirectly affected by Lassa Fever
• Actively promote the availability of counselling services
• Systematically conduct individual or in group counseling / psycho-educational sessions, to patients and their fami-lies (when needed),as directed by the MH Supervisor or MH Activity Manager
• Liaise with the treatment team and provide appropriate options for ongoing psycho-social support (for example, re-ferrals)
• Participate in the creation of any material needed for counseling activities and maintain the use of these resources
• Routinely complete patients’ clinical files and collect statistics of daily activities
• Actively participate in team meetings, group supervision and individual clinical supervision
• Proactively inform the MH Supervisor or MH Activity Manager of relevant issues as they arise
• Actively participate in trainings and support the MH Activity Manager/ Supervisor in doing sensitization for MSF staff or external partners about mental health / psychosocial issues.
• Model appropriate communication and interpersonal skills to assist in building the capacity of other medical staff
• Monitor psycho-social functioning and communicate relevant information (i.e., deterioration or improvements) with the treatment team.
• Work with the Mental health team in any kind of operational research they engage in.

MSF Section / Context Specific Accountabilities

• Build and maintain healthy working relationships with personnel at the Federal Teaching Hospital of Abakaliki (FETHA), to contribute to the co-management of patients affect by Lassa Fever.
• Where relevant, combat the stigmatisation of Lassa Fever by providing appropriate information to staff or members of the community.
• Provide feedback about daily activities and challenges to assist in the strategic planning of ongoing MH activities

Minimum Required Skills and Qualifications
Education:

• Qualification (Degree / Diploma) in Counselling, Social Work, Psychology or similar.

Experience:

• 1 year experience in provision of psychosocial support (essential).
• Experience with NGO / humanitarian aid (desirable).
• Experience in Mental health/psychological research

Language:

• English Language Essential
• Igbo Language Essential
• Pidgin language Desirable

Other Abilities:

• Commitment to MSF priniciples and values
• Good team working skills and open-mindedness
• People management/supervising skills
• Awareness of and sensitivity to the local cultue, norms and practices
• Knowledge of the context of Ebonyi state

Application Closing Date
17th February, 2023.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online
OR
Submit Hard Copy at:
MSF Belgium Human Resources Office,
Plot D33 Libration Estate (after the Enugu / Abakaliki express),
Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

Note

• The vacancy is open to all residents of Nigeria.
• MSF is an equal opportunity employer, both men and women are encouraged to apply.
• Interested candidates should submit their application including cover letter, resume and copy of relevant degrees, certificates and NYSC certificate/exemption Letters by filling the google form using the link above or scan the URL code.
• Only short-listed candidates will be notified and invited for interview; MSF Belgium takes this opportunity to thank all potential candidates for their application.
• Dual Employment is considered gross misconduct as contained in MSF Belgium Internal Regulations (IR) guideline and hence not acceptable.
• Applications should be sent through the indicated channel (email/hardcopy) containing the right subject, meeting all requirements, else application will not be entertained.
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the next steps.
• MSF reserves the right to cancel any step or whole of the recruitment process at any stage.