Aboriginal Child and Youth Mental Health Clinician

Job No: 91752

Location: Prince Rupert, BC

Closing Date: 21 Oct 2017 AEST

• Pivotal role for an experienced Child and Youth Mental Health Counsellor looking for career growth
• Finish each day knowing that you have made a difference in the lives of the communities' youth
• Receive full benefits such as Medical, Dental, Life, Disability, including relocation assistance

About the Organization

Northwest Inter-Nation Family & Community Services Society (NIFCS) is a non-profit Society composed of seven Member Indian Bands located in Northwest, North Coast and Northern Region of British Columbia.

With an overall mission to provide community based and community driven child and family care services that protect and preserve the unique cultural identity of every child and family in the bands we serve, NIFCS has become instrumental in providing support to the First Nations community, aiding in the preservation of their unique identity.

For more info about NIFCS see: http://nifcs.org/ 

About the Opportunity

Reporting to the NIFCS Executive Director, you will work in consultation with your team to provide a continuum of culturally appropriate services for children, youth and their families that focus on holistic health and promote their psychological, physical and spiritual well-being in order to achieve balance, harmony and a good quality of life. 

This will involve utilizing a holistic framework and culturally relevant traditional assessment and treatment methods such as: storytelling, circle sharing, traditional teachings, and land based interventions to assess and meet the needs of each child.

This service will be provided to children and youth in the care of NIFCS and/or residing in the remote, coastal communities of Gitxaala (Kitkatla), Metlakatla, Gitga’at (Hartley Bay), and Lax Kw’Alaams.

Specifically, your tasks will include:

• Interviewing clients to gather case history information
• Assessing profound social, psychological, emotional and/or behavioral issues affecting clients
• Identifying core areas of concern to be addressed by clinical counseling
• Providing clinical counselling after assessing client’s social, psychological, emotional and/or behavioral issues by developing therapeutic programs and interventions
• Providing individual and group counselling interventions using therapeutic techniques depending on client needs
• Arranging individual and group therapeutic interventions when needed
• Assisting parents/caregivers and extended family in developing knowledge, skills and abilities that will help them to care and support their children and adolescents with mental health problems
• Using your subject matter expertise to help other service providers either over the phone or in person for the purposes of coordinating services to a child and/or his/her family
• Coordinating meetings for any non-adversarial, multi-disciplinary process designed to enable child, family and/or community to plan solutions to specifically identified issues concerning them 
• Organizing activities aimed at reacquainting the community youth with their Aboriginal identity
• Working with service partners including on-reserve community workers, traditional healers and elders, to provide mental health consultations
• Organizing Community Training Events & Groups
• Completing appropriate paperwork as required.

The successful candidate will hold a Master’s degree in an Allied Health, Behavioral or Social Science field relevant to the position, and have over two years of experience in a health setting working with complex care clients with a combination of mental health and/or addiction issues. Previous experience working with an aboriginal organization, preferably on a reserve, will be considered an asset.  

To excel in this role, you will have excellent written and verbal communication skills, a high level of confidentiality, the ability to work under pressure with professionalism and most importantly, be willing and able to travel by air or sea to provide community-based services as needed. 

A different combination of education and relevant experience may also be considered. 

About the Benefits

In exchange for your hard work and dedication, you will enjoy a competitive salary of $29.50 - $34.40 per hour (tax free if incumbent is of Aboriginal status), pending JJEP review.

In addition, you will enjoy full benefits, including:

• Full Medical/Dental/Life/Disability
• Relocation assistance
• Vehicle provided for work purposes

You'll love working within a friendly and supportive team environment, and will enjoy a stimulating organizational culture.

Are you a leader ready to take on a rewarding role that makes a true difference to the lives of children in the community? Then apply today!