Co-Cultural Counsellor

Aidan
The Rainbow Project
Belfast LGBT Centre 9-13 Waring Street Belfast BT1 2DX

t: 02890319030
e: director@rainbow-project.org
w: www.rainbow-project.org

Closing Date: 24 September 2010

Job Description

Job Title:                                Counsellor

Responsible To:                   Board of Directors (BoD)

Line Manager:                      Director

Salary:                                    £22,958 PA

Location:                                Belfast and Foyle

Hours:                                    35 Hours per week

Contract:                                1 Year Full Time post

Holidays:                               23 Days P. A. plus statutory holidays.

Due to the nature of this position, namely directly supporting gay and bisexual men, this post is exempt under the sex discrimination (Northern Ireland) order (1976) Section 10-(2) (e). This post also has a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) for the appointed person to be either gay or bi-sexual. This complies with the GOR requirements of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (NI) 2003.

The Organisation

The Rainbow Project is Northern Ireland’s only gay and bisexual male specific health promotion agency.  It exists to address the mental, emotional and physical health of gay and bisexual men in Northern Ireland.  Being a volunteer led agency, it works towards achieving these aims through empowering gay and bisexual men to make positive personal lifestyle choices.  Further to this, we work alongside other community, voluntary and statutory agencies to promote and mainstream issues relevant to gay and bisexual men.  We achieve our organisational aim by working through what we call “7 key areas” – Education; Information; Advocacy; Prevention; Research; Support; and Counselling.  We currently operate 2 offices, one located in Belfast City Centre and one located in L’Derry.  The organisation’s counselling service aims to assist gay and bisexual men, and those unsure of their sexuality, to explore their understanding of sexual orientation, express personal feelings, empower them to take action and come out, and ultimately contribute to making positive changes to their lives.

Overall Objectives of the Post

The overall objectives of the post of counsellor are as follows:

• To develop, promote and facilitate the organisations peripatetic co-cultural counselling service targeting gay and bi-sexual men.
• To develop and deliver training to a range of professionals on mental health issues for young gay and bisexual men.
• To facilitate issue specific therapeutic group sessions with the target group.
• To work alongside programme team colleagues to ensure that collective objectives are met.

MAIN DUTIES

• To provide a confidential and professional counselling service, in accordance with BACP ethical standards, targeting gay and bi-sexual men and those unsure of their sexual orientation throughout Northern Ireland.
• To identify, develop, facilitate and evaluate a programme of issue specific therapeutic groups in order to meet the needs of young gay and bisexual men.
• To develop deliver and evaluate training sessions aimed at increasing the capacity of a range of professionals to improve the mental health of gay and bisexual men.
• To be pro-active about accessing external supervision and indentifying training needs in order to ensure appropriate, up to date and professional practice.
• To promote the issues and outcomes of the programme accross a range of stakeholders.
• To liaise with the BoD in oder to ensure the development of best practice across the organisation in relation to the counselling service.
• To develop a promotional strategy for the counselling service in order to access gay and bisexual men.
• To assist in the provision of core organisational services such as advocacy and support.
• To develop and implement a monitoring and evaluation framework.
• To liaise with appropriate referral agencies and maintain an up to date organisation database on same.
• To liaise and network with a range of community, voluntary and statutory interests.
• To provide regular reports to the BoD on the progress of the counselling service.

Person Specification

You must have the following qualities and attributes and be able to demonstrate your abilities through your previous work experience (either paid or unpaid):

Personal Criteria:

• Be a confident out gay or bisexual man with knowledge and/or experience of the commercial and non-commercial gay scene;
• Have an appropriate understanding of the mental health needs of gay and bisexual men;
• Have a commitment to working with and for gay and bisexual men, and the ability to engage constructively with people across the age range;
• Have an appropriate understanding of the diversity of gay and bisexual men;
• Have the ability to respond and adapt to the constant changing needs of a volunteer-led organisation;
• Have an outgoing and approachable personality;
• Be willing to work flexible hours including evenings and weekends when necessary.

Essential Criteria:

1. Recognised professional post graduate qualification in counselling or psychotherapy, minimum of a diploma or equivalent or above (that includes a minimum of 300hrs theory and practice) in a counselling or related community, youth or health field.
2. Excellent oral and written communication skills including computer competence with proven inter-personal and communication skills (written and verbal).
3. Experience of working with vulnerable groups/individuals.
4. Ability to work flexible hours when required.
5. Be an accredited counsellor, or committed towards actively working towards accreditation with BACP, (or IACP, UKCP) and include current membership of BACP or equivalent Creative Therapy accrediting body.
6. Evidence of skills and experience in counselling, working one-to-one across the age range (including children and young people) and within group settings.
7. Experience, understanding and commitment to working to a gay-affirmative therapy model.
8. An understanding of working with gay and bisexual men, and the issues facing sexual minority clients in Northern Ireland.
9. Be clear about and able to work within professional and personal boundaries.

10. The ability to work independently and co-operatively as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

11. Have the ability and experience to relate appropriately to volunteers, co-workers and other professionals both formally and informally.

12. Have an understanding of the need for and importance of confidentiality.

13. Have experience in organising your own workload and the ability to be “self-supporting” in administrative functions.

14. A current Driving Licence and access to a car – this criteria will be waived in the case of an applicant whose disability or circumstances prohibits driving but who is able to organise alternative arrangements.

Desirable Criteria:

Having the following personal and/or professional; qualities, attributes and experience may be beneficial to your application:

1     Experience/ knowledge of key issues for young gay men.

2     Experience of working with a diverse range of presenting therapeutic issues.

3     An understanding of, if not experience in, provision of experiential training.

4     Awareness of Child Protection and related issues.

5     Knowledge and understanding of trauma.

6     Knowledge and understanding of adolescent development.

7     An understanding of, if not experience in, project planning and management, specifically within health promotion.

8     An understanding of, if not experience in, research techniques.

9     Knowledge of training and development resources and services appropriate to the perceived needs of gay/bisexual men.

10  Experience of having provided an advocacy role to disempowered individuals.

11  Experience of liaising with statutory, voluntary and community organisations.

12  Experience of monitoring and evaluation of counselling/creative therapy work.

The Rainbow Project regards all posts within the organisation to carry a degree of flexibility in their execution of duties in order to assist the development of the organisation.  All responsibilities associated with contracted personnel will be carried out in line with the aims and objectives of the organisation and policies set out by the BoD.  The above job description should not be viewed as an exhaustive list as other tasks may need to be undertaken as directed by the Line manager.

Employees will be expected to be flexible in their approach to working hours, as evening and weekend work may be necessary.  The organisation operates a Time-Off In-Lieu (TOIL) policy to cover time worked outside normal operating hours.

This post is funded for an initial period of 1 year.  Continuation of the post will be subject to the securing of future funding.