Counsellor

About Start With ME

Start With Me is a dual diagnosis counselling service providing support to people with complex mental health issues in Victoria. We are a service who not only have professional expertise but lived experience that is used to guide clients through their healing journey. 

Position Purpose

Start With Me plays a key role in providing a range of support options for people affected by complex mental health issues including their family, friends, and carers. 

The mobile outreach counsellor will provide support that is trauma informed, person centred and holistic, recovery oriented and culturally competent. This role involves providing brief counselling interventions tailored towards a client needs. The mobile counsellor must have adequate skills to deal with complex clients and take initiative in dealing with risk assessments and safety plans. The counsellor will be expected to work with clients all of ages and diverse backgrounds within the North and West of Melbourne. 

Key Accountabilities:

• Work with people with complex mental health issues and their supporters, families, and carers to provide brief counselling and support services utilising evidence informed approaches within your scope of practice 

• Deliver Psychosocial support planning and coordination in a multi session format 

• Provide counselling on a face-to-face basis 

• Deliver support through channels preferred by the service user. 

• Respond to any other Support Centre related enquiries (from other channels).

 • Conduct call backs when appropriate to service users in need

• Send requested written information to service users.

• Ensure professional standards are upheld including privacy, confidentiality and duty of care as well as those relevant to professional registration requirements and scope of practice as applicable 

• Consistently display and promote high level commitment, integrity, and diligence in all aspects of work and decision-making 

• Ensure the delivery of evidence informed services and supports

 • Appropriately document contacts with service users to ensure SWM Policies are adhered to. 

• Participate in, and develop skills and knowledge through, professional development and supervision sessions. 

• Recognise and respond to deterioration in mental state and escalate care and support in line with policies and procedures 

• Adhere to SWM policies and procedures

 • Provide support, mentorship, supervision, and training as required. 

• Document accurate and thorough case notes & incident reports around encounters with service users in a timely manner.

 • Maintain accurate and timely records of contacts and other activities utilising Microsoft Office

 • Other duties as required.

Quality, Safety & Clinical Governance 

• Maintain an understanding of individual responsibility for participant and service user safety, quality & risk and contribute to organisational quality and safety initiatives. 

• Follow organisational safety, quality & risk policies and procedures

 • Maintain a safe working environment for yourself, your colleagues and members of the public

 • Contribute to organisational quality and safety initiatives. 

• Escalate concerns regarding safety, quality & risk to appropriate staff members, if unable to rectify yourself. 

• Promote and participate in evaluation, audit and continuous improvement processes.

 • Comply with principles of Person-Centred Care. 

• Comply with requirement of National Safety 

People and Culture 

• Demonstration of SWM values 

• Maintain respectful relationships and communications with all SWM members 

• Actively embrace and value diversity and inclusion in the workplace 

• Respect SWM’s policies and procedures

Essential Requirements

Qualification and experience 

Registration or eligibility to register prior to commencement with one of the following professional bodies: 

• AHPRA as a registered nurse, occupational therapist, psychologist. 
• PACFA – minimum provisional working toward full registration. 
•  ACA- minimum level 2.
• Or other relevant bodies

• Tertiary qualification in psychology, social work, counselling, nursing, occupational therapy. 

• A minimum of two years relevant mental health work experience post qualification. 

• Current National Police and Working with children check

 Skills & Expertise 

• Demonstrated commitment to trauma informed, recovery oriented, person centred and culturally competent service provision. 

• Demonstrated high level communication and interpersonal skills 

• A proven commitment to ongoing professional development, personal wellbeing and clinical supervision 

• An understanding of assessment and support planning, clinical reasoning and goal setting, problem solving, organisational and prioritisation skills 

• Demonstrated high motivation and willingness to learn with a commitment to professional conduct and SWM values

• High reliability and professional conduct 

• Demonstrated ability to practice collaboratively and work effectively as part of a diverse and multidisciplinary team 

• Highly developed computer skills and digital service provision skills 

• Demonstrated commitment to cultural diversity and a working knowledge of equity and WHS principles in the workplace

Pre-employment checks

• Reference checks
• Right to work in Australia
• National Police check
• Working with children check