Staff Counsellor

Arethusa College is an independent, co-educational school catering for students requiring an alternative to mainstream schooling. We are accredited as a Special Assistance School with campuses located across South-East Queensland.

We believe in Doing School Differently, providing an alternate approach to education, and serving students who have been let down by an education system that was not able to flex and adapt to meet their unique needs and circumstances.

Our College prides itself on promoting individual wellbeing and support for all in our community. The College acknowledges that quality education only exists where there are quality educators, and therefore values the contributions made by our staff. Our staff promote self-discipline, believing that the responsibility to change the future lies within the individual and is not found merely inside educational policy or applying unfair discipline.

Mission and Values

At Arethusa College we Believe, Expect and Celebrateas we see our students move towards achieving their full potential. We Believe in our students; we don't define them by their past experience but rather their future potential and possibilities. We Expect great things of our students; as a result we raise the bar, we invest and journey with them and we Celebrate our students; because they are absolutely worthy of being celebrated, as they step out of their comfort zones and towards the goals they set for themselves.

The Role

The Staff Counsellor role is a unique opportunity to work within a Special Assistance School which can be complex, challenging and a changing school environment, where multiple demands must be kept in balance. This position is part time (2 days a week) and will be working across our Forest Lake, Ipswich and Spring Hill Campuses. The role will include face to face as well as some online staff counselling. Staff wellbeing and support are a priority for our College and we offer and encourage all staff the ability to speak with the staff counsellor on a regular basis. This exciting new role is to provide specialist assessment, support and interventions that promote staff and college wholeness.

The Staff Counsellor reports directly to the Staff counselling coordinator. Each campus works within the Arethusa 'framework' with regards to areas such as strategic direction, policy and curriculum, while still valuing the uniqueness of each campus within its distinct community.

The Staff Counsellor will need good counselling and interpersonal skills, be able to build trust within the school and broader community as well as maintain high levels of confidentiality.

Personal qualities, social and interpersonal skills

The role of Staff Counsellor requires a skill set that includes emotional intelligence, empathy, resilience and a commitment to personal wellbeing.

The Staff Counsellor is required to be:

• Organised, well prepared and forward thinking
• Highly adaptable and willing to be solution focused in approaches to problem-solving
• Able to deal with conflict in proactive and supportive ways
• An effective communicator, able to listen to the needs of others, and seek out a clear plan forward
• Effective at negotiating solutions which achieve the set objectives, while best supporting the needs of all members of the team
• Able to adapt communication effectively with a wide range of people (staff, students, external stakeholders, other agencies)
• Able to think clearly and quickly when problem-solving, being both analytical and creative in offering solutions
• An advocate for the needs of staff, ensuring that the best possible outcomes are sought for all members of the College community
• A team player who can bring together collaborative campus-based teams
• Able to earn the trust of staff and peers through honesty, open communication, fairness, predictability and the ability to admit mistakes and take responsibility for them
• Demonstrates high level of knowledge and clinical skills obtained through relevant tertiary and postgraduate education.
• Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional development relevant to the key responsibilities of the role as approved by the Principal.
• Ensure that the College initiatives and values are integrated into practice and policies.
• Applies evidence that support continuous improvement of service delivery

Areas of Responsibility

The staff Counsellor is required to:

• Maintain registration with industry body AHPRA, ACA, PACFA or equivalent, including mandatory supervision hours as per regulators
• Adhere to Arethusa and industry ethical guidelines and codes of practice, delivering a high level of mental health support
• Maintain and uphold staff/client confidentiality except where appropriate action is required relating to supervision, harm or with consent from staff member/client
• Provide private and confidential service to staff/clients who self-refer to us as staff counsellors i.e. this does not get reported to line managers, principles, HR etc.
• Provide therapeutic consultations with campus staff to which you are allocated, inclusive of whole team except for campus principle
• Provide therapeutic consultations to wider Arethusa staff from other campuses when requested, excluding principles
• When required, debrief with principles about urgent and safety staff issues
• Encourage and empower staff to reflect and resolve relationship issues within the workplace where required
• Support staff to develop their professional and personal boundaries, as well as empowering staff to negotiate time lines with their line managers
• Cultivate self-awareness and self-confidence
• Refer staff/clients to external providers when required and empower staff to follow up and take ownership of their own mental health care
• Collaborate with other well-being staff to provide Professional Development opportunities
• Maintain own records and notes of therapeutic consultations, while adhering to privacy and record keeping policies
• Set and maintain professional boundaries with staff in general
• Join meetings when requested such as check ins/outs and debriefs
• Provide crisis debriefing to staff when required
• Provide content, psychoeducation, or offerings regarding well-being in team meetings when requested
• Check in and "walk arounds" when on campus
• Report to line manager when required
• Engage in ongoing supervision with line manager
• Be available for communications on days agreed in contract, however may be requested to be onsite or available via telehealth if feasible in times of need/crisis

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Counselling or similar
• Working with Children Paid Blue Card or willing to obtain one prior to commencement.

Include a copy of your paid Blue Card, detailed resume and a brief cover letter with your application.