Egypt: Psychological Counselor - AMERA

Psychological Counselor
Job Description
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Sunday 14th of June 2009

Africa Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA), a UK-based refugee rights organization assisting refugees who seek asylum in Egypt, is seeking a dynamic team-builder with a background in social or community-based work to serve as Psychosocial Team Leader. AMERA requires an intelligent, hard-working person with a commitment to service for vulnerable people, and an interest in finding innovative ways to integrate psychosocial, community and legal aid approached to improving refugees' access to human rights.

AMERA is one of the leading refugee rights NGOs in Egypt. Our Egypt office serves more than 1000 refugees each year and involves the efforts of more than 40 staff, interns, and interpreters from Egypt and other countries. AMERA provides legal aid and psychosocial services to asylum seekers and refugees, and it has specialized teams dealing with unaccompanied minors, survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and community outreach.

Position Description AMERA\'s psychological counseling service aim is to provide emotional support, psycho education and problem solving skills to refugees living in Cairo. Counselors help refugees to improve their well-being, alleviate distress and maladjustment, resolve crises, and increase their ability to live more highly functioning lives in a supportive and confidential environment.

1. The Counselors who work with the psychosocial team, are assigned in-house clients, may go out and work with communities and participate in the development of new mental health services. Types of counseling include individual, couples, family and group counseling.
2. The Counselor will be responsible of conducting psychological assessments to support Refugee Status Determination and Resettlement claims.
3. The Counselor will assist other counselors in their casework supervision, as needed.
4. The Counselor will participate in the provision of continuing education for staff, CBO\'s, partners and other organisations on mental health issues.
5. The Counselor will participate in weekly team and staff meetings, attend to bi-weekly team supervision sessions, and bi-monthly consultation sessions with the Psychosocial Team Leader.
6. The job of the counselor is part-time for 20 hours per week, and s/he works under the day-to-day supervision of the Psychosocial Team Leader. This job description is a general overview and is supplemented by the specific activities and tasks described in the current version of the AMERA-Egypt Strategic Plan.

Requirements
1. English being the official language of AMERA Office, the Counselor must be fluent in both oral and written English.
2. Proficiency in written and spoken Arabic is an asset.
3. A Bachelors degree in Psychology, and a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology is required.
4. Experience working with refugees, immigrants or displaced people preferable.
5. Ability to take initiative and handle responsibility under pressure, but in the context of a collegial environment and in cooperation with other team members.
6. Willingness to work outside the office setting.

Additional Qualification Fluency in additional languages, especially those of East Africa (Amharic, Tigrinya, and Somali) and French.

To apply, email a cover letter (in English) and a complete CV to [email][email protected] ccd [email][email protected] We regret that, due to the significant number of applications received for vacancies advertised, we are unable to respond to each and every application received. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted to notify them of the next phase in the selection process.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.