Senior Psychotherapist, Psychotherapy and Mental Health Services, Student Wellness

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Reporting to the Manager Psychotherapy and Mental Health Services the incumbent will provide culturally responsive evidence-based psychotherapy to students who identify as Black Indigenous and/or People of Colour (BIPOC). This role is designed to address the unique mental health needs of BIPOC students including concerns related to racial identity intergenerational and racialized trauma migration and displacement acculturative stress systemic oppression and experiences of discrimination within academic and broader social contexts. The incumbent will support students in developing resilience emotional regulation self-compassion and coping strategies that promote psychological well-being identity affirmation and academic success.

The incumbent will provide individual psychotherapy and design and facilitate therapeutic groups that center BIPOC students lived experiences and strengths. The incumbent will also contribute to ongoing reporting on clinical activities and outcomes in accordance with established reporting structures to support service evaluation accountability and continuous quality improvement.

We seek a clinician who brings strong clinical judgment cultural humility and a deep understanding of how systemic inequities and social determinants of health shape mental health experiences. This position is dedicated to supporting BIPOC students including those navigating intersecting identities and trauma histories. We are seeking candidates with demonstrated experience and training in culturally responsive and anti-racist clinical practice who can provide affirming trauma-informed and strengths-based psychotherapy within a post-secondary setting.

The incumbent will have demonstrated knowledge of and lived experience with the impacts of racism and systemic inequities on mental health as a Black Indigenous and/or racialized person.

In this role your responsibilities will include:

• Individual Counselling: In alignment with the recommended servicedelivery model and using a studentcentered strengthsbased approach meet individually with students to assess their emotional psychological and relational development and then develop and implement shortterm therapeutic interventions that support their wellbeing. Intervene with students experiencing psychological or emotional difficulties and manage crisis situations including suicidal crises in accordance with the Code of Ethics of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (or equivalent) to ensure the safety of all parties involved. When necessary refer students to more specialized or longerterm services within the University or in the community so they can access mentalhealth care that meets their needs.

• Group Counselling : Design and facilitate group counselling sessions and psychoeducational workshops to reach as many students as possible and to foster peer support networks and social integration thereby increasing their resilience throughout their studies.

• Consulting Expertise: Act as a subjectmatter expert for the university community regarding student mental health and wellbeing in order to promote awareness and understanding of student needs and the various personal situations students may experience.

• Team Supervision: Provide supervision to a team of professionals delivering clinical services and mentalhealth crisis management. Advise team members on best practices and appropriate actions when dealing with complex or highrisk cases involving safety concerns (risk of harm to self or others). Consult with the supervisor or manager for any critical incident requiring higherlevel intervention.

• Project Management: Supervise a team of professionals working on a variety of projects related to mentalhealth and wellness service delivery. Support team members in project planning and management as well as in work methods and processes. Ensure the delivery and accountability of assigned projects.

• File Management: Prepare and maintain detailed records for each student seen ensuring the ability to trace the sequence and nature of professional services provided. Ensure effective management of these records to preserve confidentiality in accordance with University regulations and the guidelines of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.

• Supervision of Others: Depending on the incumbents area of expertise and level of experience supervise the work of counselling interns and provide feedback to ensure they meet student needs effectively and adhere to professional ethical standards. When required train and supervise students hired through the WorkStudy Program such as Peer Counsellors and ensure their work meets established standards and guidelines.

What you will bring

• Graduate degree in counselling psychology or another related discipline.

• Applied training in suicide intervention techniques (ASIST) or equivalent training.

• Knowledge of mentalhealth issues in a postsecondary environment.

• Ability to provide various psychotherapy modalities based on evidencebased practices.

• Full membership with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO)

• At least five (5) years of experience in a similar role.

• Clear criminal record.

• Bilingualism French and English (oral and written). Must be able to provide therapeutic services in both official languages

• Knowledge and experience in using and interpreting the most recent psychometric instruments.

• Eligibility for professional liability insurance as an independent practitioner.

• Strong interpersonal communication and clientservice skills.

• Awareness of issues related to confidentiality informed consent accessibility and diversity.

• Experience developing and facilitating psychoeducational workshops.

• Knowledge and experience with computer systems and software such as Windows word processing spreadsheets databases Internet and email.

• Ability to work evenings and weekends when required.

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect teamwork and inclusion where collaboration innovation and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons racialized persons persons with disabilities women and LGBTQIA2S persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1 2022 the University required all students faculty staff and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.