Several No Experience Mental Health Facilitator Job Opportunities – StrongMinds Uganda
Job Title: Mental Health Facilitators
Organization: StrongMinds Uganda
Duty Station: Kampala; Lamwo, Iganga, Mukono, Karamoja and Mbale ,Uganda
Reporting to: Mental Health Supervisor, District Project Officers or Management Advisor
About US:
StrongMinds is a dynamic and fast growing 501(c)(3) social enterprise that focuses on one of the most pervasive mental illnesses in the world. We treat depression among women of all ages in Africa, where access to mental health treatment is extremely limited, and we are guided by a goal to treat two million depressed African women.
Job Summary: The Mental Health Facilitator (MHF) is a dynamic individual, who runs group therapy sessions for various community groups including but not limited to low income settlements, rural communities, refugees and host communities and/or pastoral communities affected by depression. They mobilize, screen, recruit into groups and provide treatment to refugees and other community members using the Interpersonal Group Therapy Technique. They are expected to be vibrant, energized individuals full of empathy and compassion for refugees, being able to engage them in small groups to discuss issues that are affecting them and come up with solutions. They will also work with community leaders, to create favorable environments for refugees affected by depression to not only recover but thrive.
With other MHFs, the MHF works collaboratively with the Monitoring and Evaluation Departments, Program Department Leadership sharing their experiences and learning so as to better the StrongMinds Model. The MHF should be accessible to and approachable by refugees and host communities. He/she should be able to work independently in the catchment area allocated building the necessary networks and partnerships to ensure successful cycles of group therapy sessions. They should strive to exhibit StrongMinds’ values, and understand their role in safeguarding vulnerable communities.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
The job description categorizes the key task into four divisions, all of which are important and the job holder should be able to ensure all tasks are planned for and implemented according to the organization’s annual and cycle calendars.
Serving refugees and host communities with depression
- Identify, diagnose, recruit into IPT-G adults suffering from depression. These may be refugees and host community members if posted to Hoima or pastoralists if posted to Kotido.
- Educate district personnel, community leaders and both formal and informal community structures on depression, its effects, the costs on inaction and benefits of treatment so that they can encourage and support people with depression to complete the course of treatment.
- Constantly seek to identify, understand, document and report the participants’ barriers to help-seeking and participation in group therapy sessions. Communicate these with supervisors and work together with both the refugees and your team to find and test innovative solutions to address this.
- Specifically pay attention to, monitor, document and report any increased risk of stigma towards refugees and their families due to their participation in the programme.
- Follow the prescribed IPT-G sessions guidelines make sure that you create a safe environment for refugees to discuss depression, their interpersonal relations, how the depression is currently affecting their lives.
- Follow–up and track participant attendance and participation and document progress to assess IPT-G efficacy.
- Work with the SMU team, refugees, community leaders, and key stakeholders to explore whether this group-based depression treatment and prevention programme works for refugees and whether it can be integrated into the Uganda refugees’ settlement camps system successfully and cost-efficiently.
- Identify refugees who can volunteer to lead IPT groups in their communities to be trained in an adapted peer led therapy curriculum.
Networking and partnerships
- Map and actively engage relevant stakeholders to ensure their buy-in and ownership of the mental health program.
- Interface with the management and administration of the districts, or refugees to monitor overall impact of the group sessions on the refugees and the host communities.
- Raise awareness and understanding of depression and mental health more broadly Among community members and the unique community groups.
- Identify barriers to success and report them to SMU Management supporting to find innovative solutions to these barriers.
Data collection and reporting
- Maintain accurate records including the collection of qualitative data (using both electronic and paper based tools) and ensure timely reporting based on the SMU calendar.
- Contribute to the understanding of the overall monitoring and evaluation questions as shall be set by the SMU management and M&E team/department.
Management and self care
- Attend and participate in weekly debriefing meetings with your team and supervisors
- Participate in face to face meeting with your supervisor
- Attend and participate in all trainings organized by SMU.
- Set aside time for selfcare so as to avoid burnout.
- Identify and report any instances in which you notice feelings of conflict between yourself and the client or clients (transference, counter transference, set boundaries are violated, secondary trauma and compassion fatigue).
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The ideal applicant must hold a bachelor’s degree in Guidance & Counseling, Community Psychology, Social Work, Social Administration, Development Studies; Nursing or any relevant health or social work qualification.
- Diploma holders with the above qualifications with more than one year experience in IPT-G will be considered
- A good understanding of depression and how to treat it using talk and group therapy.
- Be highly attune to counselling, self-help and participatory methodologies that will interest refugees and host communities and facilitate them to open up and discuss sensitive topics related to depression.
- Proven experience of working with refugees and host communities
- Proven experience in community outreach and mobilization specifically for vulnerable groups like women and children.
- An understanding of group dynamic and how to manage these in group therapy settings.
- Able to provide constructive feedback to the supervisor with the aim of enriching the experience of the refugees and host communities/benefiting from the program.
- Able to apply techniques that will find and retain refugees and host communities so as to maintain high attendance and adherence rates.
- Minimum of 2 year experience working with vulnerable communities
- Ability to work with minimal supervision
- Ability to develop, inform and sustain professional relationships, partnerships and networks.
- Good command of the English Language and Ngakarimojong. The two languages will be tested during interviews.
- Ability and willingness to undertake physical movements between and within communities mostly by public means
- Attention to detail
- Self-driven and able to work under minimum supervision
- Brave Adventurous, Inquisitive and willing to learn
- Trust worthy and honest
- Problem solver
- Leader with the boundaries of organizational rules, standards and guidelines
- Open minded and flexible.
Targets
- Number of IPT-G groups complete 12 sessions
- Percentage of clients reporting reduction in symptoms of people completing group sessions
- Number of clients complete IPT-G sessions
- Attend weekly debriefing meetings
- Attended organized trainings
- Up-to-date data collect, compiled and submitted to SMU M&E department by mid and end of cycle
SMU core values (in practice)
- We are people-focused. Our clients are the top priority and we ensure they receive the best possible care and support. Our employees matter and we enable our team to thrive. We respect all our stakeholders and treat them as equals.
- We think big and act fast. We are passionate about achieving our bold mission. We move with urgency and focus on achieving scale. We continually find new ways to work and to solve problems.
- We are data-driven. Data is at our core. It guides us and drives our decision-making.
- We do what we say and say what we do. We are open and direct in our communications. We are honest in our interactions. No funny business.
- We believe in collaboration, not competition. We do not compete with other mental health implementers. We welcome their contributions to achieving our mission and partner with them whenever possible.
How to Apply:
Please send your application letter and CV only (attached as one document) indicating 3 referees, two of whom should have been direct supervisors to christine.musisi@strongminds.org
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