About the Refugee Council

Founded in 1951, the Refugee Council exists to support people who come to the UK in need of safety and our purpose is to advocate with them for compassion, fairness and kindness. We achieve this by providing expert advice and casework, building the capacity of refugee community organisations, and working with allies across society to change government policy.

The Refugee Council is one of the leading organisations in the UK working with refugees and people seeking asylum.

Learn more about the Refugee Council here

About the Therapeutic Resettlement Services Team

The Therapeutic resettlement Services team provides counselling and therapeutic intervention through a team of psychological therapists and caseworkers to refugees presenting with emotional distress.

The team applies the Therapeutic Care Model based on a psychosocial perspective and in line with the professional ethical framework in counselling and psychotherapy.

Therapeutic Service – London we offer:

• Up to 12 weeks of one-to-one therapeutic counselling sessions online or face to face

• Crisis intervention to reduce distress and enhance well-being

• Psychological group sessions

About this role

This Volunteer post is based in London will provide a face to face therapeutic support.

What could I be doing?

• To provide a cultural and gender sensitive Therapeutic Counselling Service to refugees.
• To apply our Therapeutic case model in offering practical orientation, crisis intervention, one to one or group work in order to empower clients to regain control over their own lives and become the agents of their own change.
• To make effective referrals or signpost service users to specialist services which will help and support them on a long-term/more intensive basis where appropriate.
• To engage with training and learn how to use our IT and client database.
• To attend clinical supervision as part of their self-care and working safely with clients.
• To adhere to Refugee Council’s Safeguarding Policy and relevant Safeguarding legislation.
• Volunteers will have the opportunity to offer psychological therapy to refugees and can carry a caseload of up to 3 to 4 clients seen weekly for 12 sessions or groups.

Useful skills and experience

You will be:

• Qualified/working towards a recognised counselling or psychotherapy qualification and have at least 100 clinical supervised hours working with children and young people.
• A member of a recognised counselling body such as NCS, BACP, UKCP etc.
• Able commit to work for up to a year (minimum 6 months), working one day a week.
• A self-motivated volunteer therapist who feels comfortable working as part of a remote or face to face team.
• Competent to work therapeutically online, with a reasonable Wi-Fi connection.
• Happy to be responsible for uploading your own notes and the data associated with your caseload (with training and support provided).

Time commitment

For a minimum of 6 months volunteering one day per week at list 5 hours a day. We ask volunteers to commit to at least 6 months volunteering in the team.

How we support our volunteers

• Induction trainings and ongoing support from the administrator and line manger
• IT support
• Regular supervision, both clinical and management
• Access to the training and workshops provided for all project staff and volunteers

Learn more about this role by downloading our task description here [DOC].

You can apply for this role using this application form [DOC].

Interested? Contact Yodit Mussie at yodit.mussie@refugeecouncil.org.uk for more information.