Mental Health Specialist

About the Organization

Haitian Bridge Alliance, Inc. (HBA) also known as “The BRIDGE” is a 501(c)(3) grassroots nonprofit community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA works to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and build solidarity and collective movement toward policy change. 

HBA is made up of, and collaborates with, diverse people from different backgrounds, cultures, languages, classes, and education levels. HBA is committed to extending the values it fights for to its working environment and relations, and expects its staff and volunteers to be committed to the core values of integrity, honesty, fairness, openness, respect, and responsibility.

About the Role

The Haitian Bridge Alliance is hiring a Mental Health Specialist to join the organization and 

 coordinate closely with HBA staff and supervise externs to ensure Black migrants referred for mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS) are provided in a high quality and trauma-informed manner.

Responsibilities:

• Help newly arrived individuals, families and children, who have left their home country in search of safety and protection address mental health concerns 
• Exhibit superior communication skills to uncover complicated mental health issues
• Conduct comprehensive evaluations through interviews, observation, and psychological testing to identify mental health concerns. 
• Make accurate diagnoses of mental health disorders based on assessment findings.
• Developing individualized treatment plans including therapy modalities, goals, and interventions based on client needs. 
• Empathize with a wide range of people with a focus on the needs of the Black migrants
• Develop and recommend treatment plans based on Black migrants needs and diagnosis
• Provide referrals when necessary for additional care, evaluation, or treatment
• Diagnose and treat emotional, mental and behavioral disorders
• Use literature, research and translate complex concepts and use them to treat Black migrants
• Conduct case management tasks
• Conduct administrative tasks

Qualifications: 

• Haitian Creole fluency is strongly preferred; we will consider French fluency. 
• English fluency is required; Spanish fluency is a plus. 
• 2+ years of experience as a Mental Health Specialist or related field
• Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling or Bachelors Degree in Social work or Cognitive Psychology. 
• License eligible in your practicing jurisdiction
• Ability to pass a thorough background check
• Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with diverse populations
• Have strong working knowledge of diagnostic techniques
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Provide weekly group supervision to clinical psychology externs, as required by the American Psychological Association (APA).
• Provide individual group supervision to clinical psychology externs, as required by APA.
• Serve as a point of contact for mental health emergencies that arise among Black migrants.
• Provide ongoing training and support to psychology externs to ensure they are providing culturally competent and trauma-informed services.
• Interpersonal skills, including being able to relate to Black migrants in order to help them
• Empathy to identify with Black migrants’ experiences to help them understand what is causing them to feel a certain way
• Trustworthiness to keep information confidential, as Black migrants will tell the psychologist their most private thoughts and secrets
• Communication skills and the ability to know when to talk and when to listen to create a safe environment for the Black migrants
• Critical thinking to help the psychologist make an accurate diagnosis to recommend proper treatment

Questions

We are happy to answer any questions you may have about this role. Please send inquiries to HR@haitianbridge.org, with the subject line “Mental Health Specialist”. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.