About the organisation
Pregnancy Counselling and Care (Scotland) is a small Edinburgh-based charity that supports families and individuals
during pregnancy and early parenthood, or at times of loss, by providing practical and emotional support.
Our Vision:Nobody is left alone to struggle with pregnancy, loss or early parenthood
Our Mission:To support families and individuals during pregnancy and early parenthood, or at times
of loss, by providing practical and emotional support
Our Objectives:
This is done through the delivery of two services:
- Our Counselling Service - providing professional counselling to anyone who is struggling as a result of
pregnancy, childbirth, baby loss, miscarriage, termination, stillbirth or infertility
- Our Baby Bank –
that supplies baby equipment, clothes and toys to families experiencing poverty
Our Values:
- Respect/
Compassion
- Inclusiveness/Diversity
- Collaboration/Connected
- Dependability/Flexibility
About The Role
The Counselling Lead is a part time role (21 hours/week), based in a hybrid fashion from home and the Baby Bank in
the Gyle Shopping Centre, as well as the current counselling rooms in the Gyle and Dialogue and Space in the
east of the city.
The Counselling Lead will manage the counselling service, and line manage the counselling team of 10 counsellors
including both qualified practitioners and trainees. The Counselling Lead will manage the waiting list,
allocating them to counsellors appropriate to each client’s needs. They will also contribute to the furtherance
of our strategic priorities in respect of the counselling service:
- To increase capacity of our Baby Bank and our Counselling Service
- To improve awareness of all our
services and their impact on individuals and families
- To improve the quality of the services we
provide
There is a possibility of extension beyond May 2025, on a job share basis with the current post holder returning from
maternity leave.
Job Description
- Provide leadership and line management to our counselling team made up of sessional senior counsellors,
volunteer and trainee counsellors
- Manage the waitlist, contact referrals coming in and liaise with
counselling team to allocate initial assessments and first appointments
- Hold day to day responsibility
for child and adult protection concerns within the service with support from Operations Manager
- Support
counsellors in their work with client via line management supervision and regular check ins
- Provide
in-person support for placement counsellors at both counselling venues when required
- Recruit senior
counsellors when required, and placement counsellors on an ongoing annual cycle
- Provide comprehensive
training and induction for all new counsellors
- Review counselling policies and procedures, ensuring
child and adult protection procedures are followed and service remain in line with COSCA
standards
- Oversee the use of Bacpac (client management software) by all counsellors
- Collate
statistics from Bacpac and other client feedback routes to report against KPIs
- Liaise with other
referral organisations and other agencies to build up partnerships
- Promote the counselling service
through awareness campaigns and creation of resources for referrers and key audiences
- Ensure counselling
premises are suitable for the needs of the service and maintain relationships with in-person space
providers
- Contribute to the operational and strategic development of the counselling
service
- Work as a team with all the staff, contributing to team meetings and discussions
- Provide
regular reports to Board, liaise with fundraiser and Board members as required
- Liaise with Operations
Manager and Baby Bank Development Workers to respond to the needs of the charity
- Oversee PVG
applications for the service
Person Specification
Required:
- Fully qualified counsellor with a minimum of 200 hours of client work
- Full membership to COSCA or BACP
or other recognised governing body
- Willingness to work to COSCA Statement of Ethics and Code of
Practice
- Current PVG membership or willingness to join the PVG scheme
- Experience in
- Handling child and adult protection concerns and disclosures
- Providing online and in person
counselling
- Excellent verbal and written communications skills
- A proactive and
positive approach to problem-solving
- Ability to work effectively, both independently and as part of a
team
- Flexibility regarding specific hours worked, and attitude to activities undertaken
- A
passion to support others experiencing difficulties in their lives
Preferred:
- Experience of line management supervision, preferably in a counselling context
- Clinical supervisor qualification
- Counselling experience and / or knowledge of pregnancy and early parenting-related issues