Associate Director Counseling Services

Suffolk University is pleased to announce recruitment for an Associate Director/Counseling Services within Counseling, Health & Wellness, an integrated student health center providing counseling, medical, and wellness education services to a diverse population of undergraduate, law, and graduate students. The Associate Director/Counseling Services will assist with the development, oversight, and management of Counseling Services in association with the Director and other members of the Senior Leadership Team. This position provides formal and informal supervision of staff and works collaboratively to maintain Counseling Services operations consistent with best practices and the provision of inclusive mental health care within a University setting. As a psychologist, this position will also provide direct clinical services to students, serve in the after-hours counselor-on-call rotation, and participate as a supervisor in CHW’s APA-accredited Doctoral Internship and/or Practicum programs. This position also serves on the DEI Team for CHW, a group of CHW staff dedicated to furthering the Center’s commitment to equitable and inclusive service delivery. This is an essential position providing emergency response and serving in the Director’s absence as needed.

CHW provides holistic and culturally inclusive services to Suffolk’s student population. All counseling staff provide a range of services including clinical and outreach work with students, supervision and training to counseling trainees commensurate with licensure, and engagement with campus partners regarding students of concern. All CHW staff and trainees participate in routine CHW professional development seminars and Student Affairs meetings and events as needed. CHW’s diverse and interdisciplinary staff maintain a warm, collaborative, and supportive environment with a focus on teamwork and authenticity.

Successful candidates for this position will have experience working in higher education with 2+ years of leadership experience in higher education or a related setting. Experience providing clinical supervision and a commitment to accredited training programs are required. Experience and comfort initiating, coordinating, and providing outreach and training to the campus community is required. Successful candidates will also bring a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as the application of social justice and antiracist concepts in clinical and higher education settings. Candidates should also have developed experience and skills in multicultural counseling approaches, self-awareness and reflection, and the ability to engage in difficult dialogues.

Specific duties include:

1. Counseling Services Operations. In collaboration with the Director, maintain and update counseling procedures in line with best practices and culturally inclusive care. Respond to clinical services issues as they arise including clinical consultation and risk management decisions. Provide formal and informal supervision to staff, including direct reports of professional counseling staff. Lead the weekly Counseling staff case consultation meeting and join the Director in attending Student Affairs meetings addressing students of concern. Maintain counseling staff daytime and on-call schedules to ensure appointment availability, limit wait-time for appointments, and sustain productivity of counseling staff. In collaboration with the Director, provide consultation and assistance to campus partners regarding students of concern, students returning from hospitalization, or other urgent needs.
2. Coordinate Outreach and Training Services for counseling staff. Respond and coordinate staffing for programming requests in collaboration with the Director and Assistant Director for Wellness. Work to ensure the integration of wellness and sociocultural identity across all outreach efforts in collaboration with the Assistant Director/Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Participate in provision of outreach to the campus community including serving as a member of the Suicide Prevention training team (QPR).
3. Provide clinical services. This includes initial assessments, intakes, risk management, and individual and group counseling utilizing culturally inclusive counseling approaches consistent with a short-term counseling model. Provide crisis assessment and response including decisions regarding referral of students to a higher level of care. Provide after-hours consultation to Suffolk staff in collaboration with ProtoCall as a member of the Counselor-on-Call rotation. After-hours availability required in cases of campus-wide emergency response.
4. Participate in Supervision of Counseling Trainees. Provide individual and/or group clinical supervision and training within the Center’s APA-accredited Doctoral Internship and/or Practicum Training Program. Facilitate training seminars and participate as a member of the Training Team for both programs as needed.
5. Serve as a member of the CHW Senior Leadership Team. Collaborate with Director and other team members regarding operational and administrative oversight and evaluation of CHW’s services. Contribute to ongoing efforts to ensure CHW services are accessible and effective for students for a wide range of socio-cultural identities and backgrounds. Contribute to and reinforce CHW’s holistic, inclusive, and interdisciplinary service model utilizing strong interpersonal, communication, cultural humility, and self-awareness skills.
6. Represent CHW to campus partners and external constituencies. Attend and participate in Student Affairs professional development meetings. Serve on campus committees as needed. Actively participate in professional associations and organizations according to degree, license, and role to remain current with innovations in provision of clinical services to university students.
7. Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

1. Doctorate in clinical or counseling psychology (Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed.D). Eligibility for licensure in Massachusetts within 6 months of hire. Must be licensed as a psychologist in any US jurisdiction for 2+ years.
2. 3+ years of experience in college counseling or comparable setting.
3. 2 years of experience in leadership including direct administrative and supervision of professional staff and/or advanced trainees.
4. Experience providing clinical supervision to trainees. Experience supervising Doctoral Interns preferred.
5. Demonstrated clinical skills in the provision of culturally responsive counseling services to a diverse adult student population. Strong skills and comfort with risk assessment and crisis response. Comfort utilizing short-term treatment models such as CBT, ACT, DBT, TLDP, or short-term dynamic/interpersonal approaches. Demonstrated ability to manage complex caseload.
6. Interest, experience, and comfort initiating, coordinating, and providing outreach and training to the campus community.
7. Sincere commitment to the provision of culturally inclusive healthcare. Strong self-reflection skills, knowledge of cultural humility, and interest in ongoing professional development related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
8. Interest and/or experience working in interdisciplinary and integrated care settings.
9. Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. Commitment to ongoing professional development and self-awareness, interest and comfort in engaging authentically in conversations regarding identity, oppression, and privilege with students and staff, and well-developed self-management and work/life balance skills.

Other Information

1. CHW staff work on-site 5 days/week during the academic semesters. During winter and summer breaks, remote work is encouraged while sustaining minimum on-site staffing.
2. Ability to work occasional evenings, weekends, and holidays to address emergent student concerns and/or deliver CHW programs to campus constituencies.