Alcohol & Other Drugs Counsellor
Closing Date: 16 January 2025
Category: Youth Engagement & Community Development
Change your scene and become a VSA Volunteer and share your experience, knowledge, and skills to transform the lives of many. Work with our partner organisation to create a fair future for all.
VSA will organise and fund, flights, visas, insurance, accommodation, living allowance and utilities while on assignment.
Please note VSA Volunteers must be a NZ citizen or permanent resident.
Volunteering with VSA
Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) is not your typical volunteering agency, we are committed to building sustainable communities across the Pacific. If you’re an experienced counsellor or mental health professional, looking for an extraordinary overseas experience in the Pacific to build into your field of expertise – working collaboratively with Empower Pacific, then read on, as we have an exciting opportunity in store for you!
Our Partner Organisation -
Established in 1994, Empower Pacific provides services to communities and vulnerable individuals/groups, working in partnership with the Fiji Government and other community agencies. Alongside providing programmes aimed at enhancing the health and wellbeing of clients, Empower Pacific also provide professional counselling and social work services targeting interventions for gender-based violence and child protection.
The Assignment
This assignment is a partnership assignment between VSA and Empower Pacific. With a rising number of youth and children being referred to Empower Pacific for alcohol and drug-related treatment, an experience counsellor is needed to work with the team, providing guidance, mentorship and training to build capacity with Empower Pacific. This volunteer will assist in evaluating a patient's health, recommend treatments and assist in developing skills to aid in recovery.
The Volunteer
Are you someone who wants to make a difference, have a sense of adventure and like the challenge of being outside your comfort zone? VSA Volunteers are technical experts who impart their skills and knowledge to the local community. You will need to be flexible, adaptable, resourceful, resilient with a passion for Aotearoa and the wider Pacific community.
We're looking for a volunteer with the following: Diploma or Degree in Counselling, Mental Health, Social Work or another related field.
Fiji includes the other 3 cultural groups called Fijians -Rotuma, Rabi, and Kioa (Rabian and Kioans) were resettled in Fiji after being evacuated from Ocean islands, Tuvalu and Kiribati).
It is a destination attraction for its coral reefs, clear lagoons, and tropical landscapes. Fijian indigenous society is very communal, with great importance attached to the family unit, the village, and the vanua (land). With the introduction of traditions such as Indian and Chinese and significant influences from Europe and Fiji's Pacific neighbours, particularly Tonga and Samoa, these various cultures have come together to create a multicultural national identity for Fiji.
Fiji has several development goals they are focusing on as a country such as lowering youth unemployment rates, reducing poverty, reducing child mortality and gender inequality, increasing environmental sustainability, and improving the health and education status of its citizens.
Apply Now!
Apply for this amazing opportunity through our website. For more information on this assignment, email volunteer@vsa.org.nz.
To review the full assignment description please copy and paste the below link into your browser:
Please note: The VSA office will be closed from midday on 20th December, and our recruitment team will be unavailable to review applications or respond to queries about this assignment until we reopen on 6th January 2025. You’re welcome to submit your application during this period, and we’ll review it as soon as we return.
If you are on the VSA website, please click on the download assignment description tab above.
VSA will organise and fund, flights, visas, insurance, accommodation, living allowance and utilities while on assignment.
Please note VSA Volunteers must be a NZ citizen or permanent resident.
Volunteering with VSA
Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) is not your typical volunteering agency, we are committed to building sustainable communities across the Pacific. If you’re an experienced counsellor or mental health professional, looking for an extraordinary overseas experience in the Pacific to build into your field of expertise – working collaboratively with Empower Pacific, then read on, as we have an exciting opportunity in store for you!
Our Partner Organisation -
Established in 1994, Empower Pacific provides services to communities and vulnerable individuals/groups, working in partnership with the Fiji Government and other community agencies. Alongside providing programmes aimed at enhancing the health and wellbeing of clients, Empower Pacific also provide professional counselling and social work services targeting interventions for gender-based violence and child protection.
The Assignment
This assignment is a partnership assignment between VSA and Empower Pacific. With a rising number of youth and children being referred to Empower Pacific for alcohol and drug-related treatment, an experience counsellor is needed to work with the team, providing guidance, mentorship and training to build capacity with Empower Pacific. This volunteer will assist in evaluating a patient's health, recommend treatments and assist in developing skills to aid in recovery.
The Volunteer
Are you someone who wants to make a difference, have a sense of adventure and like the challenge of being outside your comfort zone? VSA Volunteers are technical experts who impart their skills and knowledge to the local community. You will need to be flexible, adaptable, resourceful, resilient with a passion for Aotearoa and the wider Pacific community.
We're looking for a volunteer with the following: Diploma or Degree in Counselling, Mental Health, Social Work or another related field.
- Minimum 3 years groundwork experience in alcohol and drug counselling, education and prevention.
- Knowledge of best practices in substance abuse prevention, psychoeducation and counselling.
- Proven experience in providing alcohol & drugs counselling to diverse clients.
- Knowledge of legal frameworks and ethics related to substance abuse prevention and intervention.
- Knowledge of stakeholder networking and referral pathways for substance abuse mitigation and intervention.
- Experience of advocacy/advocate on various platforms and among multidisciplinary stakeholders on the issue of alcohol and drugs interventions.
Fiji includes the other 3 cultural groups called Fijians -Rotuma, Rabi, and Kioa (Rabian and Kioans) were resettled in Fiji after being evacuated from Ocean islands, Tuvalu and Kiribati).
It is a destination attraction for its coral reefs, clear lagoons, and tropical landscapes. Fijian indigenous society is very communal, with great importance attached to the family unit, the village, and the vanua (land). With the introduction of traditions such as Indian and Chinese and significant influences from Europe and Fiji's Pacific neighbours, particularly Tonga and Samoa, these various cultures have come together to create a multicultural national identity for Fiji.
Fiji has several development goals they are focusing on as a country such as lowering youth unemployment rates, reducing poverty, reducing child mortality and gender inequality, increasing environmental sustainability, and improving the health and education status of its citizens.
Apply Now!
Apply for this amazing opportunity through our website. For more information on this assignment, email volunteer@vsa.org.nz.
To review the full assignment description please copy and paste the below link into your browser:
Please note: The VSA office will be closed from midday on 20th December, and our recruitment team will be unavailable to review applications or respond to queries about this assignment until we reopen on 6th January 2025. You’re welcome to submit your application during this period, and we’ll review it as soon as we return.
If you are on the VSA website, please click on the download assignment description tab above.
We are looking for a volunteer with:
- 12-month Volunteer Service assignment based in Suva, Fiji
- Flights, accommodation and living expenses provided
- Volunteer to build counselling capacity and support substance abuse recovery
VSA covers flights, accommodation, insurance and some expenses. A living allowance is also provided.
Does volunteering with one of the largest and most experienced agency in international development interest you?