Call for Expression of Interest for Clinical psychologist with psychotherapy training to provide psychological support to staff members on a consultancy basis

1. Background

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH provides services in the fields of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education, working around the world to shape a future worth living. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is GIZ’s main commissioning party. GIZ has been supporting German-Lebanese development cooperation for more than 20 years. In Lebanon, GIZ is working in three focus sectors: water, education, and employment promotion. In addition, GIZ has programmes that focus on social participation of women and youth, psychosocial support, and conflict transformation among Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian communities. Currently, GIZ Lebanon has around 90 employees. The majority of them are Lebanese.

GIZ Lebanon is committed to staff care, ensuring a safe and secure work environment where employees feel valued, motivated, stay healthy and well. As part of its staff care policy, GIZ supports employees in accessing psychological support to deal with work-related stressors and to manage crisis situations.

2. Description of tasks

The consultant will provide acute crisis support and up to 5 sessions of brief therapeutic support or psychological counseling to GIZ staff members. During the current COVID-19 related movement restrictions,  this service  will be provided  via telephone or online tools, and predominantly in person after the crisis has passed.

The support services can address the following:

1. Provision of psychological first aid and psychological support to GIZ employees with acute psychological support needs, for instance due to the quarantine restrictions, after traumatic events, security incidences etc. The psychological first aid shall also include family members of affected GIZ employees if needed. 
2. Provision of a maximum of up to five continuous psychological support sessions for staff members on work-related topics such as: stress, conflicts with colleagues and executives, secondary traumatization through contact with affected target groups, continuous stress due to the economic crisis, the coronavirus and the volatile security situation etc.
3. Support in case of gender-based violence and to GIZ Lebanon’s sexual harassment redressal committee, implementing GIZ’s sexual harassment redressal policy.

3. Requirements

The consultant shall fulfil the following requirements:

• Master’s degree in clinical psychology
• Certified professional qualification as psychotherapist in an internationally recognized psychotherapeutic approach
• At least 5 years of proven professional experience in providing psychotherapy
• Up-to-date knowledge on available psychological and psychosocial services in Lebanon and their quality for referral. Good professional networks with other psychosocial practitioners.
• Professional experience with staff wellbeing and stress management in organizational contexts
• Professional experience in online / telephone counseling or therapy
• Fluent in spoken and written  English (international language proficiency level B2)
• Fluent in  spoken Arabic, preferably native speaker (C1)

Additional, desirable qualifications:

Please indicate clearly in your CV which of those qualifications you possess, if any:

• Certification in psychological first aid or a comparable approach for support in acute cases of psychological distress and/or
• Work experience in work-related counseling and staff care on topics such as work-related stress, conflicts with colleagues and executives, burn-out / bore-out etc. and/or
• Work experiences with survivors of sexual violence and/or in the field of sexual harassment.