Associate Counsellor, Careminds

CAREMINDS – ASSOCIATE COUNSELLOR 

Are you ready to use your counselling skills to make a lasting difference in the lives of vulnerable young people? 

CareMinds provides time-limited counselling for young people aged 16–25 who meet the service’s eligibility and funding criteria. This includes care-experienced young people, care leavers and eligible homeless young people. The Associate Counsellor will provide a safe, respectful and collaborative therapeutic relationship to help each young person explore their concerns and support their emotional wellbeing and coping strategies.

Counselling is normally offered over 6–8 sessions. It is not an open-ended service. Associates must not extend an episode or continue seeing a young person beyond the agreed allocation without prior approval from the CareMinds Mental Health Lead. Any later episode must follow a fresh referral, review and allocation through CareMinds.

Please see attached Job Description and Person specification for essential skills and knowledge required for the post and click apply to submit your CV. 

See attached Recruitment Guidance notes and Why Work for MACS with more information, or email hr@macsni.org if you have any further queries. CV’s submitted must demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria required for the post. 

Location: Based in or within practical travelling distance of Belfast, Lisburn, Downpatrick or Newry; available to take referrals in one or more of these locations 

Working Hours: Flexible and sessional self-employed associate; allocations depend on referrals and associate availability 

Session Fees: £40 per completed session; £10 per DNA. A higher fee applies for critical incident or high-risk work, agreed with MACS based on the clinical input required 

Closing Date: Tuesday 17th November 2026 

MACS is committed to equality of opportunity and to selection on merit and all offers of employment are subject to an Access NI Disclosure Check.