1646
« on: September 10, 2006, 07:42:46 PM »
Here's the PV counselor job description posted on Covenant Health's site recently :
PROGRAM COUNSELOR
Job Code: 16258
Location: PENINSULA VILLAGE
Department: Girl's Outdoor Program
Description: Full Time: 3 days/4 nights.
Requirements: Social services degree preferred, but H.S. diploma with experience will be considered.
Duties: Work in the outdoor setting with paitents in a residential facility. Provide safety, supervision and therapy to adolescents in our care. Need extreme flexibility with scheduling and extensive availabililty.
Covenant Health is committed to a safe and healthy work environment. Therefore, employment is subject to a successful background check and drug screen. Also, a credit check may be performed on applicable positions that deal with handling money. EOE
Education: High School Diploma/GED [/color]
The highlights are mine. This was the job listing which caused my concern about the level of counselor training required at PV. TSW is right, I know guys who come out of school with doctorates and can't navigate a corner without a crew of cartographers, or operate a door knob without an instruction manual and logistics team. "Common sense" is never considered as a requirement. Some mindless twit who's only talent might be regurgitating information he doesn't understand gets a degree for being a parrot. Parents with unlimited resources can buy an education for a moron (YOU STAND GUILTY, "W" BUSH!). I view the RTC counselors like cops: Some are ignorant, pig-headed fucks with an agenda that has nothing to do with protecting and serving, just cracking skulls. Others are committed to doing their jobs as best as possible. I know a couple of cops who did extreme favors for me outside the line of duty.
How do you tell a bad cop/counselor from a good cop/counselor during a job interview? Both jobs have low pay and high risk, so it takes a motivation to seek this kind of work. Some are motivated by altruistic urges, others want a chance to fuck with people as vengeance for all the years they were shat on.
I would now agree that a B.A. is not going to make someone a good counselor. One poster who worked at Peninsula Village said she noticed a downward slide in the program there, but it wasn't due to the day-to-day staffers,the blame lies with the clinicians who failed to train them properly. A counselor without proper skills is only a prison guard.
But back to the Beast...Peninsula Villains wants counselors with high school/GED levels to provide therapy to adolescents, and that should be the responsibility of the staff therapists, not the counselors.
Instead of the term "counselors", "day organizers" might be more appropriate, or "program leaders". Or, "Julie, your cruise director".
TSW, I've got another Penicillin Villa-PM on it's way. It'll piss you off, so prepare a large & potent libation in advance. I know the info made fire shoot out of my ass.