Counselling Supervisor

Department: Student Wellness Services
This position is represented by the agreement between the Professional Staff Association and the University of Guelph

If you are a current employee of the University of Guelph you must apply on the internal Career Page in order to be considered as an internal applicant.
Career Opportunities (sapsf.com)

General Purpose

Student Wellness Services (SWS) at the University of Guelph is seeking an experienced Counselling Supervisor to provide leadership, clinical oversight, and assist with day-to-day service within Counselling Services. Counselling Services is one of several units within SWS and includes a multidisciplinary team of approximately 25 service providers: counsellors (20), mental health crisis workers (2), student wellness navigators (3), and a mental health support worker (1).

Reporting to with the Manager of Counselling Services, the Counselling Supervisor is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Counselling team while strengthening the team’s clinical practice to respond to service demands. The Supervisor plays a key role in ensuring the team are providing services that are student-centered, equitable and aligned with best practices in postsecondary mental health care. The Counselling Supervisor plays a pivotal role in supporting student wellbeing, fostering staff excellence, and contributing to a healthy, inclusive campus environment. They assist team to respond to service demands and identify and problem solve barriers that impact students’ ability to access or benefit from care.

Duties and Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

• Oversee the day-to-day operations of Counselling Services, ensuring high-quality, accessible, and responsive care for students.
• Refine, create,and implement operational procedures to enhance service effectiveness and student experience.
• Collaborate closely with other Student Wellness Service units to ensure integrated, coordinated, and aligned programs and services.
• With manager, implement evaluation, review service trends, providing ongoing quality improvement.

Professional Development and Team Leadership

• Provide both ad hoc and ongoing clinical consultation for individual staff and overall team development.
• Oversee staff in their scope of practice and caseload management. Coaching staff in brief, goal-focused, and flexible counselling approaches appropriate to postsecondary settings.
• Collaborate with Manager for team meetings.
• Facilitate and/or coordinate training for the team as needed.
• Provide ongoing performance discussions for staff and provide annual written summary of discussions.
• Foster inclusive, integrative, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and trauma-informed approaches across all aspects of care.
• Build strong, trusting relationships with staff to promote collaboration and cohesion within the team and across SWS.

Direct Clinical Service

• Provide limited direct clinical services to students as required, using brief, responsive, and evidence-informed therapeutic approaches. Lead by example in clinical work.
• Support students in developing self-efficacy, belonging, empowerment, and academic success.
• Assess risk, mental health functioning, and personal and community safety, providing consultation and guidance to staff supporting students at risk.
• Provide consultation, training, and presentations to campus partners and stakeholders on mental health and wellbeing topics.

Campus Engagement

• Consult with campus community partners as required for trainings or service development.
• Provide trainings and contribute to committees as required.
• Encourage and oversee team’s engagement across campus as representatives of Student Wellness Services.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., counselling psychology, social work) with appropriate coursework and research training.
• Minimum six (6) years of direct clinical practice, including mental health work with complex and/or high-risk presentations.
• Minimum two (2) years of direct clinical supervision experience.
• Registration and good standing with a regulated professional college (e.g., Registered Psychotherapist, Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers).
• Demonstrated training and experience in clinical supervision.
• Highly developed counselling and assessment skills, with a strong theoretical foundation.
• Experience working with individuals with diverse and intersecting identities and/or lived experience within equity deserving communities. Experience leading a team with an anti-oppressive, anti-racist and trauma-informed lens.
• Experience with the breadth of problems presented by students, (anxiety, depression, interpersonal problems, trauma, loss) as well as the complexity. Mental health service experience an asset.
• Experience supervising and developing a service team.
• Experience managing diverse caseloads using brief intervention models and coaching clinicians in similar approaches, including single-session or skills-based interventions.
• Demonstrated ability to assess risk and support decision-making for students experiencing acute or complex mental health concerns.
• Knowledge of the broader mental health system, including emergency services, legislation, and referral pathways.
• Experience developing and delivering training, workshops, and public presentations.

Additional Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies

• Excellent crisis intervention and problem-solving skills, with the ability to remain calm in high-pressure situations.
• Experience working within interdisciplinary and collaborative team environments.
• Strong understanding of professional boundaries in both clinical and supervisory contexts.
• Group therapy experience, including knowledge of group process and therapeutic dynamics.
• Experience with program evaluation, service measurement, and quality improvement an asset.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and standards (e.g., PHIPA, Mental Health Act).
• Strong written, oral, and presentation communication skills.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.

This appointment is regularly performed on campus.

Employee Type: Regular
Position Number: 10920766
Classification: P&M FT- Band 07
Professional/Managerial Salary Bands
The target hiring salary for this position is minimum and up to 96% of midpoint for the salary grade.

*Tentative evaluation; subject to committee review.

At the University of Guelph, fostering a culture of inclusion is an institutional imperative. The University invites and encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in employment, who may contribute to further diversification of our Institution.

Posting Date: 02/03/2026
Closing Date: 02/10/2026