Medical Social Worker (RSW)

Employer: Durham West Network Family Health Team (DWN FHT) and Ajax Harwood Clinic Site: Ajax Harwood Clinic, 88 Harwood Avenue South, Ajax, ON L1S 2H6 (onsite, with some network-wide group work) Hours: Full-time and part-time opportunities are available. Schedule: Typically Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Some flexibility may be required. Pay: $77,673 a year (about $39.83 an hour, based on 37.5 hours a week), prorated for part-time Start date: Within the next two months This posting is for an existing vacancy. ABOUT THE ROLE The Social Worker provides counselling, brief psychotherapy and practical support to patients of Ajax Harwood Clinic, a family practice of approximately 3,700 patients within the Durham West Network Family Health Team. Working independently and in close collaboration with a team of healthcare professionals, the Social Worker supports patients who are often older or frail, living with several chronic conditions, low income or isolation, and many of whom carry mental health concerns. The role offers the opportunity to work with patients over time in a setting built on continuity of care, and to facilitate group programming, including presence-based mental health and NADA ear acupuncture groups, that serves patients across the Durham West network. WHAT YOU WILL DO - Offer counselling and brief psychotherapy to individuals, with continuity: the same person, over time. - Help patients with the practical side of a hard life: housing, income, caregiving, community supports, and getting to the appointment that was missed. - Lead or co-lead groups in our daily programme: presence-based mental health, chronic disease, and NADA ear acupuncture for stress and addiction recovery. Groups run in person and, as our audio-visual setup comes online, in hybrid form for patients across the network's four clinics. We train you on the job; interest matters more than experience. - Work in the room with physicians and nurses, with warm handoffs and shared plans. - Reach out to patients who are isolated, and keep careful, respectful EMR records. WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR - Registered, or eligible for registration, with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (RSW). An MSW is preferred. - Competence in counselling or psychotherapy. Group work experience is a strong plus, not a requirement. - Presence and steadiness: you can stay with distress without rushing to fix it. - Flexibility and a willingness to learn: you are comfortable moving between individual counselling, groups and practical support, and open to new approaches. - Comfort with complexity, frailty, poverty and isolation. - A continuity mindset, and curiosity about presence-based approaches, including NADA (we train). - Confidence with an EMR, email and virtual group platforms. HOW TO APPLY Apply through Indeed with your résumé. If there is a fit, we will ask you to answer a few short questions, then invite you to a one-hour online e