The Traits of an Effective Youth Worker or Youth Counsellor

by Julie Bradley

As with many fields of employment, the counselling field is rife with certificate programs, degrees, diploma and qualifications that are deemed “necessary”, yet in reality, those of us who hire youth workers/counsellors are looking for many things aside from basic education.

It is always nice to see someone apply for a position with a degree or diploma in hand, but if we look at the evolution of youth issues, you quickly see that often diploma and degrees don’t have the necessary current dose of reality to provide the candidate with essential skills needed to work with youth.

What makes a good youth worker/counsellor/advisor? Clearly, the person MUST have the ability to connect to and understand youth. This sounds far easier than it actually is. The most effective counsellors/workers see youth in a variety of settings. Maybe they were lifeguards, soccer or field hockey coaches, group home workers, or recreation workers. The connection to youth is a result of a real understanding and commitment built from years of working with them. “Working with youth” does not always include the counselling skills that one is aspiring to. It includes being with youth in a variety of venues and understanding issues and youth sub-culture. A connection is forged and strengthened over a long period of time.

Part of this connection involves the ability to talk. Communication skills are an essential element that cannot be ignored when hiring a youth worker. The ability to talk is key, and what you say is as important as how you say it. Talking effectively includes listening which is a big part of communication with youth. Although written skills are important from an administrative perspective, the effective spoken word is invaluable in a youth worker.

Some employers look at the lifestyle of the youth worker applicant. The applicant increases their chances of employment if they model good behaviour for clients. This is a most difficult assessment during the hiring phase. A role model is one who youth can look to and see that they can move forward in their life despite challenges and obstacles. It is very important to me, as an employer, that the potential youth counsellor is one who is physically active and has a balance in their life. In that situation, not only are they modeling what potential can be, but also they are taking care of themselves. Working with youth is physically demanding work and often the balance in an employee’s own life is going to determine their own success in the field. If you haven’t taken care of yourself… how can you provide support to someone who has no resources at all?

As youth provide a bevy of challenges, we often see youth who need to deal with more than one issue in order to move forward in their life. Not only do they need a job, they need to move out of the car they are living in, need clothing, transportation and dinner tonight. But, before those needs are met… they have lifestyle and addiction demands to attend to. A youth worker needs to understand a variety of issues around substance use and abuse. Certification at this level is considered essential to the success of those who work with youth. There are a variety of certificates available, but it is critical that the potential employee understands the impact of substance use, addictions, treatment, detox availability and mental health concerns with youth. This is no longer an optional training area for effective youth workers/counsellors. Without these skills you are in danger of becoming out of date with current choices youth make. There are a variety of training programs and certification in this area, which provides the youth worker with considerable knowledge to address addiction and substance use issues. Without a base understanding of drug and alcohol use, it is difficult to understand the behaviours of youth in 2005.

Other professional development, which is valuable, remains any training in the area of working with aggressive behaviours, conflict resolution and dealing with non-communicative behaviours. There are a variety of training institutions, which offer courses in this area. One must caution that the training must be geared towards youth issues… not adults. There are different barriers to address with youth clients… look for training targeted towards skills development when working with youth clients.

Another key ingredient for the successful youth worker remains the ability to accept youth as they are. We may not like the choices they’ve made and how they made those choices, but to this point the system they have in place has worked for them. The system may be completely unhealthy, but a good youth worker respects that this system has got the youth this far and it isn’t our area to criticize choices made.

Most importantly and above all, I am looking for that spark. This personality trait is critical when dealing with youth. Every single person who walks through our doors must be seen as potential and not a problem. The youth may have challenges, but as a youth worker, you must want to work with that client. It is easy as an employer to determine who of your potential candidates has that spark. I often hire from the spark and then look and see how much training is required to bring the candidate to a higher counselling level. Counselling skills are trainable… a personality is not.

Last, I look at my current staff. I’ve five fairly young (all under 30) high energy staff members each working with caseloads of youth. Each has a positive outlook and a healthy balance in their life. They support each other and provide guidance to new staff members as they are introduced to our organization. Ultimately we are here for the youth…not the funders, not the other service providers…the youth. They provide the best barometer of hiring prowess.

Julie Bradley has been working with youth and at risk youth in a variety of locations throughout BC for the past 15 years. She is owner of Cowichan Youth Services, a partially funded organization that works with youth in providing a Resource Centre to all youth in the region. The Resource Centre operates as a referral point to a variety of programs and services throughout Vancouver Island. Julie writes for a variety of publications and often speaks at conferences on the subject of at risk youth. The most recent publication written specifically for at risk youth is “The Skinny on Job Search”. This book targets skills that at risk youth need during their job and career search. Julie has a law degree and has taught at both the College and University level, although working with youth remains her passion. She can be contacted through Cowichan Youth Services at cvyouth.ca/.