Mental Health Counselor Intern

OnPoint NYC is seeking a Mental Health Counselor Intern for the Summer/Fall of 2025. This role is a critical component for the agency’s street and office-based mental health program, which includes low-threshold risk reduction education, drug treatment placement, the provision of educational and support groups, and low-threshold mental health services. OnPoint NYC’s service model is based on educating participants and facilitating empowerment so that individuals advocate for themselves and make self-identified changes in their lives. 

Consistent with this philosophy, OnPoint NYC’s mental health services help participants identify their strengths, needs, and barriers to accessing services, while promoting concepts of wellness, developing their support networks, and connecting them to opportunities to identify, influence, and change the policies that affect their lives. The Mental Health Counselor Intern is key to ensuring that OnPoint NYC operates in a manner consistent with the principles of harm reduction and is responsible for modeling behavior consistent with an agency culture that values education, growth and collaborative team-based management. 

Reports to: Associate Director of Mental Health

• Provide mental health subject matter expertise and consultative support to staff working in the Drop-In Center, the Overdose Prevention Center, and the Holistic Center.
• Facilitate brief interventions in the Drop-In Center, the Holistic Center and the Overdose Prevention Center, engaging participants and educating them about available services.
• Provide support to Drop-In Center staff and Overdose Prevention Center staff in crisis situations, utilizing crisis intervention and de-escalation strategies.  
• Carry a caseload of approximately 10, engaging participants in regular counseling and therapy services.
• Provide ‘light touch’ therapeutic and crisis intervention engagements to a larger number of participants (25 ) in OnPoint’s lower-threshold programs including the Drop-In Center/Lounge spaces, respite rooms and Overdose Prevention Center.
• Support case management team in providing clients with complex care coordination services.
• Ensure maintenance of proper documentation. 
• Coordinate care with NY metro-area social work and mental health counseling programs.
• Monitor feedback from staff and participants to ensure that the agencies to which we refer are effective and treat participants with respect and dignity.
• Work on a multidisciplinary clinical team and with external providers to coordinate the delivery of these services (including medical and dental care, and food and clothing distribution) to OnPoint NYC participants.
• Continually and proactively educate yourself about new developments in the field and work with colleagues to share information and best practices.
• Perform other related tasks and responsibilities as assigned.

• Currently enrolled in a graduate-level mental health counseling program.
• Work and/or life experience in the areas of substance use, sex work, HIV and HCV preferred. Knowledge of the Bronx, East Harlem, and/or Washington Heights IDU/substance use communities preferred.  
• Must have strong interpersonal and team building skills, excellent communication and presentation skills, and the ability and willingness to be hands-on and creatively solve problems as they arise. Strong clinical and administrative skills are required.
• Must be committed to the harm reduction philosophy and to working with marginalized people (mainly people who use drugs and sex workers) in a multi-cultural, multi-racial environment in a non-judgmental manner.
• Must be dedicated to advancing an agenda of equal rights and social justice for marginalized individuals, especially through participation in advocacy and community activism.
• Proficiency with MS Office (including Word, Excel and Outlook) and use of the Internet for research required.
• Bilingual (English and Spanish) is highly preferred