Simon Karanja

I have a background working as a clinical psychologist in Kenya, practicing at institutions like Community health support, Kisumu district hospital, Mathare, Kaizora institute for children with autism spectrum disorder and Aga Khan, assessing clients of all age groups and gender. Through this, I have learnt how to assess the needs of my clients and work with them to come up with appropriate treatment plans. Part of my experience has been in doing this as an e-health service provider i.e. online services (due to COVID restrictions). As a clinical psychologist, I am required to be able to assess my clients for all DSM-V mental disorders, which my time in the field has allowed me to do. I have assessed clients for a broad number of mental conditions including neurodevelopmental disorders, depression, schizophrenia spectrum, personality disorders, substance use, neurocognitive disorders, trauma and more. I believe your institution can benefit from my experience in the field.

 I also have experience disseminating information at conferences; in 2018 I participated in KEMRI KASH conference where I got the opportunity to be one of the first to speak on the issue of climate change and mental health. As part of my past experience at Community Health Support, I was required to handle some of the HR tasks, responsibilities that required me to be organized, handle data, follow instructions and manage resources. Other responsibilities included training community health works on how to collect mental health data from community members, while working in the field. I am able to handle scheduling and planning, plus produce reports as needed. As part of my field project at COHESU, I was responsible for sourcing and handling resources to help build the SEAM library/school (Self-education and mentorship), which is a mentorship program for children and adolescents that caters to their mental health, and teaches them how to manage their economic environments.   

I have a history conducting research at USIU during my master’s in clinical psychology. From 2017-2018, I autonomously carried out a study on over 400 adolescent students in Kisumu county, in the search for a correlation between resilience and deviant behavior among high-school students. This quantitative research allowed me to sharpen my research skill and ethics, from getting the proper authorization from the IRB and NACOSTI, to producing my academic paper as a final result. During this process I designed, did literature reviews, planned, implemented, analyzed and developed interventions. 

As a psychologist I have mastered interpersonal, communication and assessment skills, while also developing a high level of integrity and a sense of confidentiality. I am capable of working and delivering in high pressure situations, and have the ability to learn and adopt to new environments and situations. 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

Community Counselling Services, CCS Aga Khan – Nairobi, KE

Clinical Psychologist (Part-time), May 2019 – to Date

• Assessing clients for poor mental health and mental health disorders, diagnosing, developing of treatment plans and execution of treatment plans.

Community Health Support, COHESU (300+ hours) – Kisumu, KE

Clinical Psychologist, 2018 – to Date

• Project Lead:  Self Education and Mentorship Program (provides an environment where children in the community can learn about maintaining proper mental health, while also learning about topics they may not cover in school such as economics and farming)
• Pro-bono psychological assessment and referral of clients. 
• Support of project development and management. 
• Identifying funding/ partnership opportunities and mobilizing community development resources.
• Developed 3 proposals for potential new projects and prepared budget and costing for all new project proposals.
• Maintaining contact with relevant bodies and persons.
• Support of the coordination and participation in meetings with donors and partners.
• Strengthening partnership with rural community, children, adolescents etc. while working autonomously. 
• Training of community health workers at COHESU on use of screening tools for mental health disorders, to spot mental health red flags in the community. Training on African context, meaning and range of understanding for both clients and CHWs, translations to local language and nuances involved in identifying mental illness.
• Mental health initiative: Mapping of household mental health cases in Western regions of Kenya.

National Counter Terrorism Centre, in partnership with United Nations Development Programme, UNDP – Naivasha, KE

Trainee, Sep 2021

• Trained on soft approaches when engaging with returnees (radicalized people returning home)
• Identified at risk for radicalization populations 

United States Agency for International Development & President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, USAID/PEPFAR-HIV/AIDS youth program – Kisumu, KE

Project coordinator, Jan 2021 – Feb 2022

• I was responsible for planning with my team for the project, and for ensuring it ran as planned
• Studied HIV/AIDs knowledge and attitudes within the youth age group and their parents, and how this may affect HIV prevention within the region.

Physicians for Human Rights, PHR – Nakuru, Naivasha, Eldoret, Kisumu, KE

Trainer, Nov 2020 – Jan 2021. May 2022

• Development of training content and tool for resilience development among frontline healthcare workers, working with victims of sexual violence.
• Training FL-HW on vicarious trauma, and development of resilience especially during a time of COVID-19. 

NIC & CBA bank merger by invitation from Oasis Africa – Kisumu, KE

Clinical Psychologist, Mar 2018

• Group work with employees of both banks to help prepare for change associated with banks’ merger. Stress assessment of employees, psychoeducation for coping skills and support systems, team building and creating a winning culture. 

Kaizora school for children with autism spectrum disorder, 200 hours – Nairobi, KE 

Clinical Psychologist, Aug – Dec 2017

• Supported applied behavior analysis for 10 children. 

Mathare Mental Hospital 400 hours – Nairobi, KE 

Clinical Psychologist, Aug 2016 – Jul 2017

• Carried out diagnosis of psychological symptoms and disorders.
• Assessed and understood the needs of hundreds of clients and gained a better understanding for the value and need for privacy and discretion.
• Created treatment plans and carried out therapy with clients.
• Improved communication skills evidenced by my ability to better investigate and find the needs of my clients. 

Community Health Support (COHESU) 200 hours – Kisumu, KE

Internship - Volunteer work, 2012 - 2014

• Supported program development for ‘Total war against HIV/AIDS behavior change’ in adolescent high school children.
• Worked with children vulnerable to soil transmitted diseases especially jiggers (Tunga penetrans). We mapped out vulnerable locations and established a control program that included Jiggers treatment and TOMS shoe giving, One for One in primary schools. 
• Gained experience working in a public service organization, as well as responsibility and ethics at the work place. 

Red location South Africa – Port Elizabeth, SA

Internship, Oct – Dec 2013

• Community development project to improve infrastructure in the location 
• Gained trust and sensitized members of a new community, on the benefits and impact on their community of a new community development project.
• Gained experience working in a multicultural environment.

Kisumu District Hospital, Ministry of health Kenya 100 hours – Kisumu, KE

Internship, Jan – Jun 2012

• Gained knowledge and supported in the assessment and diagnosis of mental disorders. 

2015-2018:          Masters in Clinical psychology, United States International University, Kenya, GPA: 3.3/4.0 Thesis Project: Resilience and deviant behavior (suicide & violence) among high-school adolescents in Kisumu County