Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor

The incumbent functions as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) in the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment programs located in the Dayton VA Medical Center. The incumbent functions as a master level mental health counselor on an interdisciplinary team.

Qualifications:

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education: Hold a master's or doctoral degree in: Clinical Mental Health Counseling; Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; or a related field, from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Examples of related mental health counseling fields include, but are not limited to Addiction Counseling; Community Counseling; Gerontology Counseling; Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling. CACREP defines the date when graduates are considered to have graduated from a CACREP accredited program. Additional information may be obtained from http://www.cacrep.org/directory/. NOTE: Traditional Rehabilitation counseling programs that are accredited by CACREP do not meet the LPMHC qualification standards as Traditional Rehabilitation counseling differs from Clinical Rehabilitation counseling.
• Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to LPMHC positions in the GS-0183 series in VHA must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment. NOTE: It is VHA policy that a LPMHC who does not yet have a license that allows independent practice must be supervised by a licensed independent practitioner of the same discipline who is a VA staff member and who has access to the electronic health record.
• English Language Proficiency: LPMHCs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.j.

Grade Determination:
Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor GS-11

Experience, Education, and Licensure: In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of post-master's or post- doctoral degree mental health counseling experience (VA or non-VA experience) and must be licensed to practice at the independent practice level and demonstrate the KSAs in below. LPMHCs may provide clinical supervision over the clinical practice of an unlicensed LPMHC or LPMHC trainee. Some state licenses do not license an individual to provide clinical supervision to trainees or unlicensed LPMHCs. Please refer to specific state licensing laws regarding the requirements for providing clinical supervision.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-9 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

1. Ability to make professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendation for treatment planning and implementation.
2. Advanced knowledge and mastery of the fundamentals of the counseling process which includes defining patient/family problems and maintaining an effective counseling relationship.
3. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the counseling process within various specialty areas, build on the foundation of competence through regular meetings and discussions to explain assignments, review progress of cases and confer about the counseling perspectives and orientation.
4. Ability to provide complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress. Requires independent judgment and skill.
5. Ability to establish goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient utilizing advanced counseling skills, including evidenced- based practices, screening, and psychosocial assessment.
6. Ability to use a wide variety of individual, group, or family counseling interventions.
7. Ability to fully utilize the current DSM in making diagnoses and formulation of treatment goals and application of appropriate clinical intervention using professional counseling practices.
8. Ability to develop and facilitate psychotherapy and psycho- education groups that include life skills, family support, and community integration. This may include evidence based psychotherapy.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11.

Physical Requirements: Work is primarily performed in an office setting. Work is mostly sedentary; however, the incumbent must follow appropriate safety procedures as there will be some periods of walking and may involve light lifting, turning, or moving hands, arms, feet, and legs to operate hand and foot controls. The position requires the use of office equipment such as computers, keyboards, telephones, fax machines, and photocopy machines. Visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity are required. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations and able to shift priorities based on patient needs. May be exposed to infected patients and/or contaminated materials and will be required to take appropriate safety and protective measures.

Responsibilities:

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Screening of potential veterans who have been referred to the program and collaborate with provides to determine suitability for program.
• Complete a comprehensive psychosocial assessment on the veteran, taking into account the presenting problems, historical information, medical and psychiatric issues, legal implications, the present environment, significant others and the current support system.
• Collaborate with various agencies and providers working with the veteran to gather collateral information and for continuity of care.
• Review all data and make a clinical assessment, identifying needs and strengths.
• Utilize advanced clinical training, insight and experience to interpret data and to identify viable treatment options.
• Provide explanation of the different levels of care available and why one level may benefit the veteran more than another.
• Utilize advanced clinical judgment to determine the appropriate level of care and to assess the effectiveness of treatment.
• Provide orientation and overall program information to the veterans and others involved in their care.
• Utilize advanced clinical skills to work with veterans who are considered a high-risk population and who have high recidivism rates. The veterans' lack of support ( community and/or family), inability to cope and problem solve, non-compliance with treatment and poor self-monitoring all lend themselves to the need for professional support and therapeutic modalities utilized in a residential setting.
• Independently initiate and provide creative solutions to reoccurring problems, such as a loss of resources.
• Professional recommendations and referrals are made for those veterans who tend to have frequent and severe crises.
• Make clinical diagnoses based on the psychosocial assessment, utilizing professional judgment and advance practice skills.
• Perform insightful assessment of complicated cases involving mental illness, legal consequences, transmittable and terminal medical conditions, addictions and other high ­risk factors.
• Utilize advanced clinical training to assess the veteran's current situation and its far­ reaching implications.
• Evaluate the motivation for treatment and determine the willingness or ability to comply with the treatment recommendations.
• Assist veteran with discharge planning and appropriate referrals for community re-entry.
• Utilize advanced clinical skills to incorporate the veteran, past experience, current problems, significant others, community agencies and the interdisciplinary team into the treatment planning process.
• Consult with other specialists in planning treatment for veterans with co-morbidities.
• Utilize the psychosocial assessment to suggest plans for the course of treatment.
• Provide consultations and recommendations in the development of interdisciplinary treatment plan.
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday 8am-4:30pm
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 91542-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Salary : $76,693