Licensed Counselor (LMFT preferred / LPC / LCSW)

The Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is hiring a licensed master's-level clinician with advanced couples and family training to join Behavioral Health Services (BHS), an established, in-house team supporting the emotional health, resilience, and career longevity of the deputies, detention officers, telecommunicators, and civilian staff of the largest sheriff's office in Texas and the third-largest in the United States and the families who stand behind them. This position builds a dedicated marriage and family therapy program within BHS focused on sworn HCSO peace officers.

The Licensed Counselor delivers evidence-based couples and family therapy, individual counseling, and crisis and post-critical-incident support to sworn HCSO peace officers, with clinically appropriate collateral participation by partners and family members as part of the officer's care. The role also contributes to peer-support consultation, wellness visits, academy and in-service training, and division-wide capacity-building in law-enforcement family work. Compensation is competitive with regional public-sector and academic behavioral health positions.

We invite applicants who are licensed in Texas as an LMFT, LPC, or LCSW; LMFT or equivalent training and experience in couples and family therapy is preferred. Prior training or experience serving law enforcement, corrections, other first responders, or comparable populations such as military is also preferred.

Compensation

Compensation is competitive with regional public-sector and academic behavioral health positions. As a full-time Harris County employee, you likely qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), which forgives the remaining federal Direct Loan balance after 120 qualifying monthly payments (approximately 10 years).

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide evidence-based couples and family therapy and individual counseling to sworn HCSO peace officers, with clinically appropriate collateral participation by partners and family members as part of the officer's care.
• Deliver family-systems-informed clinical services addressing relationship distress, communication problems, family adjustment to critical incidents, parenting in high-stress occupations, and co-occurring conditions such as PTSD, depression, and anger, in person and via telehealth.
• Conduct post-critical-incident visits to address immediate reactions, provide education on common stress and trauma responses, and identify appropriate follow-up support.
• Conduct mandatory and voluntary wellness visits for personnel in designated high-exposure assignments.
• Provide office-based brief crisis stabilization and clinical consultation; CIRT serves as the primary field response for mental health emergencies.
• Participate in a rotating 24/7 on-call schedule through the Emergency Dispatch Center to provide after-hours clinical consultation and critical-incident response.
• Provide consultation and training to the HCSO Peer Support Network on recognizing family-system distress, making appropriate referrals, and normalizing help-seeking; maintain and strengthen pathways from peer support to in-house couples and family services.
• Develop and deliver in-service training at the HCSO Academy on family and relationship wellness, communication, resilience, and related topics; contribute to broader BHS training on stress management, suicide prevention, and post-traumatic stress.
• Support outreach, prevention, and program development for the BHS marriage and family therapy program, including educational content on communication, conflict management, shift work, and family adjustment to trauma.
• Cross-train and consult with existing BHS clinicians on evidence-based relationship interventions to build division-wide capacity in law-enforcement family work.
• Coordinate with other Personnel Support Division programs, including Peer Support Network, Chaplaincy, Family Assistance, and Military Liaison.
• Support program evaluation and reporting, including utilization tracking, outcomes, and continuous quality improvement.
• Ensure compliance with departmental policy, applicable law, and licensure requirements.
• Perform other duties as required within the scope and responsibility of the position.

This Job Description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this position. Management may, at its discretion, assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

• Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, Counseling, Social Work, or a substantive equivalent from an accredited institution of higher education. 
• Doctoral degree in a related discipline is acceptable if paired with the required Texas licensure below.

• Required Licenses and Certifications

  • Currently licensed in Texas as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), or Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW); or currently licensed at the equivalent independent-practice level in another U.S. jurisdiction with the ability to obtain Texas licensure by endorsement or reciprocity within an agreed timeframe following hire. Associate-level licensees (LMFT-Associate, LPC-Associate, LMSW) and applicants pursuing initial independent licensure are not eligible.
  • Valid Driver's License (Texas upon hire).
• Minimum of three (3) years of post-licensure professional experience providing individual, couples, and family counseling, including diagnosis and treatment of adults with clinically significant emotional, relational, behavioral, or trauma-related concerns.

Knowledge of:

• Advanced couples and family therapy, including family systems theory, and evidence-based approaches such as Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy, or comparable models.
• Individual counseling and psychotherapy with adult populations, including trauma-focused, cognitive-behavioral, and related evidence-based approaches.
• Current DSM and ICD diagnostic criteria as applied to adult populations.
• Ethical principles and standards of the applicable Texas licensure board (LMFT, LPC, or LCSW), and Chapter 611 of the Texas Health & Safety Code governing mental health records.
• HIPAA and other federal and state laws governing the confidential handling of mental health information.
• Public-safety culture and the occupational stressors of law enforcement, corrections, and telecommunications personnel, and their impact on marriages and family systems.
• IACP Police Psychological Services Section and related professional guidelines relevant to embedded behavioral health services for public-safety personnel.

Skilled in:

• Conducting evidence-based couples and family therapy and individual counseling with adult populations.
• Applying family systems formulations to relationship, marital, parenting, and post-critical-incident presentations.
• Providing crisis intervention, brief stabilization, and post-critical-incident response.
• Consulting with peer supporters, command staff, and other clinicians while maintaining clinical and ethical boundaries.
• Preparing accurate, timely records and reports that meet legal, ethical, and administrative standards.
• Exercising independent clinical judgment in an autonomous practice environment.
• Interacting effectively with sworn personnel, command staff, allied agencies, and community partners.

Ability to:

• Deliver couples, family, and individual services in an embedded public-safety behavioral health setting while maintaining confidentiality and professional standards.
• Manage a clinical caseload alongside consultation, training, and program-development responsibilities.
• Consult effectively with operational leaders while maintaining appropriate clinical and ethical boundaries.
• Adapt clinical practice to a public-safety agency environment and to the unique dynamics of law-enforcement families.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with sworn and civilian personnel, agency leadership, allied agencies, and community stakeholders.
• Contribute to program evaluation, reporting, and continuous quality improvement.
• Engage in ongoing professional development in law-enforcement family work and evidence-based couples and family interventions.

• Licensure as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), or LPC/LCSW with substantial, documented training and clinical experience in couples and family therapy.
• Advanced training in evidence-based couples or family models, such as Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Prepare/Enrich, or comparable relationship-focused approaches.
• Prior experience serving high-tempo, high-risk populations (e.g., law enforcement, corrections, other first responders, military, emergency medicine, aerospace, or other mission-critical settings), or serving the families of such personnel.
• Training or experience in trauma-focused interventions relevant to first responders and their families (e.g., CPT, PE, EMDR, CBT-I).
• Experience developing or delivering training and prevention programs to first-responder or public-safety audiences.
• Experience communicating effectively with varied audiences, including all levels of management and peers.
• Demonstrated interpersonal effectiveness and professionalism in working with others in a collaborative, multidisciplinary, team-oriented environment.
• Demonstrated ability to be flexible and adapt quickly to changing requirements.

Work Environment

This job operates primarily in professional office and classroom environments, with some opportunities to deliver services in the field.

Physical Demands

This role is primarily sedentary. Occasional lifting and carrying of up to 10 pounds is necessary to lift files, boxes of records, and training materials.

Position Type and Typical Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are typically Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., though there is some flexibility in the schedule. Hours may vary based on the business needs of the department, and participation in a rotating after-hours on-call schedule is required.

To Apply:

• Complete the online job application (including HCSO employment history and education); incomplete applications will delay the application process
• To be considered for this position, the application must be received by the closing date

Note:

• Applicant submission of a Job Application does not guarantee an interview

Equal Opportunity Statement

Harris County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, or any other protected class in accordance with applicable federal and state laws.