Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor

Summary

The Cheyenne VA Medical Center is looking to fill the vacancy for Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder/Substance Use Disorder (MHRRTP PTSD/SUD)Team Specialist.

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
• 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
• 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 3 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
• May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria)
• Grade Determinations: Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor - GS-12 Experience - Education - and Licensure
• In addition to the basic requirements - candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex LPMHC experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level
• Senior LPMHCs must have five years of post-licensed experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment - demonstrating progressive professional competency and expertise and be licensed to provide clinical supervision to trainees or unlicensed LPMHCs
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-11 grade level - the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex mental illness
• Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients - including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice
• Ability to determine priority of services needed and provide specialized treatment
• Advanced and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities for Veterans with complex needs
• This includes individual - group - and/or family counseling - or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial - and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans
• Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs
• Ability to design system changes based on data
• Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the psychosocial treatment of patients - rendering professional opinions based on experience - expertise and role modeling effective clinical skills
• Ability to teach - mentor staff and trainees - and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications
• Ability to engage in written and oral communication with leadership/staff and community stakeholders regarding policies - procedures - practice guidelines - and issues pertaining to the practice of the profession
• Preferred Experience: Candidates who have been fully licensed for at least 2-years
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• This vacancy is being recruited for the above the full performance level at GS-12
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
  
  

Duties

• Duties: Provides consultative services to other clinical and administrative staff - and to VA programs - focused on any aspect of the Veteran's Care
• Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions including individual therapy - group therapy - and psychoeducation classes
• Best practices - practice guidelines - and evidence-based treatment protocols are utilized to the extent feasible in all therapeutic interventions
• Develops person-centered - culturally sensitive treatment plans to address mental health needs of patients and ensures care provided is of the highest quality with little oversite/supervision required
• Conducts evaluations to aid in the differential diagnosis of complex cases
• Complies with national and local performance measures - including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients
• Provides supportive consultation in the development and utilization of Medical Center and community resources
• Consults with providers on behavioral or treatment concerns related to Veteran treatment while on the MHRRTP
• Acts as subject matter expert with substantial responsibility - consulting with providers of high-risk complex patients
• Provides training to clinical and non-clinical staff in the Medical Center - Community Based Outpatient Clinics resources
• Provides crisis intervention - when indicated - including timely evaluation - assessment - and triage of at-risk Veterans in crisis to identify immediate needs - evaluate risk - and initiate safety plan as appropriate
• Serves on Interdisciplinary Treatment Team(s)
• May provide services through the use of Tele-Mental Health/Tele-Home technology
• Facilitates liaisons with other service lines and medical center programs in order to effectively coordinate services
• Supports team education and compliance with national and local performance measures - including timely completion of Clinical Reminders as well as utilization of Measurement Based Care
• This may be done through the implementation of tools such as E-Screening and Modeling to Learn - which this incumbent will be a Team Specialist and champion to implement
• Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by the Associate Chief of Staff (ACOS) - MHSL and any other mandatory meetings regularly
• Supports and assists supervisors in strategic planning related to creation of clinic profiles - provision of groups programming - and utilization of tele-mental health
• Expands clinical expertise in the counseling profession in order to write policies - procedures - and/or practice guidelines pertaining to MHRRTP service delivery
• Supports the provision and implementation of clinical supervision and training to provisionally licensed PMHCs - counseling interns - fellows - and students
• This is done in close coordination with direct supervisors - discipline executives - and training directors
• Is a member of the MHRRTP Consult Review Team to support triage of consults and coordination with other VISN RRTP's to ensure safe/timely admissions
• Provides teaching and mentoring on selected mental health topics to community organizations or other allied VA services
• provides direction - orientation - coaching - and staff development for the MHRRTP team
• Serves on committees - work groups - and task forces at the facility - VISN - and/or National level as deemed appropriate by the supervisor
• Performs other related duties as assigned
• Work Schedule: Full-time
• Mon-Fri
• 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Compressed/Flexible: Compress tours available for highly qualified candidates
• Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 611380 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized