This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

This incumbent works in the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment program (MH-RRTP) located at the Marion VA Healthcare System (MVAHCS). MH-RRTPs utilize therapeutic communities that enhance the provision of residential rehabilitation and treatment services based on therapeutic communities utilizing both peer and professional support services in a structured, residential environment that fosters personal growth leading to personal accountability. The therapeutic community emphasizes the integration of a resident within the community and views the community as the model for change. This mutual self-help model requires residents to actively participate in their own treatment and the treatment of others using the community as the model. The MH-RRTP provides a residential level of care for a general Veteran population including medical, psychiatric, addiction, PTSD, and homelessness in a 24/7 structured and supportive residential environment as a part of the rehabilitative treatment regimen. The incumbent is involved in screenings, psychosocial assessments, individual and group counseling, treatment plan development and maintenance, discharge planning, case management/treatment coordination, advocacy, education and coordinating linkages with the appropriate VA and community service providers and agencies as needed by current residents participating in the MH RRTP Programs. The incumbent independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level to eligible Veterans, the Veteran's family, caregiver and/or significant other to meet biological, psychological, social, and environmental needs. Veterans receiving care from the MH RRTP program traditionally have complex health care and psychosocial problems and needs, requiring a high degree of clinical oversight and creative problem solving. The incumbent accomplishes these tasks in collaboration with other members of the MH RRTP Interdisciplinary Team members as appropriate within the MH RRTP. The incumbent independently interviews Veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the Veteran's situation, presenting problems and their causes, and the impact of such problems on the Veteran's functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment. The incumbent interprets and explains VA's treatment and benefit programs. The incumbent reviews all data, subjective and objective, and makes a clinical assessment identifying needs and strengths. The incumbent effectively uses professional skill, objectivity, and insight. The incumbent uses advanced clinical training, insight, and experience to interpret data and to identify viable treatment options. The incumbent assesses high risk factors, acuity, and need for services. The incumbent has the ability to serve the Veteran, who tends to have frequent and severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, be poor at self-monitoring, and frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, or have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychosocial support. The Incumbent is responsible for clinical social work practice in the Marion Domiciliary program including promotion of social work services as a key component of treatment. The incumbent evaluates her/his practice on an on- going basis through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies, or other organized means. The incumbent is active in and accepts responsibility for the development and maintenance of professional standards of treatment. The Incumbent will provide Case Management of up to 20 Veterans requiring substantial communication skills, organizational skills, problem solving and time management. The incumbent utilizes various counseling approaches to include conflict resolution, anger management and effective/healthy coping skills. Incumbent provides psycho- education and interventions regarding a variety of mental health problems to include depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance use and TBI. The incumbent will capture caseload activity and workload via electronic encounters in the timeline set by the Service Chief or The incumbent consults with other specialists in planning treatment for Veterans and with co- morbidities. The Incumbent provides clinical services to Veterans and family members/significant others in support of the Veteran's treatment utilizing only evidenced based modalities. Work Schedule: 08:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Mon-Fri with participation in the Behavioral Medicine On Call Program Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications: Minimum 1 year of experience working in a residential or inpatient environment. Minimum 3 years of experience utilizing evidence-based practice with a complex patient population. 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-0101 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. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. 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 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. Assignments. Senior LPMHCs provide treatment to patients with complex needs including multiple mental health diagnoses, and numerous psychosocial issues, using independent judgment. LPMHCs at this level provide clinical consultation to less experienced staff which may include coordinating crisis situations. Senior LPMHCs will provide clinical supervision to LPMHC staff and/or LPMHC trainees and may serve as the subject matter expert for the discipline. Senior LPMHCs develop behavioral health related training curriculum and often conduct trainings for clinical staff. LPMHCs model ethical and professional behaviors and standards to include multicultural awareness. Senior LPMHCs meet routinely with inter professional team members and leadership to communicate about program and patient issues for in depth problem solving. Senior LPMHCs collaborate with internal and external stakeholders and frequently serve as a liaison. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation. 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/106, Part II, Appendix G43The actual grade for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Physical demands of the work are generally minor. The work is primarily sedentary. There is some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as papers, files, manuals and records. For additional information on Physical Standards please see VA Directive and Handbook 5019. http://www.va.gov/vapubs/

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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.

Contacts

• Address Marion VA Medical Center 2401 West Main Street Marion, IL 62959 US
• Name: Alexis Briggs
• Phone: 816-714-4587
• Email: [email protected]