This Licensed Mental Health Counselor position is located in the Mental Health Service with the VA Providence Healthcare System. The incumbent will be based out of the Middletown, Rhode Island Community Base Outpatient Clinic (CBOC). This position is full-time at 40 hours per week.

Duties

The Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) provides outpatient mental health services at the Veterans Affairs Providence Healthcare System (VAPHCS) and/or outlying Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) and practice independently in the provision of counseling services, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate. LMHCs diagnose mental disorders, conduct diagnostic assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities, and provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders. Major duties include, but are not limited to: Implements evidence based treatment modalities in working with individuals, groups, and couples who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical and social problems to achieve treatment goals; Provides education and referrals to Veterans for community services, and coordinates these services, as necessary and acts as a liaison between community and VA programs, providing care coordination assistance to community organizations, as needed; Provides evaluation and psychotherapy intervention to Veterans in person and through the use of telehealth technology: VA Video Connect (VVC) Collaborates with the Suicide Prevention program for Veterans assessed to be at increased risk for suicide; Timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation required by the Medical Center or healthcare system, as appropriate; Responds to Veteran's request for release of records; return telephone calls, linking of services, and appropriate referrals as needed in a timely fashion; Completes other clinical and administrative duties, as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required This position is in the Excepted Service. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is not a Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.

Requirements

Qualifications

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. LMHCs 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. Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to LMHC 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. GRADE DETERMINATIONS: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Licensed Mental Health Counselor, GS-11. Experience. 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. 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: Ability to make professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendation for treatment planning and implementation. Advanced knowledge and mastery of the fundamentals of the counseling process which includes defining patient/family problems and maintaining an effective counseling relationship. 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. Ability to provide complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress. Requires independent judgment and skill. Ability to establish goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient utilizing advanced counseling skills, including evidenced- based practices, screening, and psychosocial assessment. Ability to use a wide variety of individual, group, or familial counseling interventions; demonstrates sensitivity to diversity and possesses multicultural counseling skills. 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. 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. REFERENCES: VA HANDBOOK 5005/106, PART II, APPENDIX G43. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: The employee may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations at VA facility. Employee will use equipment and supplies appropriately and maintain a safe, orderly work area. Demonstrates infection control practices for disease prevention (i.e. hand washing, universal precautions/isolation procedures, etc.) as required. The employee may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The employee must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. The employee may be required to work an irregular tour and/or weekends as the need arises to perform elated duties as assigned. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. This position will be posted via three announcements for three different occupational series which can be considered to fill this vacancy. Qualified applicants from all three announcements will be referred to the service for consideration but only one of the announcements will result in an applicant filling the position. The three job announcements for this vacancy are: Psychologist vacancy number: 12192433 Social Worker vacancy number: 12192434

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address VA Providence Healthcare System 830 Chalkstone Avenue Providence, RI 02908 US
• Name: Hannah Farrar
• Phone: 401-273-7100 X13489
• Email: [email protected]