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

Work Schedule: Full Time; Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; Subject to change to meet the needs of the Agency Telework: Telework authorized per Agency policy; this is not a remote or virtual position. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required The Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor is assigned to the Mental Health Service at Northern California Health Care System (NCHCS) and functions as a member of a Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) team. The incumbent of this position will focus primarily on addressing the complex mental health needs of Veterans who often are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, behavioral health, financial, legal and psychosocial concerns. They provide comprehensive assessments within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice and provides treatment to patients experiencing behavioral health challenges, with an emphasis on evidenced based therapy. Duties for the position may include but are not limited to: Provides advanced and specialized services for complex patients with service delivery to include intake evaluation, diagnostic assessments, psychotherapy and patient education. Develops person-centered, culturally sensitive treatment plans to address the complex mental health needs of patients, with measurable goals outlined. Appropriately assesses and addresses crisis situations, formulates crisis plans, provides crisis interventions and follow up intervention services, developing individualized treatment plans, with particular regard for addressing situations related to harm to self, others or grave disability. May assist in arranging involuntary/voluntary admissions as needed. Attends regularly scheduled treatment team meetings to ensure efficiency and continuity of service delivery to specialized patient populations. Participates as required and requested in orientation, training and staff development programs involving Mental Health and VANCHCS. Teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and provide supervision for licensure or specialty certification. Other duties as assigned.

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. 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. 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/106, Part II, Appendix G43, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor Qualification Standard, GS-0183, Veterans Health Administration, dated April 3, 2018. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Hearing (aids permitted) required.

Education

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

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 Northern California Health Care System 10535 Hospital Way Mather, CA 95655 US
• Name: Allison Hoffman
• Phone: 304-350-2062
• Email: [email protected]