The Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor conducts mental health assessments and treatment plans and provides consultation to inpatient wards, Primary Care, and Behavioral Health Providers to assess eligibility and appropriate level of care for Veterans in need of services. They provide direct therapy to individuals, families, couples and groups in order to treat depression, anxiety, dual diagnosis disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other serious psychiatric disorders.

Duties

Clinical Functions: Incumbent is a professional Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) assigned to a Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) Team and Social Work Service. They must use a high level of skill in assessing and treating the complicated psychosocial problems of Veterans referred to the Behavioral Health Clinic. They complete thorough psychosocial assessments when the Veteran is initially referred to Behavioral Health and will complete a thorough treatment plan when a Veteran engages in mental health services. They will provide psychotherapy with individuals, couples, and families, crisis intervention, supportive counseling, and referral for resources and benefits. Must have a high level of skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and/or their families. They are able to independently work with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems. Independently completes thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their families. Must be able to utilize this assessment in facilitating the Veteran's maximum use of treatment for attainment of the highest level of independence that is possible and practicable. Actively participates as a member of a BHIP treatment team and actively participate through collaboration with Veterans and family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members in the development and implementation of a treatment plan. Possesses a working knowledge and experience in use of mental health and substance abuse diagnoses and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses. Facilitates discharge planning through collaboration with Veterans and their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate discharge plans are executed in a timely manner. Serves as a liaison between Veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services. Possessed knowledge and ability to independently implement treatment modalities, provide counseling and/or supportive groups for Veterans and families. Provides consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits, specialty programs, and advanced directives. Must be available to provide consultation to other treatment team and staff members regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning, compliance with treatment, and discharge planning. Possesses skills and knowledge to provide case management services to Veterans and their families throughout the continuum of care. They will be able to appropriately utilize principles of human growth and development over the life span and will be able to assist Veterans in coping with the loss and grief experienced from disability and terminal illness. Provides emergency/crisis intervention services to outpatients experiencing acute psychological crises, helping to stabilize these individuals assisting in the referral arrangements for transfer to a psychiatric facility for inpatient care if necessary and providing follow up care as needed. Administrative Functions: Responsible for supporting the mission, policies, and procedures of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the appropriate Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and the facility. Serves on committees and work groups at the facility as deemed appropriate by the Supervisor and/or Chief of Social Work Services. Responsible for furthering one's own professional growth through continuing education and for ensuring continuing education appropriate to the area of assignment. Able to provide assistance with the orientation and learning of less experienced LPMHCs and to serve as a preceptor for counselor trainees/students when appropriate. Able to demonstrate knowledge and skill in the use of software applications for drafting documents and data management as well as other computer systems in use by the VHA. Able to maintain a level of productivity and quality consistent with the complexity of the assignment and consistent with Social Work standards, Joint Commission standards, and facility standards. Able to document in the Veteran's electronic medical record chart (CPRS) and complete a thorough assessment and treatment plan in Mental Health Suite. Work Schedule: 8AM - 4:30PM, Monday - Friday Telework: Available (Ad-hoc) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized for highly qualified candidates Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

May also be filled by a Senior Social Worker Internal - External - or a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (Advanced) Internal - External - To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. 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: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.g.). 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 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: 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on data. 4. 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. 5. Ability to teach, mentor staff and trainees, and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications. 6. 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: Experience providing individual psychotherapy. References: VA Handbook 5005/106, Part II, Appendix G43, April 3, 2018The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting and carrying(15-44 lbs.), pushing, operation of a motor vehicle, ability to distinguish basic colors, and hearing (aid may be permitted). Environmental factors include working outside and inside, working closely with others, and working alone.

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 Anchorage VA Medical Center 1201 North Muldoon Road Anchorage, AK 99504 US
• Name: Gabriel Johnson
• Phone: (503) 220-8262 X53014
• Email: [email protected]