The incumbent practices in the Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program Substance Use Disorder (RRTP - SUD) - Mesa Center for Recovery (MCR) is a specialized area of practice which serves a Veteran population who tend to have serious and severe crises, may lack any familial and community support, may be poor self-monitors, may frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment or have major deficits in coping skills, and require continuing professional psychological support.

Duties

Provides professional, independent, specialized mental health treatment to veterans who are diagnosed with Substance Use Disorders and who are experiencing a wide range of complex medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems. Provides individual, group and family psychotherapy interventions used in the treatment of veterans with substance use disorders and comorbid mental health needs. Implements Measurement Based Care for measuring effectiveness of clinical practice and services in specialty areas, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. Uses advanced clinical training, and experience to identify viable treatment options and makes appropriate referrals for care. Develops treatment plans in coordination with RRTP Team Members, including goals for treatment. Makes referrals to other services in the VA, as well as to other agencies, community resources, and other Governmental agencies. Acts as a community and family liaison by initiating and maintaining necessary contact with the patient, his/her family, VA Healthcare System service programs and personnel, mental health agencies, and other related resource agencies. Assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and family members. Interviews Veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the Veteran's situation. Reviews all data, subjective and objective, and makes a clinical assessment identifying strengths, needs, abilities, and preferences. Assesses high risk factors, acuity, and need for services. Assesses and documents identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence. Concludes the appropriate action, even in instances where actions can have serious impact on the life of the veteran. Possesses expertise in participating in the professional development of colleagues through mentorship and teaching. Establishes and maintains ongoing education programs for Veterans, community agencies, students, and staff to facilitate understanding of counseling interventions specific to the Veteran/Military population. Advocates on behalf of the veteran to ensure that services and benefits are obtained in a timely manner. Receives and completes requests for services (consults) from interdisciplinary team members on complex, difficult cases. Utilizes crisis intervention techniques with Veterans who are in an acute crisis. Possesses advanced skill in working with individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with multiple co-occurring conditions. Demonstrates advanced and expert skill in a range of specialized evidence-based interventions and treatment modalities. Employs counseling methods and techniques to maintain a therapeutic relationship that will help the Veteran. Develops psychosocial treatment plans in coordination with interdisciplinary team members, including goals for psychosocial clinical treatment. Uses known available resources and the initial assessment of the Veteran's likelihood to accept differing types of assistance regarding use of VA and non-VA services and referrals. Attends interdisciplinary treatment team meetings, updating treatment and discharge plans as appropriate. Develops discharge plans and set achievable discharge goals in consultation with the interdisciplinary treatment team. Coordinates post-discharge services, including VA services and community-based services. Documents independently in the medical record, including psychosocial assessments, diagnostic assessments, treatment, progress notes, follow up, and referral. Utilizes outcome evaluation to further treatment and designs system changes based on empirical findings. Utilizes MBC scores to monitor and track treatment progress. Analyzes MBC data and develop performance improvement project to improve treatment services. Analyzes MBC data to guide treatment plan modifications to ensure Veteran-Centered care. Provides specialized consultation to colleagues and students. Provides consultation regarding the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning, compliance with treatment, discharge planning. Provides oversight and clinical supervision for LPMHC trainees to progress toward licensure or certification. Directs activities to maximize effectiveness, efficiency, and continuity of care of Veterans. Provides training to staff through orientations, patient review conferences, and in-service programs. Keeps abreast of new developments in the field of substance abuse and mental health. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am- 4:30pm Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 59218-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

***This is an open continuous announcement until July 19, 2024. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred as vacancies become available. *** 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 Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part. 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. Grade Determinations: Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, GS-12 Experience 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 the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 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: VA and Substance Abuse Disorder experience. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/106, PART II, APPENDIX G43 Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. LPMHC must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the LPMHC or others. This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address VA Western Colorado Health Care System 2121 North Avenue Grand Junction, CO 81501 US
• Name: Cory Carter
• Phone: 702-791-9000 X15094
• Email: [email protected]