Marriage and Family Therapist (MFTs) work with an interdisciplinary treatment team to provide therapy and intake services to a broad range of diagnoses and demographics, with special emphasis on providing care to Women Veterans, located at the Chesapeake VA Clinic. These professionals are licensed to diagnose and treat mental health disorders and are highly trained in psychotherapy and family systems.

Duties

Major Duties include but not limited to: Provides evidence-based, evidence-informed, and promising psychotherapeutic interventions, including marital, couples, family, individual, and group psychotherapies. Provides treatment to patients with a wide variety of problems, including PTSD, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and personality disorders, among others. Conducts psychosocial assessments of Veterans and their identified significant others. Develops treatment plans in collaboration with the Veteran/family and with the interdisciplinary treatment team, if applicable. Possesses the skills to offer relationships-focused interventions and measures outcomes to interventions. Coordinates community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs, and community agency programs. Identifies high-risk patients and provides crisis intervention services, seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint, coordinates family conferences, and serves as a liaison to family members. Provides consultation services to other staff regarding evaluation and appropriate treatment planning for patients with marital and family problems. Ability to evaluate own practice through professional peer review, case conferences, and other organizational means. Communicates effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds. Provides psychoeducation to patients, family members, and significant others. Leads workshops and/or psychoeducational series on relationship health, marriage, and family issues. Develops patient education materials/modules and assists with Veteran Peer and Family activities as assigned. Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by the Program Manager, Service Chief, Chief of Staff, and/or Medical Center Director. Actively participates in and assumes responsibilities associated with committee assignments to include Performance Improvement, Peer Review, and Performance Measures. Assists as requested, with staff education and training on assigned topics Work Schedule: Full-time Monday-Friday 08:00am- 04:30pm Telework: Ad-Hoc as determined by the agency policy Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/15/2024. 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: 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. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. Licensure: must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFTs), 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). Education: Candidates must meet one of the following: Master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by COAMFTE, Master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a MFT program from a regionally accredited institution, OR Master's degree or doctoral degree in a comparable mental health degree (Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession. Experience, Education and Licensure: In addition to the basic requirements, the GS-11 full performance level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-master's degree experience in the field of marriage and family therapy work (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure in a State at the independent practice level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs in subparagraph (b) below. OR, In addition to the basic requirements, a doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy or comparable degree in mental health that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession (Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) may be substituted for the required one year of marriage and family therapy experience in a clinical setting. AND the candidate must be licensed to practice at the independent practice level and they must demonstrate the following KSA. Demonstrated KSAs: In addition to meeting the KSAs for GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: Skill to independently assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members. Ability to provide counseling and/or psychotherapy services to individuals, groups, couples and families in a culturally competent manner that facilitates change through restructuring and reorganizing the client system. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with Veterans and their families, colleagues, and other professionals in collaboration throughout treatment regarding clinical, ethical and legal issues and concerns. Knowledge and understanding of existing relevant statutes, case law, ethical codes, regulations and VA policies affecting the practice of marriage and family therapy. This includes the ability to assist Veterans and their families in making informed decisions relevant to treatment to include limits of confidentiality. Ability to provide orientation, training and consultation to new MFTs including clinical oversight of MFT graduate students, and/or provide clinical supervision to pre-licensure MFTs. Skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents, data management, maintaining accurate, timely and thorough clinical documentation, and tracking quality improvements. Assignments. MFTs at the full performance level are licensed to independently practice marriage and family therapy. MFTs can provide general mental health services to Veterans within the ethics and guidelines of the professional standards. MFTs at this level formulate, implement, and re- evaluate treatment plans through continuous assessment identifying the Veteran's challenges, strengths, readiness to change, external influences and current events surrounding the origins and maintenance of the presenting issue, and interactional patterns within the client system. In the event that Advanced or Supervisory level assignments are not established/supportable, the incumbents at this level can be responsible for clinical supervision for licensing purposes only, provided they have an AAMFT approved supervisor credential. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. Physical Requirements: Duties performed require some physical effort such as sitting, standing, driving, walking, bending, typing, and carrying of light items such as papers, files, books, or reports that do not require special physical demands. The work requires typical safety precautions associated with working in the community and mental health care settings, such as, patient physical or verbal interactions, driving a Fleet vehicle, working with office equipment, and avoiding real or potential accidents. The work may also require occasional travel to local area satellite facilities and/or out of town/state for required/suggested training, conferences or meetings. References: VA Handbook 5005/101 Part II Appendix G44 For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

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 Hampton VA Medical Center 100 Emancipation Drive Hampton, VA 23667 US
• Name: Camilla Gulliksson
• Phone: (650) 519-8651
• Email: [email protected]