Job opening: Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor
Salary: $75 969 - 98 757 per year
Published at: May 28 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
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. Program 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
Duties are but not limited to:
1. PCMHI CCC Clinical Practice Management:
- Collaborates with PCPs and the interdisciplinary PACT to support high quality, effective, and coordinated service delivery at the patient and programmatic levels
- Maintains daily open access slots and encourages same day warm handoffs within PACT
- Completes most individual appointments (e.g., 75%) within 30 minutes
- Uses Measurement Based Care (MBC) in accordance with nationally recommended guidelines for PCMHI
- Conducts initial functional assessments that are focused on the main reason(s) for referral and are less extensive than traditional mental health intake evaluations
- Supports Stepped-Care principles in mental health to facilitate "on time, on target" services to Veterans, matching the intensity of services with the level of clinical need
- Refers Veterans with more severe or complex needs to the appropriate general or specialty mental health program
- Provides time-limited, brief, evidence-based, individual or group interventions (e.g., approximately 1-6 sessions) for a broad range of mental health and health behavior concerns within the primary care setting (e.g., 30 minutes vs. 60 or 90 minutes for traditional evaluation)
- Utilizes intermittent visits and flexible patient contact strategies to support brief but longitudinal PCMHI care as part of PACT
- Ensures quality of care by successfully completing the national VA PCMHI Competency Training Program (or approved equivalent) and associated ongoing education modules
- Other duties as assigned
2. Documentation Skills:
- Writes clear, concise notes that are optimized for collaboration within PACT based on the PCMHI CCC functional assessment and follow-up visit guidelines
- Notes document important elements for team collaboration (e.g., MBC, curbside consultation/team care discussion, liaison with specialty care providers) as appropriate
- Notes are completed same day or within 24 hours
3. Consultation and Interdisciplinary Team Based Skills:
- Engages in PACT huddles and meetings to cultivate collaborative team functioning and serve as a subject matter expert for behavioral health considerations
- Provides education to PACT on mental health and health behavior issues, as well as tips to promote effective patient communication, motivational enhancement, and behavior change
- Integrates self into routine workflow of Primary Care and seeks opportunities to offer expertise or direct patient care services to support team-based care
- Tolerates interruptions, demonstrates flexibility and adaptability, and maintains availability for ad hoc team discussion- Accepts and encourages same day warm handoffs - Routinely provides feedback (verbal and/or written) to PCP and other PACT members same day as referral
- Works collaboratively with other team members in PCMHI (e.g., PCMHI Health Technicians, Collaborative Care Managers and Providers with Prescribing Privileges) to ensure high quality, effective, Veteran-centered services at the patient and programmatic levels
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 08:00 AM-04:30 PM
Relocation Incentive: Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact
[email protected] for questions/assistance. Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of existing pay, higher or unique qualifications, or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Ad-hoc
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Qualifications
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.
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.
(1) Experience/Education. The candidate must have 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.
(2) Licensure/Certification: Applicants must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment. NOTE: It is VHA policy that a LPMHC who does not yet have a license that allows independent practice must be supervised by a licensed independent practitioner of the same discipline who is a VA staff member and who has access to the electronic health record.
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: Applicants applying at the GS-11 grade level 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 and demonstrate the KSAs in subparagraph (c) below. LPMHCs may provide clinical supervision over the clinical practice of an unlicensed LPMHC or LPMHC trainee. Some state licenses do not license an individual to provide clinical supervision to trainees or unlicensed LPMHCs. Please refer to specific state licensing laws regarding the requirements for providing clinical supervision.
AND
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
1. Ability to make professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendation for treatment planning and implementation.
2. Advanced knowledge and mastery of the fundamentals of the counseling process which includes defining patient/family problems and maintaining an effective counseling relationship.
3. 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.
4. Ability to provide complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress. Requires independent judgment and skill.
5. Ability to establish goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient utilizing advanced counseling skills, including evidenced- based practices, screening, and psychosocial assessment.
6. Ability to use a wide variety of individual, group, or familial counseling interventions; demonstrates sensitivity to diversity and possesses multicultural counseling skills.
7. 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.
8. 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.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11.
Physical Requirements: Majority of work is completed in an office setting. The work of this position of primarily sedentary with occasional walking of short distances. No heavy lifting required. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. Must complete a physical as a part of the pre-employment process.
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 Beckley VA Medical Center
200 Veterans Avenue
Beckley, WV 25801
US
- Name: Jeremy Williams
- Phone: 858-642-3038
- Email: [email protected]
Map