Crisis Therapist - Adolescent Unit

Role Overview

The Crisis Professional IV/V – Adolescent Unit provides advanced, developmentally appropriate behavioral health assessment, crisis intervention, and clinical services to adolescents receiving care in a structured, youth-focused treatment environment. This role supports stabilization, safety, and therapeutic engagement for youth experiencing acute mental health and/or substance use crises, while integrating family involvement and system collaboration as core components of care. This position is responsible for conducting comprehensive assessments, delivering evidence-based therapeutic interventions, and supporting individualized treatment planning throughout the adolescent’s course of care. The Crisis Professional IV/V works closely with nursing, psychiatry, education partners, case management, and family systems to ensure coordinated, trauma-informed, and age-appropriate services. In addition to direct clinical care, this role functions as a senior clinical presence on the adolescent unit, supporting milieu safety, mentoring staff, and contributing to a therapeutic environment that balances structure, emotional regulation, and youth engagement. Services are delivered with sensitivity to developmental stage, family dynamics, identity formation, and the unique needs of adolescents and their caregivers.

Essential Duties

• Conduct comprehensive, developmentally appropriate behavioral health and risk assessments for adolescents, including suicide risk, self-harm, aggression, and safety concerns.
• Provide advanced crisis intervention, stabilization, and therapeutic support tailored to the cognitive, emotional, and developmental needs of adolescents.
• Deliver individual, family, and group therapeutic interventions within scope of licensure, utilizing evidence-based and adolescent-specific treatment approaches (e.g., trauma-informed care, CBT-A, DBT-informed skills, family systems).
• Develop, implement, and adjust individualized treatment and safety plans in collaboration with adolescents, caregivers, and the multidisciplinary treatment team.
• Support and maintain a structured, therapeutic milieu that promotes emotional regulation, skill development, safety, and positive peer interaction.
• Carefully coordinate care with internal team members (nursing, psychiatry, education, case management, peers) and external youth-serving systems such as schools, child welfare, probation, and community providers.
• Facilitate family engagement, education, and collaboration, recognizing the critical role caregivers play in assessment, treatment, and discharge planning.
• Complete timely, accurate, and clinically sound documentation in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) reflecting assessment, treatment progress, family involvement, and care coordination.
• Respond to clinical emergencies on the adolescent unit, participate in debriefings, and contribute to quality improvement, safety initiatives, and clinical best practices.

Minimum Qualifications

• Level IV: Master's degree in related behavioral health field with LPC, LCSW, LAC, LMFT required
• Level V Master’s degree in related behavioral health field plus dually licensed
• More than three years of direct clinical experience providing behavioral health services to children and/or adolescents, preferably in higher-acuity, intensive, or structured treatment settings (e.g., residential, inpatient, crisis, or day treatment) required
• Demonstrated experience developing, implementing, and coordinating treatment plans for children and adolescents, including collaboration with families, schools, child-serving systems, and external agencies
• Specialized training or certification in child, adolescent, and/or family-based treatment modalities required, or the ability to obtain required training within a defined timeframe after hire. Examples may include trauma-informed care, family systems, DBT-A, CBT-A, or similar evidence-based practices
• Completion of the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) Crisis Professional Curriculum through the OwnPath Learning Hub required within 90 days of hire unless already Crisis Professional Certified
• Valid Colorado driver’s license, or ability to obtain within thirty (30) days of hire, with a clean driving record as defined by organizational policy
• CPR and First Aid certifications required at time or hire or ability to obtain within 30 days of hire required

Preferred Qualifications

• Bilingual/bi-cultural preferred