Expressive Therapist - Brooklyn

About the role

The Expressive Therapist at St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children provides Expressive Therapy to patients and families under the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waiver. This role involves helping patients and their families explore their feelings through music, art, and play therapies, aiding in communication, and fostering self-awareness.

Responsibilities

• Uses music, art, and/or play therapies as a creative process to explore patient’s feelings and reconcile emotional conflicts.
• Helps children better understand and express their reactions through expressive modalities.
• Edits patient and family members about expressive therapies, including their benefits, purpose, and how to incorporate them into daily life.
• Maintains a caseload and ensures accurate and timely individualized assessment, planning, implementation, and documentation.
• Utilizes evidence-based treatments/modalities to address patient’s needs and preferences.
• Acts professionally and is legally accountable for all aspects of work.
• Develops an Expressive Therapy plan of care in conjunction with patient and family.
• Demonstrates an understanding of illness and potential complications and side effects of treatments.
• Maintains the effectiveness of the therapy given and modifies it as necessary to support patient’s treatment plan of care.
• Discusses patient suitability to receive expressive therapy treatment with the referring professional and the Home Care Palliative Care Program Manager, if necessary.
• Refers patients to other members of the multi-disciplinary team, as appropriate.
• Participates in interdisciplinary case conferences and acts as a clinical resource for the team when needed.
• Communicates promptly within the multidisciplinary team while being mindful of confidentiality issues.
• Serves as the patient’s advocate in relation to Expressive Therapy.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Formal education required: Child Life Specialist with Bachelor’s Degree in Child Psychology or a related field and certification through the Child Life Council OR Creative Arts Therapist with a Master's or Doctoral Degree in Creative Arts Therapy and licensed by the State of New York OR Music Therapist with a Bachelor’s Degree from a program recognized by the NYS Education Department OR Play Therapist with a Master’s Degree from a program recognized by the New York State Education Department and a current Play Therapist Registration conferred by the Association for Play Therapy.
• Previous Experience Required: Minimum 3 years of working with the medically fragile population, at least 1 year of clinical experience with a pediatric population, preferably involving end of life care.