Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor

About the role

The incumbent serves as a full-time Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) within the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center's Mental Health Service Line (MHSL) and is assigned to the Drug Dependency Treatment Center (DDTC).

Responsibilities

• Provides a full range of high quality, patient-centered, recovery-oriented, and evidence-based psychological services, including but not limited to intakes, screenings, and clinical assessment; psychoeducation; episodes of efficient, evidence-based therapeutic services to individuals, couples, family members, and groups; crisis interventions; case management; and clinical consultation.
• Prepares Veterans for successful involvement in DDTC services and aftercare programming.
• Documents all clinical work accurately, clearly, comprehensively, and in a timely fashion, consistent with the MHSL and facility expectations, rules, and policies.
• May provide training or receive supervision through an Evidence Based Psychotherapy (EBP) certification program sponsored by VA.
• May serve as a consultant to other hospital staff and trainees and assist in their formulation of the mental/behavioral characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients.
• May be involved in the process of hiring staff and/or selecting trainees, including reviewing applications, and interviewing applicants.
• Attends and participates in staff meetings (including DDTC, Mental Health Service Line), and other relevant meetings, as necessary.

Requirements

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: LPMHCs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.j.
• 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).
• 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.

Qualifications

Grade Determinations: Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, GS-11

• Experience, Education, and Licensure: 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.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Ability to make professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendation for treatment planning and implementation; ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the counseling process within various specialty areas; ability to provide complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress; ability to establish goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient utilizing advanced counseling skills, including evidenced-based practices, screening, and psychosocial assessment; ability to use a wide variety of individual, group, or family counseling interventions; 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; 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.