Marriage and Family Therapist

About the role

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) - a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment.

Responsibilities

• Ensure the delivery of evidence-based practices in suicide prevention and crisis intervention, applying techniques such as Engagement, Assessment, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation.
• Provide crisis risk assessment skills to ensure the provision of emergency crisis interventions to a complex and high-risk population.
• Provide specialty consultation to and collaborate with a network of Veteran Crisis Lines, Suicide Prevention Coordinators across all regions nationwide, and approved constituents (e.g., family, VA providers, Coaching into Care, Caregivers Support, Veterans Service Officers, law enforcement, etc.) to coordinate expedited connections to treatment programs, support resources, and emergency services as needed.
• Demonstrate a wide variety of crisis intervention skills through incoming/outgoing telephone calls.
• Navigate a variety of specialized software applications, utilize the data and information within those applications to provide effective service, and accurately document work within those applications.
• Determine the appropriate level of care needed for the client and contact clients through telephone calls and conduct follow-up interviews.
• Work collaboratively with other members of the Readjustment Counseling Service Crisis Hotline Program to identify appropriate services to veterans and their family members.
• Aid clients and/or their family/friend/significant other with issues regarding the veteran's mental health issues, referrals, benefits, and support groups.
• Provide customer service to a variety of recipients from the call center, from within the U.S. or any global area, particularly those overseas at military bases and installations.
• Assess whether a veteran client is of potential harm to self or others and provide the customer with consistent and accurate information regarding established policies and handle conflicts and problems in a proactive and constructive manner.

Qualifications

• Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by COAMFTE.
• Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a MFT program from a regionally accredited institution.
• Hold a 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.
• Persons hired or reassigned to MFT positions in the GS-0182 series in VHA must hold a full - current - and unrestricted MFT license to independently practice marriage and family therapy in a State.
• The Secretary - or his/her designee - may waive the licensure requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified - pending completion of State prerequisites for licensure examinations for a period not to exceed three (3) years from the date of employment on the condition that MFTs appointed on this basis provide care only under the supervision of a fully licensed MFT with an AAMFT approved license.

Skills

• Knowledge of human development throughout the lifespan.
• Interventions based on research and family systems theory and therapy.
• Formal diagnostic criteria.
• Risk assessment.
• Evidence-based practice and assessment tools.
• Assessment of psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members.
• Formulation and implementation of a treatment plan through continuous assessment.
• Identification of 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.
• Ability to provide counseling and/or psychotherapy services, under supervision, to individuals, groups, couples, and families in a culturally competent manner that facilitates change through restructuring and reorganizing of the client system.
• Basic knowledge and understanding of existing relevant statutes, case law, ethical codes, and regulations affecting professional practice of marriage and family therapy.
• Ability to draft documents, manage data, maintain accurate, timely, and thorough clinical documentation, and track quality improvements.

Benefits

None specified.

Pay

Details not specified.

Schedule

Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm. Some evenings and weekends may be required based on the needs of the Vet Center.