Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor-Chemical Dependency Center (CDC)

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. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Service program office after review of the application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

Major duties and responsibilities

Major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: - Provides services to Veterans who are referred to CDC as potential candidates for mental health/behavioral health services. - Provides a wide range of assessment services and provides diagnoses for mental disorders, particularly for complex patients. - Provides education to patients, family members, and significant others. - Provides comprehensive, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy appropriate to patient needs and desires. - Provides consultation to professional staff within VA Medical Center at Memphis and to community providers, concerning clinical assessment findings and appropriate treatment plans for patients. - Develops, implements, and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients, including prompt completion of clinical reminders. - Supports same-day access to mental health services for Veterans as deemed necessary by the service, in person and by telephone and telehealth. - Provides comprehensive, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions (EBP) appropriate to patients, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy (e.g., Motivational Interviewing (Ml) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), etc.) as indicated. - Develops, implements, and documents all patient care including treatment plans, crisis intervention and suicide risk assessment in CPRS to assure ongoing communication with the CDC Team. The LPMHC communicates with CDC teams via face-to-face meetings and telephone communications. - Assists the CDC Team and other Mental Health providers in the design, development, and implementation of clinical programs for Mental Health. - Adheres to operational policies and procedures for the CDC Teams established by the Section Chief and Service Chief of Mental Health Service. - Assists CDC and Mental Health in the execution of ongoing program evaluation and data driven quality improvement projects to monitor the effectiveness of the clinical program. - Facilitates liaisons with other health care programs (e.g., Homeless Program, Veterans Justice Outreach) in the VA Medical Center at Memphis in order to effectively coordinate services for CDC patients. - Completes other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Education Requirement

You must have 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). 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/.

Licensure

Candidates must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment.

Experience

In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex LPMHC experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior LPMHCs must have five years of post-licensed experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressive professional competency and expertise and be licensed to provide clinical supervision to trainees or unlicensed LPMHCs.