Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor

Summary

The Fargo VA Health Care System is recruiting for 1 full-time Mental Health Counselor. This vacancy will be filled by a Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, or Staff psychologist. Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselors should apply under this announcement.

Duties

The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being. The professional mental health counselor provides professional counseling and mental health services grounded in professional counseling theory and evidence-based practices. Core responsibilities include delivering direct clinical care to patients, developing and implementing treatment plans, completing clinical evaluations, and contributing to the education of staff and trainees as appropriate. The professional mental health counselor is responsible for their clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation, ensuring adherence to all documentation procedures, including timely entries and proper patient check-out processes. They are fully accountable for their practice, which includes recording visit details, measuring intervention outcomes, and meeting productivity standards. The professional mental health counselor promotes the highest standards of professional and ethical practice across the interdisciplinary team and actively participates in administrative and informational meetings, including those of the Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) Service, Mental Health, and Medical Staff, as well as relevant program-specific meetings. The professional mental health counselor must demonstrate a high degree of independent action. They engage in program development, outcomes evaluation, and performance monitoring to address and monitor the population-based needs of individuals. The LPMHC serves various committees, task forces, or rotations at the LPMHC, Mental Health Integrated Care Community (MH ICC), medical center, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and/or national VA levels, as assigned. They participate in the full range of treatment programming and may provide leadership and professional assistance to their junior and peer colleagues as appropriate. They may provide clinical supervision over the clinical practice of an unlicensed professional mental health counselor or trainee, as well as providing clinical supervision to aspiring professionals of other disciplines. Duties include, but are not limited to: Provide professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendations for treatment planning and implementation. Deliver comprehensive, evidence-based therapeutic interventions through both in­-person and telehealth services. Provide therapeutic services through individual therapy, couples/family therapy, and psychoeducational groups. Develop treatment plans and set achievable treatment goals in collaboration with the patient. The treatment plan will be completed no later than the end of the patient's third visit for mental health services and updated as required by the Mental Health Integrated Care Community (MH ICC), or more frequently if there is a change in the patient's condition or needs. Evaluate service delivery and outcomes by consistently using measurement-based care to guide interventions and treatment. Conduct crisis screening and assessment, developing crisis management plans for the appropriate level of care. In the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency, follow the protocol of the Mental Health Clinic at the VA Medical Center. Provide consultation to professional staff within the Fargo VA Healthcare System and to community providers regarding patient diagnosis and treatment, as well as the delivery of care. Provide formal or informal supervision and/or training for professional mental health counseling trainees and unlicensed colleagues, as assigned. Ensure that the practice of professional mental health counseling is consistent with the professional practice standards and ethics of National Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselors, as guided by the NBCC Code of Ethics, and with the established policies and procedures of the Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) Service, Fargo VA, State Licensing Board, and the Veterans Health Administration. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Telework: Available (Ad-hoc only) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Qualifications

Health Professional Trainee (HPT) applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. 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. 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). 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/. NOTE: Traditional Rehabilitation counseling programs that are accredited by CACREP do not meet the LPMHC qualification standards as Traditional Rehabilitation counseling differs from Clinical Rehabilitation counseling. Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to LPMHC positions in the GS-0101 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. Exception. VHA may waive the licensure requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure. This exception only applies up to the full performance level. For grade levels at or above the full performance level, the candidate must be licensed. 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. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: GS-9 (Entry Level) Experience, Education, and Licensure. The GS-9 grade level is the entry grade level for LPMHCs with less than one year of experience(post-master's degree) or for LPMHCs at the master's or doctoral level) who are graduates not yet licensed at the independent practice level. Unlicensed LPMHCs at the GS-9 grade level have completed the required education listed in paragraph 3.b., and are working toward completion of prerequisites for licensure. In addition, the cand