Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor-Integrated Care
What you'd do
Seeking new provider to join as an Integrated Care Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) who functions as an advanced practice clinician within Integrated Care (IC), operating at the intersection of Primary Care (PC) and/or Specialty Medicine (SM) in a fully integrated behavioral health model.
Major duties
Duties include but are not limited to: CLINICAL FUNCTIONS (80%) 1. Advanced practice skill with brief evidence-based psychotherapies used in Integrated Care (Brief CBT-I, Brief CBT-CP, PE-PC, PST, Ml, ACT-based brief protocols). 2. Advanced ability to incorporate complex biopsychosocial factors into differential diagnosis and treatment planning within scope of practice. 3. Expert-level proficiency in the use of Measurement-Based Care and data-informed treatment planning. 4. Skill in developing, evaluating, and improving counseling practices and integrated behavioral health service delivery. 5. Ability to mentor, train, coach, and provide specialized consultation to colleagues and counseling trainees. 6. Ability to develop or revise program policies, procedures, and practice guidelines related to Integrated Care. 7. Advanced knowledge of medical and psychiatric conditions and the behavioral interventions appropriate for chronic illnesses. 8. Ability to evaluate one's own clinical practice through peer review, case consultation, outcome monitoring, and adherence to professional counseling standards. 9. Strong skill in building collaborative relationships with PC/SM teams, interdisciplinary partners, and community agencies. 10. Competence with documentation systems, data management tools, and MSC-related software platforms. ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS (20%) 1. Participates in ongoing program evaluation, quality improvement initiatives, and data-driven review of Integrated Care outcomes to strengthen clinical efficiency and Veteran access. 2. Uses advanced skills in Measurement-Based Care (MBC) to support clinic-wide performance monitoring and assists in integrating MBC workflows into team practice. 3. Provides consultation to leadership on best practices in Integrated Care, including evidence-based brief interventions, fidelity monitoring, and system redesign needs. 4. Serves as a clinical mentor, trainer, and resource for new clinicians, counseling trainees, interdisciplinary staff, and other providers involved in Integrated Care. 5. Contributes to policy, procedure, and practice guideline development related to integrated behavioral health services and counseling practice within Integrated Care. 6. Facilitates collaboration with Primary Care, Specialty Medicine, Mental Health Service, Whole Health, and community agencies to improve continuity of care and service integration. 7. Participates in interdisciplinary meetings, team huddles, committee assignments, or workgroups at the service, facility, or VISN level, representing Integrated Care counseling expertise. 8. Ensures compliance with all national and local performance measures, clinical reminders, suicide prevention protocols, and screening requirements relevant to Integrated Care practice. 9. Maintains familiarity with applicable VA policies, ensuring that administrative activities align with regulatory, accreditation, and documentation standards. 10. Provides consultation and administrative guidance when clinical workflows require adjustment to meet changing patient population needs or emerging best practices. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Functional Statement #: 94017-A
What you need to qualify
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-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. NOTE: It is VHA policy that a LPMHC who does not yet have a license that allows independent practice must be supervised by a licensed independent practitioner of the same discipline who is a VA staff member and who has access to the electronic health record. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Grade Determinations: Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor - GS-12 Experience, Education, and Licensure: In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must have been in a major specialty treatment program area such as, but not limited to, Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), mental health intensive case management (MHICM), or other areas of equivalent scope and complexity. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex mental illness. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Ability to determine priority of services needed and provide specialized treatment. Advanced and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities for Veterans with complex needs. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling, or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial, and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans. Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on data. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the psychosocial treatment of patients, rendering professional opinions based on experience, expertise and role modeling effective clinical skills. Ability to teach, mentor staff and trainees, and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications. Ability to engage in written and oral communication with leadership/staff and community stakeholders regarding policies, procedures, practice guidelines, and issues pertaining to the practice of the profession. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
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