Clinical Psychologist

The Behavioral Wellness Center, located in the heart of North Central Philadelphia, is a long-standing behavioral health facility that serves a diverse, under-served patient population. We offer a comprehensive continuum of care in addictive services, from detoxification services, residential care, outpatient services, and acute and sub-acute psychiatric services. Our mission is to provide quality health care, treatment, prevention and education in our facilities and in the community.

We are seeking a highly skilled Psychologist to join our team.

Responsibilities: 

Interviews/evaluates participant(s) for services following referral by the treatment team. Enters Progress Notes in the Clinical Record as often as clinically indicated, but at a minimum of once per week throughout the course of treatment. Provides direct treatment services to ameliorate identified problems and accomplish the goals and objectives of treatment as specified on the treatment plan. Such direct services would encompass:

•    Community Meetings

Actively participate in community meetings held on assigned unit in order to facilitate the flow of communication between and among participants and staff, lending particular expertise in the area of individual and group dynamics.

•    Individual Contacts 

Individual psychotherapy/counseling: Provide individual psychotherapy/counseling sessions for participants on caseload. Help the participant formulate goals and work on personal objectives. As necessary, support the participant's direct communication with the treatment team by encouragement and verbal communication to team members. Assume an active stance of advocacy for the participant and help the participant to accept and incorporate other team members’ feedback (as necessary).

•    Group Interventions: Lead a variety of group approaches to treatment based on training in group dynamics and behavior change as well as specific unit needs. The structure and process of such groups vary on a number of critical dimensions, including: 

o    Therapeutic orientation/technique(s), psychodynamics, cognitive, behavioral, didactic, etc. 

o    Problems/theme homogeneity vs heterogeneity - groups may consist of participants with similar problem(s.) (substance abuse, violent/assaultive behaviors community readjustment issues, etc.) or be heterogeneous as regards selection criteria in order to capitalize on one participant’s strength to address another's problem and vice-versa.

o    pre-determined, limited number of sessions vs. open-ended (i.e. participants enter and leave the group based on clinical progress).

Groups include: 

•    Group psychotherapy with problem/participant heterogeneity and an open-ended format. 

•    Substance Abuse groups having both educational and therapeutic component

•    Pre-discharge/Community Adjustment groups geared toward identifying and resolving emotional and/or realistic barriers to discharge and community re-entry. 

•    Program "Phase-in" groups, geared toward helping participants accept and adjust to program-program transfers within a facility. 

•    Social Skills group geared toward improving the quality of interpersonal relationships. 

•    "Anger Control" groups, utilizing behavioral approaches to the control of violent/assaultive behavior. 

•    Assertiveness Training Programs. Relaxation Training Program.

•    Special Medical Problems group, assisting participants to accept needed medical treatments by working on issues that affect compliance.

•    Milieu Therapy: Provide interventions as needed in the milieu in order to capitalize on therapeutic opportunities to facilitate participants’ social interaction, community contributions, progress towards other specific treatment goals, and general treatment engagement. Milieu therapy can happen during unit activities, such as Coffee House, the unit store, and holiday celebrations, as well as other times when there is no scheduled programming.

•    Family Interventions: Provide family therapy geared toward resolution of family dysfunction which impacts negatively on a participant's clinical condition and hampers the discharge planning process. Provide family support groups consisting of family members and/or involved others and having strong educational and supportive components.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Must be currently licensed by the State of Pennsylvania Board of Psychological Examiners for professional practice of psychology and a graduate from an accredited College or University with a Bachelor's degree, supplemented by either a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (Ph.D.) or a Doctor of Psychology ( Psy.D.) from an accredited College or University, both with completion of a one year supervised clinical internship; or a Doctor of Education (E.D.) from an accredited College or University with a major course of study in psychology which shall have included a minimum of six semester hours of credit in each of the following areas: (1) objective and projective testing, (2) psychotherapeutic techniques and counseling; (3) personality development and learning theory; (4) human motivation and psychopathology; and (5) research design and statistical analysis, supplemented by completion of the one year supervised clinical internship. Current certification from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) a plus.

Minimum of 1 year of working experience, subsequent to the receipt of the Doctorate degree and in addition to the clinical internship in the field of clinical psychology in a community mental health center, mental hospital; school for the intellectually disabled, or penal, correctional, or juvenile institution or other setting involving the use of psychodiagnostics, psychotherapy, projective techniques, and other clinical methods is strongly preferred.