Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (BHIP)

Summary

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 Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

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Duties

Clinical Functions:

• Must have a high level of skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and/or their families. The incumbent is able to independently work with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems.
• Must independently complete thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their families. The incumbent must be able to utilize this assessment in facilitating the Veteran's maximum use of treatment for attainment of the highest level of independence that is possible and practicable.
• Must actively participate as a member of a Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) treatment team and actively participate through collaboration with Veterans and family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members, in the development and implementation of a treatment plan.
• Must possess a working knowledge and experience in use of mental health and substance abuse diagnoses and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses.
• Must facilitate discharge planning through collaboration with Veterans and their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate discharge plans are executed in a timely manner.
• Must serve as a liaison between Veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services.
• Must possess knowledge and ability to independently implement treatment modalities, provide counseling and/or supportive groups for Veterans and families.
• Must provide consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits, specialty programs, and advanced directives. This includes the incumbent's knowledge of the process for accessing and/or coordinating community-based services.
• Must be available to provide consultation to other treatment team and staff members regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning, compliance with treatment, and discharge planning.
• Must possess skills and knowledge to provide case management services to Veterans and their families throughout the continuum of care. The incumbent will be able to appropriately utilize principles of human growth and development over the life span and will be able to assist Veterans in coping with the loss and grief experienced from disability and terminal illness.
• Must possess and demonstrate ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing with people from varied backgrounds.
• Must provide emergency/crisis intervention services to outpatients experiencing acute psychological crises, helping to stabilize these individuals assisting in the referral arrangements for transfer to a psychiatric facility for inpatient care if necessary and providing follow up care as needed.
  
  

Administrative Functions:

• Is responsible for supporting the mission, policies, and procedures of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the appropriate Veterans Integrated Service Network and the facility.
• Is willing to serve on committees and work groups at the facility as deemed appropriate by the Supervisor and/or Chief of Social Work Services.
• Is Responsible for furthering one's own professional growth through continuing education and for ensuring continuing education appropriate to the area of assignment.
• Is able to provide assistance with the orientation and learning of less experienced LPMHCs and to serve as a preceptor for counselor trainees/students when appropriate.
• Is able to demonstrate knowledge and skill in the use of software applications for drafting documents and data management as well as other computer systems in use by the VHA.
• Is able to maintain a level of productivity and quality consistent with the complexity of the assignment and consistent with Social Work standards, Joint Commission standards, and facility standards.
• Is able to document in the Veteran's electronic medical record chart and complete a thorough assessment and treatment plan in Mental Health Suite.
  
  

Other Duties: The incumbent is responsible for all other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 0800-1630

Compressed/Flexible:Authorized

Telework: Not Authorized

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 000000

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact VHAEDRPProgramSupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.
  
  

Qualifications

This position may also be filled by a Senior Social Worker, Internal: USAJOBS - Job Announcement; External: USAJOBS - Job Announcement or a Marriage and Family Therapist (Advanced), Internal: USAJOBS - Job Announcement; External: USAJOBS - Job Announcement

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

Basic Requirements:

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  United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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.
• 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.
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  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.
  
  

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:

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 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

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• 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: None

Education


IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.



Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

Anchorage VA Medical Center

1201 North Muldoon Road

Anchorage, AK 99504

US