Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor-Ptsd

Summary
The Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor works within the Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (RRTP), on the PTSD Team, providing psychotherapy services to the RRTP Veteran population. The Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor is expected to be familiar with assessment and evidence-based treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and to be comfortable working with complex populations with co-occurring disorders.
This job is open to

• Federal employees - Competitive service
  Current or former competitive service federal employees.
• Federal employees - Excepted service
  Current excepted service federal employees.
• Internal to an agency
  Current federal employees of this agency.

Clarification from the agency
The area of consideration will be in the following order:
1st: Current, permanent White City VA Health Care System employees.
2nd: All other current, permanent VA employees from other facilities.
3rd: All other current permanent federal employees.
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Duties
Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Coordinate treatment planning and delivery of services that best meet the needs of patients diagnosed with PTSD. The coordination and provision of services for the two conditions should be based on patient needs as well as scientific research on optimal treatment.
• Providing direct, concurrent, clinical care using established evidence-based practices for Veterans with PTSD presenting to the team. The specialist will provide a range of psychological interventions (individual and group) consistent with training and expertise, with special emphasis on evidenced-based treatments for PTSD.
• Provides a full range of diagnostic and evaluation services, especially in the areas of PTSD, psychological evaluation and suicide assessment.
• Evidence-based treatments to be provided to Veterans individually or in group format with appropriate documentation and measurement of effectiveness and Veteran response using clinical judgment and standardized assessment instruments.
• Develops, implements, and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients, including prompt completion of clinical reminders.
• Serves as the Mental Health Treatment Coordinator (MHTC) for assigned veterans and conducts the duties of this role when indicated.
• Provides administrative duties including: Scheduling of Veterans and related issues, returning Veterans' phone calls and secure messages, writing reports, attending organizational meetings.
• On-going professional training and experiences are an expectation of the position. This duty is met through workshops, intra-VA assignments, and distance learning.
• Occasionally, the employee will provide clinical coverage for an absent staff member, as deemed necessary by supervisor.
• Complies with national and local performance measures, including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients.
• Complies with all medical record documentation procedures, including timeliness standards for documentation and proper patient check out procedures (e.g., entering diagnostic and procedure codes).
• Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by the Chief of Behavioral Health Service Line, RRTP Chief, RRTP Program Manager, Chief of Staff, and facility Director.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 0800-1630
Telework: Ad-hoc only
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000/LPMHC
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Requirements
Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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
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: Must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed.

Grade Determinations:
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
Senior LPMHCs provide treatment to patients with complex needs including multiple Mental Health diagnoses, and numerous psychosocial issues, using independent judgment. LPMHCs at this level provide clinical consultation to less experienced staff which may include coordinating crisis situations. Senior LPMHCs will provide clinical supervision to LPMHC staff and/or LPMHC trainees, and may serve as the subject matter expert for the discipline. Senior LPMHCs develop behavioral health related training curriculum and often conduct trainings for clinical staff. LPMHCs model ethical and professional behaviors and standards to include multicultural awareness. Senior LPMHCs meet routinely with inter- professional team members and leadership to communicate about program and patient issues for in depth problem solving. Senior LPMHCs collaborate with internal and external stakeholders and frequently serve as a liaison. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation.
In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs below:
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on data.
4. 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.
5. Ability to teach, mentor staff and trainees, and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications.
6. 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.

References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G43.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.
Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.
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.
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.

• Benefits
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How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain add...