Mft-A/Certified Counselor

Job Title:

MFT-Associate/Certified Counselor

Department:

Clinical/Operations

Division/Section:

Residential Detox, RTC

Reports To:

Program Director

SUMMARY

Under the direction of the Program Director  the MFT-Associate/Certified Counselor will manage the clinical integrity of the program and provide clinical supervision to counselors and case management staff working in the Detox/Residential programs.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Responsible for clinical care and provision of substance abuse services (group and individual) provided on site.
2. Assists in developing, organizing, and conducting programs to provide education for conditions and problems relating to drug and alcohol abuse. 
3. Conducts or assists in individual and/or group counseling sessions and programs.
4. Observes and oversees adherence to all policies and procedures. Monitors violations and administers disciplinary action.
5. Provides support for substance abuse program activities including providing activity reports, reviewing the files of subordinates to ensure the accurate and timely documentation, and creating an environment which supports that mission of the program.
6. Oversees substance abuse counseling activities by facilitating and co-facilitating didactic educational presentations, group counseling, and individual counseling sessions.
7. Reviews and selects new instructional materials and programs for use in the substance abuse program.
8. Provides continual opportunities to increase the knowledge and skills of Counselors.
9. Maintains a collegian relationship with other substance abuse professionals, programs, and associations.
10. Develops and updates clinical policies and procedures, treatment manuals and training curriculum, as needed.
11. Performs other duties as assigned.

ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES:

1. Participates in Quality Improvement task groups (as assigned).
2. Interface with assigned client’s insurance, managed care companies, planning and concurrent review.
3. Facilitates ancillary services/community referrals for assigned clients.
4. Facilitates/approves any client passes.
5. Participates in in-service training, individual/group supervision meetings, and counselor/residential staff interface meetings.
6. Communicates with residential staff via communication book and client's record to maximize utilization of milieu in supporting the client's treatment plan.
7. Ensures client records for assigned case load are comprehensive, complete, neat and meet licensing standards.
8. Facilitates legal commitments with client case load (includes coordinating transportation with Activities/Operations Manager) licensing standards.
9. Other duties as assigned.

   JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Education: Minimum of a High School Diploma or GED, (Bachelor’s Degree preferred) and/or the equivalent of 3 years of previous chemical dependency treatment experience in addiction field.
• Licensure: Maintains current counselor licensure or certification (CADAC/NADAC), as applicable, including First Aid and CPR training, valid California Driver’s license and provides copies of all current certifications to the Facility.
• Experience: Experience in addiction field preferred.
• Knowledge/Abilities: Competent in individual, family, didactic and group therapy modalities. Assumes responsibility for own personal and professional growth. Keeps current via professional literature and stays up-to-date with professional techniques, theories and procedures. Observes the Facility personnel requirements contained in the policy and procedure manual.

PHYSICAL DEMAND/WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Physical Effort: Work activities require long periods of standing and sitting; independent body mobility (stoop, bend, walk routinely to perform daily tasks; ability to lift and carry up to 25 lbs.; sufficient vision to read standard text; manual dexterity to use hands, arms, shoulder repetitively to write, record and document information daily.
• Stress: Performs in high stress environment with psychiatric or chemically dependent clients.
• Work activities are partially structured and require judgment in setting priorities.
• Clinical decisions require judgment based upon commonly accepted principles of recovery.
• Other decisions are guided by policies/procedures or guidelines and precedents established by similar situations.

KEY COMPETENCIES

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies and skill sets:
 
Skill Set; Communications

• Oral Communication - The ability to express oneself clearly in conversations and interactions with others. Speaks clearly and can be easily understood. Organizes ideas clearly in oral speech. Expresses ideas concisely in oral speech. Summarizes or paraphrases his/her understanding of what others have said to verify understanding and prevent miscommunication.
• Written Communication - The ability to express oneself clearly in business writing. Expresses ideas clearly and concisely in writing. Organizes written ideas clearly and signals the organization to the reader (e.g. through an introductory paragraph or through the use of headings). Writes using concrete, specific language. Spells correctly. Writes grammatically. Uses punctuation correctly.
• Interpersonal Awareness - The ability to notice, interpret, and anticipate others’ concerns and feelings, and to communicate this awareness empathetically to others. Understands the interests and important concerns of others. Notices and accurately interprets what others are feeling, based on their choice of words, tone of voice, expressions, and other non-verbal behavior. Understands the unspoken meaning in a situation. Says or does things to address others’ concerns.
• Customer Orientation - The ability to demonstrate concern for satisfying one’s external and/or internal customers. Quickly and effectively solves customer problems. Talks to customers to find out what they want and how satisfied they are with what they are getting. Let’s customers know he/she is willing to work with them to meet their needs. Helpful, positive manner with peers, subordinates and customers.

Skill Set; Achieve Results

• Technical Expertise - The ability to demonstrate depth of knowledge and skill in key work process areas. Is sought out as an expert to provide advice or solutions in his/her area. Is knowledgeable in the tools used to support key work processes. Can train and coach key work processes to staff in their area. Is aware and follows agency policy and procedures consistently.
• Initiative - Identifying what needs to be done and doing it before being asked or before the situation requires it. Seeks out others involved in a situation to learn their perspective. Takes independent action to change the direction of events.
• Results Orientation - The ability to focus on the desired results of one’s own work, setting challenging goals, focusing efforts on the goals, and meeting or exceeding them. Maintains commitment to goals in the face of obstacles and frustrations. Finds or creates ways to measure performance against goals. Has a strong sense of urgency about solving problems and getting work done.
• Thoroughness - Ensuring that one’s own work and information are complete and accurate. Sets up procedures to ensure high quality of work (e.g. review meetings). Verifies information. Checks the accuracy of own work. Develops and uses systems to organize and keep track of information or work in progress. Carefully prepares for meetings and presentations.