Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Icmhr) - Edrp Approved

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.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.
English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in written and spoken English
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.
May meet Basic Requirements 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
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 (AND)
• five years of post-licensed experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressive professional competency and expertise (AND)
• have or be working toward the credential in a U.S. state or territory to provide clinical supervision to trainees and unlicensed LPMHCs.

Reference: GS-11 Assignment: This is the full performance grade level for LPMHCs. At this level they are licensed to independently practice professional counseling and to provide Mental Health services within the knowledge, theory, and training foundations of professional counseling. LPMHCs may be assigned to any VHA area, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate. LPMHCs may be involved in program evaluation and/or research activities
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-12 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:
1. Ability to make professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendation for treatment planning and implementation.
2. Advanced knowledge and mastery of the fundamentals of the counseling process which includes defining patient/family problems and maintaining an effective counseling relationship.
3. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the counseling process within various specialty areas, build on the foundation of competence through regular meetings and discussions to explain assignments, review progress of cases and confer about the counseling perspectives and orientation.
4. Ability to provide complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress. Requires independent judgment and skill.
5. Ability to establish goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient utilizing advanced counseling skills, including evidenced- based practices, screening, and psychosocial assessment.
6. Ability to use a wide variety of individual, group, or familial counseling interventions; demonstrates sensitivity to diversity and possesses multicultural counseling skills.
7. Ability to fully utilize the current DSM in making diagnoses and formulation of treatment goals and application of appropriate clinical intervention using professional counseling practices.
8. Ability to develop and facilitate psychotherapy and psycho- education groups that include life skills, family support, and community integration. This may include evidence based psychotherapy.
Preferred Experience:

• Full independent licensure as an Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S).
• No less than one year of clinical experience with individuals diagnosed with population diagnosed with Serious Mental Illness.
• No less than one-year experience providing community-based case management/clinical services.
• Clear documentation of experience providing evidenced-based clinical practices (i.e., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis, Social Skills Training, DBT, etc..) to population diagnosed with SMI.
• No less than one year working with an integrated disciplinary Mental Health clinical team.

References: VA Handbook 5005 Part II, Appendix G43, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor Qualification Standard dated 4/3/2018.
This position is above full-performance level (GS-11) for this occupation. The grade for this position is GS-12.
Physical Requirements: There are no physical requirements for this position. Use of eyes, hands, walking/standing and hearing may be needed to perform some functions. Mental, emotional, and cognitive stability are required.Education: IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Accreditation Information: The master's or doctoral degree must be fully accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Verification of accreditation may be made 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.
NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.
NOTE: If your school was accredited by Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the CACREP website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.
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.
Duties Continued

• may be asked to serve as a clinical supervisor for LPC student interns or other clinical interns seeking advanced clinical licensure.
• may be asked to prepare and teach seminars/workshops for VATVCBHCS trainees/staff on topics within interest/competency areas.
• may choose to conduct approved psychological research that supports the mission of VATVCBHCS in collaboration with other professionals in VATVCBHCS or affiliated academic institutions.

Employment Type: FULL_TIME