The Senior Licensed Processional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) provides independent and expert clinical psychosocial treatment and case management services in a specialized area of practice to veterans who tend to have serious and severe crises.
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. Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to LPMHC positions in the GS-01 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. 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. In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: 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 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. Preferred Experience: Experience working in a Mental Health setting and working with an interdisciplinary team. 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: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment. Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.
Duties include but not limited to: Demonstrates an understanding of the range of treatment and skills needed for all adult patients including geriatric patients related to their physical limitations, psychological needs and age associated illnesses or conditions. Collaborates with the patient, and family/significant others where indicated, to develop treatment plans in coordination with interdisciplinary team members, including identification of goals for treatment interventions. Initiates and directs the discharge planning process for assigned patients and recommends/ initiates appropriate placement or follow-up intervention actions, often in instances where actions can have serious impact on the life of the patient. Provides guidance, emotional support, counseling, individual and group psychotherapy services to include highly specialized services requiring advanced training and experience in the treatment of problems unique to military veteran populations where indicated. Organizes community services on behalf of beneficiaries, developing and coordinating procedures for use of these services by related staff. Responsible for educating the veteran and/or caregiver of the available services and assisting them in establishing the appropriate referrals based on the veteran's preference or that of their surrogate decision-maker. Collaborate in performance improvement processes and comply with performance measures as required by the VA for their specific population and/or program. Serves as mentor to other LPMHCs, particularly those at the entry level, and students. Demonstration of the ability to use professional judgment and expertise to make decisions about services and treatment provided to patients and their significant others/family members is an expected competency. Work Schedule: 7:30 am-4:00 pm, Monday-Friday- Subject to change based on facility needs. Telework: Ad Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00938F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized