ART THERAPY CAREER CENTER

The Mental Health Service is a service line comprised of the Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs for PTSD and Substance Abuse, outpatient Mental Health Clinic, the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinical Team, the Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Program, Suicide Prevention Program, Inpatient Mental Health Unit, and other specialty services. This position will have supervisory oversight of the 30 bed residential rehabilitation program Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. 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 Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English. Education Requirement - You must have 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: Candidates must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment. NOTE: It is VHA policy that a LPMHC who does not yet have a license that allows independent practice must be supervised by a licensed independent practitioner of the same discipline who is a VA staff member and who has access to the electronic health record. Loss of Licensure: Once licensed, LPMHCs must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted license to independently practice mental health counseling, which includes diagnosis and treatment. Loss of licensure will result in removal from the GS- 0101 LPMHC occupation and may result in termination of employment. Grandfather Provision: All persons employed in VHA in as LPMHC on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: (1) Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level, or demoted within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the full performance level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. (2) Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels. (3) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. (4) If an employee who was retained (grandfathered) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. (5) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. Experience - In addition to the basic requirements candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills, judgment, and competency. Assignments: At this level, LPMHCs administratively supervise their licensed staff and/or graduates and are considered LPMHC subject matter experts and may serve as the discipline lead. LPMHCs may provide treatment to patients. They direct the development and implementation of services and treatment to patients through the administrative supervision, mentoring, and oversight of assigned clinical staff. Their experience must demonstrate practice skills in a specialty area or in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency and judgment. In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: 1. Ability to administratively supervise other providers and conduct meetings. 2. Ability to maintain a professional environment by following organizational policies, guidelines and safety standards. 3. Ability to establish and clearly communicate guidelines and performance expectations for staff. Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G0180 Psychologist Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. Physical Requirements: Light lifting, light carrying, use of fingers, hearing (aid permitted), operation of a motor vehicle may be required. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. ["The incumbent is responsible for a variety of accountability practices ensuring CPRS entries are current and in compliance with standards. Duties require an ability to prioritize many different tasks among muti-objective programs consisting of treatment, training and education, ensuring that services are provided in a timely, comprehensive and coordinated manner for each program. Observe workers performance; demonstrates and conducts work performance critiques, provide informal feedback and periodically evaluates employee performance. Major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: Providing screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health disorders. Including offering individual and group psychotherapy Applying advanced theories and techniques to a wide range of Veterans with mental health disorders Coordinating treatment planning and delivery of services that best meet the needs of patients and are based on scientific research on optimal treatment Promoting communication/interactions between team members, patients, and their families to facilitate the treatment process Training and supervision of clinical staff /trainees, as appropriate Participation in program evaluation efforts in conjunction with Office of Mental Health Services and the medical center Teach didactic seminars to psychology interns students on an annual basis. Responsible for timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation required by the Medical Center. Functions independently as a member of the VAMC Medical Staff, with full clinical privileges. Assumes complete professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation. Other duties as assigned PLEASE NOTE: Qualified clinical trainees, residents, fellows, interns, etc. are encouraged to apply; please follow the instructions in the How to Apply section. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm, some weekend work is possible\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]