Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor

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.

01Basic Requirements

United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

02Education

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.

03Licensure

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. May qualify 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).

04Grade Determinations

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: (KSAs must be clearly reflected in resume under description of duties in order to be found qualified for this position/grade level). 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 (KSAs).

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.

05Preferred Experience

General mental health and substance abuse experience 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.

06Physical 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, puling, 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.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) in the Mental Health Service line as part of the Substance Use Disorder Services (SUDS) clinical team. Senior Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level to eligible Veterans and their family members.

Duties include but are not limited to: Interviews veterans and/or their family members/significant others to establish facts about the patient's situation, presenting problems and their causes Interprets and explains VA's treatment and benefit programs related to assistance with identified problems Reviews all data, subjective and objective, and makes a clinical assessment identifying needs and strengths Uses advanced clinical training and experience to interpret data and to identify viable treatment options, summarizing findings in a manner that provides insights Review assessment of individual and environmental risk factors and acuity of need for services Independently and in collaboration with others where appropriate, evaluates the patient's circumstances and clinical presentation Assesses at-risk factors and develops a preliminary disposition plan for addressing them that involves identification of patient and staff responsibilities Completes assessments of serious and complicated cases involving psychiatric illness, acute psychological reactions to stressors including catastrophic medical conditions, dementia and other high-risk diagnoses Make independent professional decisions and recommendations for patient and professional intervention actions based on accurate assessment of risk factors Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm, subject to change based on needs of facility Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 01095F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized