Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor - PCMHI

$59,966 - $94,317/Yr

Department of Veterans Affairs - Cadillac, MI

Full-time - Mid Level

Cadillac, MI

Administration of Human Resource Programs

About the position

This Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) position is located within the Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center system. The experienced LPMHC independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level to eligible veterans and their family members to meet their mental health needs. This position includes clinical treatment, advocacy, and linkage with appropriate VA and community service providers/agencies as needed by one of the Veterans.

Responsibilities

• Interview veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the veteran's situation, presenting problems and their causes, and the impact of such problems on the veteran's functioning and health as part of a psychosocial assessment.
• Refer veterans to Benefits officers.
• Interpret data using advanced clinical training, insight, and experience.
• Assess veterans for symptoms of abuse, following VA guidelines for reporting.
• Independently evaluate the client's situation.
• Develop a preliminary disposition plan involving the veteran and family or significant others.
• Perform insightful assessment of serious and complicated cases involving psychiatric illness, catastrophic medical conditions, dementia, and other high-risk diagnoses.
• Use the initial assessment to determine the veteran's likelihood to accept differing types of assistance or referrals.
• Effectively use professional skills when treating antagonistic, indifferent, or evasive veterans and their significant others with both positive and negative reactions.
• Understand disparate values and reach veterans and families from different social and ethnic groups.
• Assist and encourage veterans and significant others in facing problems, thinking them through, evaluating the situation realistically, considering alternative courses of action, and arriving at plans for using resources to resolve problems.
• Develop working relationships and agreements with other organizations having responsibilities for the same patient population. Maintain a current and productive network of referral resources.
• Document independently in the medical records utilizing electronic formats, including psychosocial assessments, diagnostics, treatment, progress notes, follow up, and referral.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Hold a master's or doctoral degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling, or a related field from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
• Must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor.
• Proficient in spoken and written English.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in providing complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress.
• Ability to develop and facilitate psychotherapy and psycho-education groups that include life skills, family support, and community integration.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package as a federal employee.
• Eligibility for annual leave accrual based on prior work experience or military service experience.