Therapist

ESSENTIAL FUNCTION: Develop and maintain professional, therapeutic relationship with individuals and their families. Work cooperatively with other agencies involved with clients. Develop and enhance partnership with referring classroom teachers, guidance counselors, principals, or other agencies. The employee will attend all scheduled clinical supervision sessions and departmental staff meetings. Complete all documentation requirements based on department standards. Regular driving between appointments and a clean driving history and valid driver’s license is an essential function of the position.  

RESPONSIBILITIES: Will provide on-site therapy services to Center clients, which will include development and implementation of the individualized treatment plan and documentation of all services in a clinical record in accordance with the Center policy and Medicaid requirements in a professional and timely manner. This position provides assessment, treatment planning and intervention to children up to age 18 and according to training and experience, may be eligible to provide counseling in any of the following specialized therapies delineated in the Professional Staff Organizational Bylaws (Appendix B, Section A2, A-I): Individual Therapy, Family Therapy, Group Therapy, Chemical Dependency, Crisis Intervention.

KNOWLEDGE AND JOB SKILLS: Demonstrated competence in counseling with children and adolescents. Sound clinical skills with the ability to make clinical decisions about the client’s stability. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Effective and efficient documentation skills. Excellent crisis intervention skills. Computer knowledge is vital to the satisfactory performance of this position.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

1. Age Specific: Developmental Stages, Assessment, Knowledge, Interpretation, Interventions, Enhancement of Family Involvement 
2. Basic Job Readiness: Courtesy, Flexibility, Reliability, Responsiveness 
3. Personal Effectiveness: Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Self-Management, and Thinking Skills. 
4. Organizational/Management: Compliance, CQI, Commitment, Linking/Networking, Management of Information, Organizational Participation, Safety 
5. Performance Specific: Assessment, Crisis Management, Customer Focus, Empowerment/Advocacy, Medication Issues, Psychosocial Interventions, Treatment/Service Planning,

JUDGMENT: Ability to make on-the-spot treatment decisions based on the client’s current mental/behavioral status, past functioning level and potential strengths and weaknesses; while also showing the ability to determine when to seek clinical consultation during high risk clinical incidents. Ability to determine the appropriate resources to meet the need of clients.  

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Education: Master’s Degree in Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, or related field is required.  
• Experience: Working with children with mental health issues, especially children who have been diagnosed as having emotional disorders and/or classified by the school system as Educationally Handicapped or Severely Emotionally Disturbed. 
• Personal Qualities: Initiative, dependability and accuracy are important.   Must be able to work with a minimum of direct supervision. Must be able to develop and maintain good working relationships with internal staff, families and school personnel. Ability to work within multi-agency systems.
• Supervisory Responsibilities: None
• Special Factors: A person in this position will be required to travel to schools, homes, or other agencies or locations as needed to provide the clinical service to the client. This is a year round program. 
• Staff Development: Completes all administrative and competency requirements as identified in his/her Individual Training Plan.