Job Details

Professional Mental Health Counselor

The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being. The professional mental health counselor provides professional counseling and mental health services grounded in professional counseling theory and evidence-based practices. Core responsibilities include delivering direct clinical care to patients, developing and implementing treatment plans, completing clinical evaluations, and contributing to the education of staff and trainees as appropriate. The professional mental health counselor is responsible for their clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation, ensuring adherence to all documentation procedures, including timely entries and proper patient check-out processes. They are fully accountable for their practice, which includes recording visit details, measuring intervention outcomes, and meeting productivity standards. The professional mental health counselor promotes the highest standards of professional and ethical practice across the interdisciplinary team and actively participates in administrative and informational meetings, including those of the Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) Service, Mental Health, and Medical Staff, as well as relevant program-specific meetings. The professional mental health counselor must demonstrate a high degree of independent action. They engage in program development, outcomes evaluation, and performance monitoring to address and monitor the population-based needs of individuals. The LPMHC serves various committees, task forces, or rotations at the LPMHC, Mental Health Integrated Care Community (MH ICC), medical center, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and/or national VA levels, as assigned. They participate in the full range of treatment programming and may provide leadership and professional assistance to their junior and peer colleagues as appropriate. They may provide clinical supervision over the clinical practice of an unlicensed professional mental health counselor or trainee, as well as providing clinical supervision to aspiring professionals of other disciplines.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provide professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendations for treatment planning and implementation.
• Deliver comprehensive, evidence-based therapeutic interventions through both in-person and telehealth services.
• Provide therapeutic services through individual therapy, couples/family therapy, and psychoeducational groups.
• Develop treatment plans and set achievable treatment goals in collaboration with the patient. The treatment plan will be completed no later than the end of the patient's third visit for mental health services and updated as required by the Mental Health Integrated Care Community (MH ICC), or more frequently if there is a change in the patient's condition or needs.
• Evaluate service delivery and outcomes by consistently using measurement-based care to guide interventions and treatment.
• Conduct crisis screening and assessment, developing crisis management plans for the appropriate level of care. In the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency, follow the protocol of the Mental Health Clinic at the VA Medical Center.
• Provide consultation to professional staff within the Fargo VA Healthcare System and to community providers regarding patient diagnosis and treatment, as well as the delivery of care.
• Provide formal or informal supervision and/or training for professional mental health counseling trainees and unlicensed colleagues, as assigned.
• Ensure that the practice of professional mental health counseling is consistent with the professional practice standards and ethics of National Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselors, as guided by the NBCC Code of Ethics, and with the established policies and procedures of the Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) Service, Fargo VA, State Licensing Board, and the Veterans Health Administration.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Telework: Available (Ad-hoc)

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized