Creative Arts Therapist-Level II

NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan is the community hospital of choice for residents of East Harlem, northern Manhattan, and neighboring communities. The hospital provides culturally-sensitive care in a welcoming and hospitable setting, emphasizing primary care medicine and utilizing the latest advances in medical science. Metropolitan delivers high quality health services with compassion, dignity, and respect to all, without exception. Since its founding in 1875, the hospital has been affiliated with New York Medical College, representing the oldest partnership between a hospital and a private medical school in the United States. Metropolitan is a part of the NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal hospital and health care system in the country.

At NYC Health + Hospitals, our mission is to deliver high quality care health services, without exception. Every employee takes a person-centered approach that exemplifies the ICARE values (Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence) through empathic communication and partnerships between all persons.

Work Shifts

10:00 A.M - 6:00 P.M

Standard Work Hours: 35

Duties & Responsibilities

Purpose of Position :

This class of positions encompasses professional and/or supervisory work of varying degrees of difficulty in the operation of a creative arts therapy department providing therapeutic services through the utilization of various modalities, principles and techniques specific to the creative arts therapy discipline. All personnel perform related work.


Under direction, with broad latitude for independent judgment and decision making, performs difficult and responsible professional work in the creative arts therapy discipline.


Examples of Typical Tasks :

At a higher level, performs the duties of Assignment Level I:
1. Establishes and implements comprehensive therapeutic group/individual therapy programs utilizing principles and practices of creative arts therapy.
2. Conducts individual assessments of patient's strengths and weaknesses to evaluate social, cognitive, psychological and physical functioning through the creative arts process.
3. Develops treatment goals and objectives based on initial and ongoing assessments designed to improve functioning through the utilization of the techniques unique to the creative arts therapy discipline.
4. Implements therapeutic interventions utilizing art, music, drama, dance or poetry as a modality to facilitate the patient's attainment of goals articulated in the patient treatment plans.
5. Participates as an active member of the interdisciplinary treatment team by attending meetings and contributing to the formulation of individual patient comprehensive treatment plans.
6. Writes regular progress notes on patient's behavior and responses to treatment goals.
7. Prepares and maintains records, progress reports, statistical information and participates in departmental and facility-wide quality assurance/performance improvement (QA/PI) activities.
8. Prepares supply requisitions and maintains inventories of equipment and supplies as designated.
9. May be assigned to coordinate and supervise the activities of auxiliary staff in related therapeutic disciplines.
10. May be assigned to instruct and supervise volunteers, interns and students in the areas of creative arts therapy.
11. Performs other related duties as assigned.

In addition to performing the duties of Assignment Level I at a higher level, as described above, also performs the following typical tasks:


1. Serves as a professional resource to Creative Arts Therapists in the development and implementation of specialized treatment interventions utilizing non-verbal, diagnostic and expressive techniques.


2. Provides consultation for complex cases in the evaluation of social, cognitive, psychological and physical functioning through the creative arts therapy process.

3. Monitors, documents and evaluates the attainment of creative arts therapy goals as part of the therapeutic process.

4. May represent the department at conferences, workshops, hospital or community functions; reports actions and findings to department.

5. May develop and conduct departmental training programs to introduce new developments and techniques within the creative arts therapy discipline.

6. May be assigned to function as a primary therapist, as long as practicing within the boundaries of professional competency, as specified in the New York State Education Law, Article 163, Section 8407.

7. Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

Assignment Level I
1. A valid License or Limited Permit issued by the New York State Education Department to practice as a Creative Arts Therapist. Employees working with a Limited Permit must obtain
Licensure within two years from their date of appointment.
Assignment Level II
1. A valid License issued by the New York State Education Department to practice as a Creative Arts Therapist; and
2. Two years of full-time, paid, professional experience in creative arts therapy.
Assignment Level III
In addition to meeting the requirements for Assignment Levels II, Assignment Level III
requires:
1. One additional year of experience.

Department Preferences

Purpose:
Under direction of the Wellness Program Director, the LCAT Level 2 will assist in development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluating wellness services/programming provided to staff within the facility in order to maintain the goals and objectives of enhancing overall staff wellness within the system. The role is workforce facing and have little to no patient engagement responsibilities.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities:
• Demonstrate effectiveness in planning, organizing, and managing the ongoing operation of employee wellness at assigned facility / service line.
• Strategic planning associated with health and wellness programs and overall embedding and fostering of wellness culture; facilitate the strategy and process to launch new programs based on the 8 Dimensions of Well-being across the facility/service line.
• Provide emotional debriefs, a 1:1 or group conversation with a focus on reflection, to foster a supportive and safe environment for all employees to connect and engage in emotional and psychological processing; minimum of 20 wellness encounters (1:1/group debriefs and wellness events) per month across all tours.
• Prep, plan, and facilitate wellness events that align to the 8 Dimensions of Well-being that are customized to services, settings, departments, and disciplines using group techniques.
• Facilitates proactive and preventative wellness rounds covering 100% of the facility/service line.
• Support wellness room awareness, utilization, satisfaction, and maintenance.
• Track all encounters on a monthly basis, enter pertinent information into the quality assurance program portal, and provide qualitative and quantitative data-based insights on facility/service line-specific utilization of the H3 program to key stakeholders.
• Assist in coordination, planning, and facilitation of wellness activities, celebratory events, and recognition programs for employees.
• Proactive wellness and real-time crisis support for employees; assist in the development of facility-based crisis plan for employees.
• Lead and facilitate, in concert with H3 Lead and Wellness Program Director, department meetings to embed unit-based wellness programming and improvement cycles.
• Utilize data to facilitate PDSA cycles and to make targeted wellness interventions for clinical and non-clinical departments.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
• Experience developing and implementing therapeutic programming on a large scale in healthcare
• Experiencing designing, implementing and facilitating unit-based rounding
• Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and group facilitation skills required
• Mental Health professional background as to inform practice
• Supervisory experience required
• Grant writing experience preferred
• Knowledge of wellness in healthcare
• Two years experience in healthcare

Educational Level:
1. A valid License issued by the New York State Education Department to practice as a Creative Arts Therapist; and
2. Three years of full-time, paid, professional experience in creative arts therapy.
3. BH Requirements: PMCS trainings (within BHS and facility-wide expansion), BHS preventative and proactive wellness (including wellness events, wellness rounds, debriefs), wellness outreach calls, post-code response, responding to workplace violence incidents

Benefits

NYC Health and Hospitals offers a competitive benefits package that includes:

• Comprehensive Health Benefits for employees hired to work 20+ hrs. per week
• Retirement Savings and Pension Plans
• Paid Holidays and Vacation in accordance with employees' Collectively bargained contracts
• Loan Forgiveness Programs for eligible employees
• College tuition discounts and professional development opportunities
• College Savings Program
• Union Benefits for eligible titles
• Multiple employee discounts programs
• Commuter Benefits Programs

If you wish to apply for this position, please apply online by clicking the "Apply for Job" button.