Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor- Clinical Resource Hub

Qualifications Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy Education 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 3 graduated from a CACREP accredited program Additional information may be obtained from NOTE: Traditional Rehabilitation counseling programs that are accredited by CACREP do not meet the LPMHC qualification standards as Traditional Rehabilitation counseling differs from Clinical Rehabilitation counseling Licensure Persons hired or reassigned to LPMHC positions in the GS-0183 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 English Language Proficiency LPMHCs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.j 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) GS-12 Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor Grade Determinations: 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 In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: 1 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 2 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 psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial, and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans 3 Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs Ability to design system changes based on data 4 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 5 Ability to teach, mentor staff and trainees, and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications 6 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 Preferred Experience: Experience in virtual care (tele-medicine) and experience with Oracle-Health EMR is preferred Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation and would generally not require a pre-placement examination Exceptions: A pre-placement examination is required for any occupation or assignment that requires the operation of a government-owned or -leased motor vehicle in order to properly carry out assigned duties Examinations may also be required for any occupation or assignment that requires a pre-placement examination by virtue of another policy, regulation, or statute. ]]]]>