Counselor - Spinal Cord Injury Day Program and Outpatient Clinic

Shepherd Center Counselor

With five decades of experience, Shepherd Center provides world-class clinical care, research, and family support for people experiencing the most complex conditions, including spinal cord and brain injuries, multi-trauma, traumatic amputations, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. An elite center ranked by U.S. News as one of the nation's top hospitals for rehabilitation, Shepherd Center is also recognized as both Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. Shepherd is the only rehabilitation facility in the nation with an intensive care unit on-site, allowing us to care for the most complex patients and begin the rehabilitation process sooner. Shepherd Center treats thousands of patients annually with unmatched expertise and unwavering compassion to help them begin again.

Shepherd Center's culture is one of hope, humor, and hard work. You will enjoy career growth, strong relationships with co-workers, strong support from leadership, and fun activities that have kept over 12% of staff members working at Shepherd for more than 20 years.

The Counselor is responsible for providing counseling services to Shepherd Center patients and families, including psychoeducation, interventions, consultation, crisis management, and individual, group, and/or family therapies.

Job Responsibilities:

• Reports directly to Psychology Department Supervisors and is an active member of the Psychology Department and Shepherd Center committees and mission.
• Provides timely documentation of interventions/sessions, progress/goals, as evidenced by documentation in the patient's medical record.
• Completes documentation and billing in the EHR on day of service.
• Demonstrates appropriate knowledge in the competency areas of mental health counseling appropriate to the patient population and setting.
• Conducts culturally informed patient/family assessments, identifies patient/family education needs, and provides patient/family interventions as clinically indicated.
• Identifies educational or supportive needs in the hospital, service area, or department as appropriate and proactively contributes to educational needs and problem solving.
• Actively participates in staff/department/peer review/case conference/fellowship/hospital/committee meetings effectively by providing relevant input, listening to others, offering solutions to problems, and serving as a positive role model for other team members.
• Maintains an open-door policy for staff issues related to patients/families.
• Demonstrates all Shepherd Center values, communicates professionally and proactively with team members, and contributes to hospital, program, and department improvement.
• Knowledge of professional and legal issues related to professional counseling, as appropriate to their licensure and practice.
• Practices proper safety techniques in accordance with Center and departmental policies and procedures. Responsible for the reporting of employee/patient/visitor injuries or accidents, or other safety issues to the supervisor and in the occurrence notification system.
• Monitors and ensures compliance with all regulatory requirements, organizational standards, and policies and procedures related to area of responsibility. Identifies potential risk areas within area of responsibility and supports problem resolution process.

Required Minimum Education:

• Master's Degree in social work, counseling, or related field with training in patient and family systems theory and counseling/crisis management/grief counseling.

Required Minimum Certification and Licensure:

• Licensed by the State of Georgia- Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers or Marriage and Family Therapists.
• Only LPC, LCSW and LMFT are eligible for this role.

Required Minimum Experience:

• Prefer experience in (1) working with medical population patients/families (2) participating on interdisciplinary teams; (3) providing individual, family, and group therapy services; and (4) providing crisis/grief counseling.

Required Minimum Skills:

• Demonstrate strong clinical skills.
• Knowledgeable in counseling theory.
• Address crisis situations directly and effectively.
• Knowledge of medical patient population and related cognitive, behavioral, and emotional issues.
• Understand and have knowledge of the rehabilitation process for the patient population.
• Ability to educate patients, families, and team members on critical issues related to adjustment/coping for patient population.
• Must exhibit strong professional communication skills.

Physical Demands:

• Basic office physical demands.
• Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time or exerting up to 15 pounds of force occasionally or a negligible amount of force frequently to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects, including the human body.

Working Conditions:

• Some potential for exposure to blood and body fluids.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified.