Sr Assoc Director-Clinical Svc

Sr Assoc Director-Clinical Svc

Position Summary

The Senior Associate Director exercises leadership in all aspects of urgent care needs and crisis management for Counseling & Psychological Services. The incumbent oversees the drop-in clinics (i.e., Urgent Concerns hours) and rapid access to care for students in crisis or at high levels of distress, as well as for students of concern referred by campus partners or by staff in other departments of Columbia Health.

Serves as a core member of the Crisis Management Team; provides timely guidance to campus personnel regarding students who appear to be at risk or are highly disruptive; offers training and consultation to clinical staff in all aspects of crisis intervention; serves as a thought leader in effective and innovative approaches to the early identification of, and timely intervention with, students at risk; and participates in administrative evaluations, and threat assessments. Acts on behalf of the Director of CPS Clinical Services in the Director's absence. This is an essential, onsite role. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Responsibilities

Crisis Response & Urgent Care Leadership (35%)

• Provides clinical and administrative leadership and oversight of the Urgent Concerns clinic with a focus on early intervention with students in crisis or at high levels of subjective distress.
• Serves as Team Captain for at least one shift of Urgent Concerns clinic. Appoints, trains, and supervises Team Captains for all other shifts
• Facilitates periodic meetings with Team Captains
• Ensures that staff adhere to policies and protocols consistent with the purpose of these spaces; periodically reviews, revises, and refines policies as needed
• Ensures appropriate, coordinated aftercare for students seen in Urgent Concerns
• Working with the AVP and Associate Director of Operations, monitors utilization to ensure appropriate levels of staffing during Urgent Concerns hours; adjusts as needed. Arranges for back-up coverage when needed due to staff absences.
• Works closely with Columbia Health Communications to evaluate and promote awareness and appropriate use of afterhours resources
• Serves as a core member of the Crisis Management Team which also includes the Director of CPS Clinical Services, at least one Senior Psychologist, and the Senior Social Worker, each of whom, on a rotating basis, is:
• Available to consult with Team Captains and staff during Urgent Concerns hours of operation
• Back up both the CPS clinician on-call and the partner agencies to which 24/7 afterhours phone support is outsourced
• In the absence of the Director of CPS Clinical Services, serves as the primary liaison to agencies to which afterhours coverage are outsourced, troubleshooting complaints or deviations from appropriate procedures, reviewing reports daily, and ensuring appropriate follow-up.

Direct Clinical Services (30%)

• Provides psychological evaluations involving diagnostic assessment based on a review of the presenting problem(s) and of the patient's developmental, social, psychological, academic/employment, and treatment history.
• Provides short-term and moderate-term psychotherapy and crisis intervention.
• Maintains timely and appropriate clinical records and perform other administrative tasks in support of clinical work.
• Triages caseload and refer students to other resources, as needed.
• Meets, as needed, with family members, advisors and others in support of treatment

Clinical Training, Consultation, & Outreach (20%)

• Orients and trains newly hired providers and Postdocs participating in Urgent Concerns Drop-in rotations with a focus on procedures, risk assessment, documentation expectations, and clinical dispositions.
• Provides clinical supervision to one or more postdoctoral trainees and early career psychologists and social workers across CPS clinical settings, including Urgent Concerns rotations.
• Shares responsibility with the Associate Director for Outreach and Community Response in organizing and implementing gatekeeper training and other such programs designed to sharpen the skills of student-facing personnel in recognizing and responding to students in distress, de-escalating agitated students, and making appropriate referrals to CPS, Public Safety, and other campus offices.
• Provides consultative services directly to university personnel regarding CPS services or specific clinical concerns.

Risk Management, Threat Assessment, & Quality Management (10%)

• Co-facilitates weekly Risk Management team meetings.
• Under the supervision of the Director of CPS Clinical Services, conducts administrative evaluations; provide feedback and recommendations to campus partners requesting these evaluations.
• Participates in ad hoc threat assessment meetings and together with the Director of Clinical Services, serves on Behavioral Intervention committees.
• Serves on the CPS and Columbia Health QM committees: Help develop and implement quality management studies regarding Urgent Concerns clinic, other afterhours resources, and related areas.
• Assists in the collection and compilation of utilization and quality management data needed for the Columbia Health annual report and for reaccreditation.
• Under the direction of the Associate Vice President, working with the Director of CPS Clinical Services and the Associate Director for Outreach, helps coordinate and implement CPS response to campus-wide emergencies, with emphasis on postvention activities.

Other duties as assigned (5%)

Minimum Qualifications

• Ph.D. or Psy.D. in clinical or counseling psychology.
• New York State license or license eligible.
• Minimum of eight years of relevant clinical experience, including demonstrable experience in managing clinical emergencies.
• Minimum of four years' experience directly supervising clinical work.
• Substantial inpatient experience or its equivalent in working with patients at risk, patients in crisis, and patients with severe psychopathology.
• Advanced diagnostic and clinical skills; expertise in assessing risk for suicide or violence and in safety planning.
• Outstanding communication and listening skills, including demonstrated ability to share complex clinical impressions to campus partners in plain, understandable language.
• Ability to balance the needs and concerns of various stakeholders with the privacy and rights of students.
• Demonstrable cultural competence.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team setting; ability to manage and lead people and services toward desired outcomes.
• Evidence of strong organizational and administrative skills.
• Superior verbal and written communication skills, including outstanding presentation skills.
• Substantial flexibility. Ability to work unexpectedly on evenings and weekends as circumstances dictate; ability to adapt to changing needs. Some evening and very occasional weekend work required; on-call responsibilities

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a college mental health setting
• Experience on a Consultation & Liaison team or in an organizational consulting setting or the equivalent.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.