Part Time Weekend Therapist

Mental Health Therapist

Ascent Behavioral Hospital is a specialized adolescent psychiatric hospital dedicated to delivering high-quality, evidence-based behavioral health care in a safe, structured, and compassionate environment. Our mission-driven culture emphasizes integrity, accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence in support of patient care and organizational sustainability.

The primary therapist role provides clinical services for teens in an acute psychiatric hospital setting by combining group therapy and acute stabilization in a trauma-informed environment. Caseload will consist of adolescents, ages 12 through 18, who are struggling with issues such as depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and trauma. The primary therapist will be a critical component of a multi-disciplinary treatment team aimed at stabilizing clinically complex adolescents and providing support to the adolescent's family.

Key responsibilities include:

• Facilitating 2-4 therapeutic groups per day utilizing evidence-based practices (e.g., CBT, DBT-informed skills, psychoeducation, process groups)
• Creating a safe, structured, and engaging environment that promotes emotional expression and skill development
• Providing brief individual support and crisis intervention as needed during shifts
• Collaborating with nursing, psychiatry, and other clinical staff to support patient care and treatment goals
• Monitoring patient behavior, engagement, and safety within the milieu
• Documenting group sessions, clinical observations, and patient interactions in accordance with hospital and regulatory standards
• Contributing to continuity of care by communicating relevant updates to the weekday treatment team

Competency requirements include:

• Knowledge of company policies and procedures.
• Knowledge of DSM-V disorders and other pertinent issues facing the patients and their families.
• Knowledge of pertinent clinical terminology, typical interventions, and appropriate clinical techniques.
• Knowledge of laws regarding documentation, reporting, and confidentiality.
• Skill in planning, implementing and adjusting a course of treatment.
• Ability to support the hospital program, its mission statement, and its philosophies.
• Ability to hold appropriate boundaries with patients and parents.
• Ability to assess and interpret patient behavior.
• Ability to make critical decisions regarding patients based on input from multiple sources.
• Skill in facilitating therapeutic involvement of all necessary participants in treatment.
• Skill in recognizing potential enmeshment and blind spots in your relationships with patients, parents, and other members of the treatment team
• Ability to solicit and use patient feedback throughout the therapeutic process.
• Ability to maintain collaborative working relationships with referral resources and with other outside practitioners involved in the patient's care.
• Ability to maintain effective communication with third party payers (i.e. insurance companies)
• Ability to manage risks, crises, and emergencies in a collaborative way.
• Ability to work cooperatively with all members of the treatment team
• Ability to manage frustrations/complaints by verbalizing and problem solving with your supervisor as opposed to destroying employee culture by complaining to peers.
• Ability to practice within defined scope of practice and competence as a therapist.
• Ability to seek consultation and support from others when needed
• Ability to take guidance and direction from supervisors
• Ability in taking initiative to improve the delivery of clinical services to patients and families.
• Ability to display an effective balance of clinical care and customer service.