Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Program Manager) - Vet Center Director

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in both spoken and written English in accordance with VA policy.
• Education: Must 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). CACREP defines the date when graduates are considered to have graduated from a CACREP accredited program. Additional information may be obtained from . Examples of related mental health counseling fields include but are not limited to: Addiction Counseling; Community Counseling; Gerontology Counseling; Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling. **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.

Grandfather Provision : An LPMHC employed in VHA on the effective date of the qualification standard (4/3/2018) who did not meet all the basic requirements in this standard may not be promoted beyond the full performance level (GS-11) or be newly placed in supervisory or managerial positions until meeting the full qualification requirements.

Grade Determination:
GS-13 Grade Determination:
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-12 grade level. The experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency.
~AND~
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition, candidates must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• 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.
• 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.
• Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on data.
• 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.
• Ability to teach, mentor staff and trainees, and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications.
• 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.
• Ability to make judgments and decisions associated with program management.
• Ability to monitor program outcomes using data driven quality assurance process.
• Ability to develop productivity standards appropriate to each service provided.
• Ability to manage a wide range of programs which include the operation and management of key clinical, training or administrative programs.

Preferred Experience:

• Knowledge and understanding of the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
• Knowledge of methods, principles, and theories sufficient to intervene and stabilize combat Veterans suffering from multiple diagnoses.
• Ability to conduct psycho-social assessments and implement treatment plans for combat Veterans and their families.
• Ability to establish and maintain referral networks through community outreach to provide services to Veterans.
• Experience in working with Veterans, especially combat Veterans.
• Experience in working with Veterans who were sexually traumatized/harassed while in the military.
• Experience in providing family counseling services to Veterans and their family.
• Experience working with combat Veterans and their families who have PTSD or readjustment issues and the ability to make independent judgments and recommendations about a number of serious and complex cases.
• Special knowledge and skill in the field of Veterans in community resource identification and development, in public speaking and basic principles of education, in staff recruitment and development, and in program design and management.
• Knowledge of VA and community resources available to Veterans and their family.
• Developing and managing a clinic's budget and program funds.
• Working knowledge of electronic records.
• Planning work to be accomplished by subordinates and sets guidelines for clinical, therapeutic and treatment priorities.
• Incumbent must have possession of supervisory and management skills.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit .

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: The work does not inherently include physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with a workplace accommodation.
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: . If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: .