Licensed Professional Counselor - Adult Psychiatric Inpatient - Days

Performs clinical interventions with patients (children through older adults), families/significant others, staff, outside organizations and providers in order to coordinate patient care, implement treatment and perform discharge planning. Provides psychosocial assessments and clinical therapies (i.e., individual, couples, group, play, and family therapies) to patients of Behavioral Health Services. May be required to travel between clinical sites to assist in the Provision of Care.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

1. Demonstrates service excellence and patient and family centered care by showing respect, honesty, fairness and a positive attitude toward all customers.
2. Maintains confidentiality.
3. Demonstrates dependability, to include attendance and punctuality.
4. Is accountable - takes initiative and ownership of issues.
5. Displays a professional demeanor. Represents hospital in a positive way. Has a compassionate working relationship with patients and families.
6. Assumes personal responsibility for 2-way communication. Communicates and listens effectively with patients, families, coworkers, other departments, physicians/providers and community.
7. Supports coworkers, initiatives and a patient and family centered philosophy; pitches in; does own part and helps others.
8. Works to continuously improve work environment/processes (Performance Improvement). Demonstrates a patient and family centered focus when considering/developing improvement solutions.
9. Represents willingness/enthusiasm to create, embrace and facilitate change.
10. Develops self and others; supports a learning environment; leads by example. Encourages patients and families to give feedback and suggestions for improvement.
11. Develops working relationships critical to the organization including patients, families, coworkers, other departments, physicians/providers and community.
12. Encourages others by providing recognition and support.

1. Thinks critically; utilizes sound judgment; promptly reports potential risks.
2. Maintains state of art knowledge of area of specialty, healthcare trends and practice, populations served.
3. Maintains a level of computer literacy appropriate to their role.
4. Meets and maintains current all unit specific and organizational skills/competencies, certifications/licensures, as required.
5. Completes hospital-required reviews, e.g. HIPAA, safety, health screening,
care concerns, and others as assigned.
6. Adheres to National Patient Safety Goals.

1. Clinical knowledge and skills remain current to meet the needs of all age/population groups served. Demonstrates understanding of age- appropriate behavior and psychosocial development for children through older adults.
2. Communicates plan of care based on assessment of patients and family; keeps appropriate people aware of pertinent changes or problems in a timely manner.
3. Participates productively in treatment team meetings and ensures attendance on a regular basis.
4. Consistently attends and participates in staff meetings at least 50% and other committee meetings.
5. Achieves minimum thresholds for productivity on a consistent basis.
6. Meets required thresholds for chart review and documentation.
7. Utilizes therapeutic communication skills with patients and family.
8. Responds appropriately to emergency situations.

Inpatient Job Specifics:
1. Provides individual, group, and family therapy utilizing a wide range of techniques designed to treat mental illness, emotional problems, social and interpersonal problems, and functional deficits.
2. Assists in developing and executing individual treatment plans for patients.
3. Supports day-to-day oversight of all therapeutic activities.
4. Maintains an awareness of significant patient history, present status, and any precautions in effect. Collaborates with other staff to provide input into treatment plans for individual patients.
5. Orients family members to nature of therapeutic services and the specific program.
6. Increases other family members understanding of patient needs and progress.
7. Exhibits clinically appropriate relational (e.g., accurate empathy, active listening) skills.
8. Manage behavioral crises including 1:1 observation, redirection, and crisis team interventions.
9. Writes behavioral management and safety plans for acute patients in cooperation with treatment team recommendations.
10. Completes assessments as needed.
11. Communicates relevant client progress and participates in weekly treatment team planning.
12. Maintains on-going professional relationships with personnel from public agencies and mental health/drug and alcohol treatment facilities.
13. Conducts inter-agency meetings as necessary.
14. Collaborates in appropriate treatment and discharge planning with client, supports, and community agencies.
15. Assists in the implementation of education and training experiences for interns or other designated students.

Outpatient Job Specifics:
1. Effectively performs intake assessments as scheduled and documents appropriately. Is flexible and responsive in rearranging schedule to accommodate emergent cases.
2. Ensures that admission assessments for clients contain the following documented components: Background information, current mental status, treatment recommendations, discharge planning needs, target problems for treatment, expected patient outcomes.
3. Appropriately utilizes standardized tools and scales to assess and reassess patient functioning. Uses the appropriate tool for the age/population of the patient being assessed (e.g., adolescent and geriatric depression scales, GAF, etc.)
4. Assumes appropriate responsibility and accountability for the development, review and revision of the plan of care for outpatients: completes within 2 visits.
5. Expected outcomes/target objectives and interventions measurable and are developed with recognition given to expected age-related variations in the baseline psychosocial and developmental functional capacity of the individual (child to older adult).
6. Incorporates patient/family teaching into plan of treatment; including patient identified target symptoms with severity ratings.
7. Documents discharge plan, revisions to the Plan of Care, and final discharge instructions and linkages community services, as per current policy.
8. Accurately assesses interventions made and reassesses data to plan further interventions throughout the therapeutic process in a responsive and timely manner, in order to meet patient needs and third-party payor requirements.
9. Effectively implements the treatment modalities appropriate to age/population served.
10. Markets the therapeutic value of therapy group participation and solicits referrals from appropriate sources.
11. Implements, facilitates and maintains therapy group(s) participation, the majority of the calendar year.
12. Effectively and consistently demonstrates the successful ability to facilitate a therapy group.
13. Accurately maintains attendance and participation documentation as required by licensors regulations.
14. Plans for education needs of students assigned for supervision of internship and assumes responsibility for communication with hospital staff regarding the student's plan of internship.

General Requirements

The following requirements are expected of all employees:
Annual Health Screening with Infection Control and Blood Borne Pathogens Education
Safety Awareness: Hospital Fire, Safety, and Disaster Procedures
Confidentiality: Maintains Employee and Patient Confidentiality.
Attendance: Regular attendance is an essential function of the position
Job Performance: Results Orientation, Customer Focus, Decision Making, Awareness
Interpersonal Skills: Communication, Relationship-building, Team Player, Celebration
Innovation: Breakthrough Thinking, Knowledge-Building/Sharing, Coaching/Empowering, System Vision & Management

Reporting Structure:
A. Formal Reporting and Chain of Command - Outpatient reports to Clinical Manager of Outpatient Behavioral Health Services or delegated supervisor. Inpatient reports to Assistant Manager of Behavioral Health Services or delegated supervisor.
B. Informal Reporting and Relationships - Establishes and maintains harmonious, productive relationships with all levels of mental health personnel, other hospital personnel, physicians, patients, patients families, and the general public.

By identifying essential job functions, we are in no way stating or implying that these required tasks are the only activities that are to be performed by the employee occupying this position. In addition, employees will also be expected to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties that are included in the job description. The preceding requirements represent only the minimum acceptable levels of knowledge, skills, and/or abilities that a job incumbent must possess; in order to perform the job successfully, the incumbent will possess additional aptitudes so as to perform the other duties that the job description entails.

Qualifications and Standards
Education: Graduate of an accredited Master's degree program in counseling, psychology or other mental health field.

Experience: Experience applying customer service behaviors and communication skills required. A minimum of two (2) years clinical experience in the mental health field including the provision of psychotherapy to individuals, families, couples, and/or groups is required. Play therapy experience required as applicable. Two years post licensure experience preferred. Evidence of participation in educational programs to update and maintain knowledge and clinical skills.

Certifications/Licensure: Licensed as a Professional Counselor (LPC) in Pennsylvania. Current CPR certification required. Child Abuse History Clearance and Criminal Background Check required.