Mental Health Clinician

Position Objective:

The Licensed Clinician will work in tandem with the primary care team and is responsible for providing brief intervention and consultation to patients in an outpatient setting.  Services to include: crisis intervention; monitoring mental health referrals to patients with higher behavioral health needs; coordinating care for complex patients with mental and physical health conditions; acting as a consultant and resource to members of the care team on effective interventions with patients with chronic illnesses and mental health diagnoses; assisting with staff training as needed; functioning as chronic care self-management support expert; meeting minimum documentation requirements for all services rendered in a timely manner; and ensuring data is collected as appropriate.

Essential Job Duties:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

 1. Patient Care Management/Documentation

• Work collaboratively with physician and/or mental health provider of record to provide comprehensive mental health services to patients across the age spectrum.
• Develop and implement an integrated and comprehensive treatment plan based on clinical experience and knowledge.
• Maintain a customer-oriented approach to meeting patient needs in an expedient manner, involving the family in the plan of care as appropriate.
• Maintain confidentiality and patient privacy.
• Document care provided; meeting standards for chart reviews.
• Adhere to all practice standards, protocols and regulations set by COMAR/Joint Commission.

2. Consultation and Referral

• Seek consultations as appropriate, act as a consultant as requested.
• Perform comprehensive assessments and refer patients for further care and services within the health system and/or the community.
• Patient Education
• Utilize teaching learning theory with patients and their families to influence patient outcomes.
• Identify learning needs of various populations and contribute to the development of educational programs to meet those needs.

3. Clinical

• Diagnose and treat acute mental and emotional disorders.
• Provide comprehensive, short-term care for patients with acute mental and emotional disorders, linking and coordinating treatment with other professionals, such as psychiatrists and social workers.
• Refer, as appropriate, patients to other resources or services in the community, such as support groups and recovery groups.
• Develop a comprehensive discharge plan that incorporates external supports and services when indicated.

4. Evaluation

• Assess patients for risk of suicidal and/or homicidal thoughts or behaviors.
• Interviews patients and family members to determine nature and degree of problems and arranges, as necessary, medical or psychiatric examinations to help identify problems pertinent to diagnosis and treatment.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the counseling program on patients progress in resolving identified problems and moving towards defined objectives.
• Evaluate case situations and presents information to other members of the health care team on patients, families, and social backgrounds pertinent to the diagnosis and treatment.

Educational/Experience Requirements:

•         Master’s degree in related field.
•         Five (5) years of related clinical counseling experience.

Required License/Certifications:

• Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Certified Social Worker Clinical (LCSW-C ) from the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners or Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC ) from the Maryland Board of Professional Counselors.

Working Conditions, Equipment, Physical Demands:

There is a reasonable expectation that employees in this position will be exposed to blood-borne pathogens.

Physical Demands – Medium work. 

Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 30 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects.

The physical demands and work environment that have been described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The above job description is an overview of the functions and requirements for this position.  This document is not intended to be an exhaustive list encompassing every duty and requirement of this position; your supervisor may assign other duties as deemed necessary.