Senior Therapist

The City of Alexandria is located in northern Virginia and is bordered by the District of Columbia (Potomac River), Arlington and Fairfax counties. With a population of approximately 150,000 and a land area of 15.75 square miles, Alexandria is the seventh largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Alexandria has a charming waterfront and is a unique and historic place to live and work. About one-quarter square miles in the city have been designated as a national or local historic district. We proudly embrace our rich history and seize the endless opportunities that lie ahead. If you are interested in working for the vibrant City of Alexandria, we invite qualified candidates to apply for our Senior Therapist position.

An Overview
The Senior Therapist will conduct intake assessments, crisis intervention, and individual, group and family therapy with children and adolescents experiencing mental health and substance abuse challenges and their families; Work is primarily in a school based health clinic, with some services in a mental health center setting; Consults and maintains excellent working relationships with stakeholders within the system of care, i.e. health clinic, school, child welfare, juvenile justice. The Senior Therapist may represent the division on inter-agency collaborative work group or planning team; May provide clinical and administrative supervision to psychology externs.

The Opportunity

• Conducts mental health and substance abuse evaluations with diagnostic formulations.
• Develops treatment plans with youth and their families based on their strengths, needs, preferences, and goals.
• Engages youth and families in evidence-based youth led and family driven individual, group and family therapy, including crisis intervention.
• Collect outcome data and administers satisfaction surveys on a regular basis to the persons served.
• May provide presentations on behavioral health topics to parent groups and any other groups or organizations that work with school-age youth.
• Maintains communication with referring agencies to coordinate services and progress in treatment.
• Prepares a variety of written reports including case notes, initial treatment plans, quarterly treatment updates, clinical/mental health evaluations, status reports and reports to referral agencies.
• Participates in multi-disciplinary inter-agency workgroups and treatment planning meetings.
• Collaborates and coordinates with referral sources and stakeholders within the system of care, i.e. child welfare, juvenile justice, schools.
• Provide services and maintain medical records in accordance with an accreditation body, Department policies, licensing and Medicaid regulations.
• Coordinates client care with the team case worker as needed.

About the Department
The Center for Children and Families (CCF) provides programs and services for Behavioral Health, Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, Child Welfare & Child Protective Services, Early Childhood and Youth Development. CCF provides compassionate, collaborative and effective person and family-centered services based on best practices. Our teams support self-determination, safety, recovery and resiliency for Alexandria children and all residents affected by abuse, neglect, mental illness, intellectual disabilities and substance abuse disorders.

What You Should Bring
Fluency in Spanish, both written and spoken; excellent knowledge of the signs and symptoms of mental health and substance abuse diagnoses, as well as evidence based treatment and prevention and early intervention strategies for adolescents; excellent knowledge of diagnosis, risk assessment and treatment strategies for children and adolescents who experience emotional difficulties/dual diagnosis; knowledge of evidence based interventions with youth and their families; very good knowledge of family treatment strategies; ability to conduct substance abuse assessments, treatment planning and ongoing therapy; ability to work successfully with youth and their families, assisting in development of their strengths and abiding by their goals and preferences; ability to communicate both orally and in writing, in a clear concise manner, with other professionals and with the general public; ability to collaborate with host partners and treatment team members; professional license in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Minimum & Additional Requirements

Possession of Master's degree in Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, Psychology, Education or related field; at least two years of post-graduate work experience in providing direct clinical services to consumers having one or more substance abuse, psychiatric, and emotional disorders; and licensure or license eligible (has completed all required education and supervision as required by applicable board) as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Substance Abuse Treatment Practitioner (LSATP) or Clinical Psychologist in the Commonwealth of Virginia at the time of appointment; if license eligible, the employee must obtain Virginia licensure at the first available opportunity, but no later than one year after appointment; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities; Employees must possess a valid driver's license issued by the state of their residence.

Preferred Qualifications

Three or more years post masters experience providing direct treatment services with school-age clients with substance abuse, psychiatric and emotional disorders; Three or more years of experience providing family therapy; Two or more years of experience implementing evidence based practices with adolescents, particularly trauma related; Two or more years working with youth who have substance abuse challenges; Two or more years of experience with youth who have a serious emotional disturbance; Computer/word processing skills; Experience with electronic medical records. Bilingual English/Spanish.

Notes

This position requires the successful completion of pre-employment background checks including but not limited to: FBI/Federal Records Check; VA State Child Abuse/Neglect Registry; Medicare/Medicaid Fraud Database; education/certifications; and driver's license.

Schedule: Monday- Friday, 8:00AM - 5:00PM, with two evenings per week.