Overview of Mental Health Clinician Position

Easter Seals Serving DC|MD|VA offers a unique opportunity for a highly motivated and skilled professional to join a multi-disciplinary team of highly skilled professionals at The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic serving Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.  The successful candidate will be motivated to deliver services to the highest standards of efficacy and quality, have excellent communication and customer service skills and be results-oriented.

Overview of Easter Seals Serving DC | MD | VA

Easterseals is leading the way to full equity, inclusion, and access through direct and life-changing services that enhance quality of life and expand access to healthcare, education, and employment. And we won’t rest until each one of us is valued, respected, and accepted.  To help each child reach their full potential, we provide personalized child development, Head Start, and early intervention services. To improve health and reduce isolation in adults with disabilities, we offer engaging activities and expansive resources. To enable military families to integrate into the community, we provide a suite of services, including employment support and mental healthcare. And to sustain families and caregivers, we provide comprehensive services and support.

Easterseals DC MD VA (ESDCMDVA) (www.eseal.org) is the affiliate serving Washington DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia.  We deliver exceptional services through a network of 8 sites and in-home care, providing Adult Medical Day Care, Early Child Development and Education (including Head Start), Therapy, Respite, Behavioral Health Care and Workforce Development services where participants and their families find support, hope, medical care, and enjoyable activities.  In addition to our first Child Development center in DC, we currently operate three other Child Development Centers in the region.  Our programs also emphasize the unique needs of veterans, active-duty military, and their families.  We are an independent 501(c)3 with a local board of directors focused on focused on creating a hopeful, inclusive community where all individuals realize their potential and live meaningful lives.  

Our dedicated staff of approximately 300 professionals includes specialists in education, therapy, senior services, social work, assistive technology, nursing, and related professions.  As part of the Easterseals international network, we draw on the resources of almost 25,000 professionals to stay at the cutting edge of service delivery.

Core Values

Our entire staff shares our Core Values which are an integral component of the success of ESDCMDVA:

• Respect: We treat one another fairly. We value the uniqueness and dignity of each member of our community by honoring the choices our participants make and goals they set for themselves, as well as the ideas of our staff and volunteers. We appreciate the strength of diversity and inclusion.

• Responsibility: We share an obligation to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to benefit the organization and its participants. We are good stewards of organizational resources and are accountable for our actions.
• Integrity: We conduct business ethically with a commitment to moral integrity and we expect people to hold a high moral standard. We communicate openly, honestly, and directly.
• Innovation: We embrace new ideas, take measured risks, and find better ways to help more people.
• Care: We show compassion for others. We assume the best about everyone we encounter and continue to live our mission each day.

Overview of the Military Family Clinic and the Cohen Veterans Network

The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic (MFC) at Easterseals is part of the Cohen Veterans Network (CVN) (www.cohenveteransnetwork.org), which philanthropist Steven A. Cohen established in 2016 to create a network of mental health clinics to serve veterans and families.  CVN’s focus is providing high-quality, evidence-based, accessible mental healthcare to post-9/11 veterans, active duty service members, and families, to get ahead of challenges before they become chronic or to provide relief when they are emerging or acute. Twenty-four CVN Clinics are operating across the country, with more expected to be in operation soon. CVN strengthens mental health outcomes for veterans dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress (PTSD) or other mental illness and ensures that every veteran and family member is able to obtain access to high-quality, effective care that enables them to lead fulfilling and productive lives.

The MFC provides targeted short-term evidence-based mental health and related support services to veterans, military family members, Guard/Reserve and caregivers.  Through a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, social workers, psychiatrist, case manager, outreach coordinators, clinicians in training, and other administrative support staff, the MFC offers high-quality, timely and personalized mental health treatment tailored to meet the specific needs of veterans (especially post 9/11) and their families in Washington, DC, Maryland, Northern Virginia, and West Virginia.  Clinic participants benefit from the ESDCMDVA’s extensive array of wraparound services offered by our parent organization at Easterseals, including job coaching and placement through our Veteran Staffing Network, child development programs, respite, and medical adult day services. Eligible participants in these programs are encouraged to use the MFC.

Position Summary

The Mental Health Clinician will be an integral member of MFC clinical team. He/she will report to the Deputy Director/Lead Clinician and will provide evidenced-based, targeted short-term therapy services for clients of the MFC.  The clinician will have training and experience in the provision of a range of evidence-based interventions, including trauma-focused interventions, family therapy, and group therapy. The population treated at the Cohen Clinic is multicultural and diverse with respect to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.  Clinicians have the opportunity to treat underserved groups of veterans, including women veterans and LGBTQ+ veterans and family members. Accordingly, applicants with training, experience, or interest in multicultural/diversity issues in case conceptualization and treatment and working with diverse populations would be a good fit for the position. As such, we seek a clinician who will excel at roles and responsibilities including but not limited to:

Administration, Management, and Operations

• Collaborate and coordinate with the caregiver, physician, director, case management and all other disciplines, as needed, to provide the best care to clients
• Manage full caseload of clients and complete accurate and timely documentation in the electronic health record
• Actively participate in weekly clinical, supervision, and administrative meetings
• Maintain state licensure requirements, and be licensed or willing to be licensed in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia
• Assist with outreach operations, including hosting community wellness workshops, serve on mental health panels, and conduct other events in the community in collaboration with outreach staff
• Serve on clinic committees that focus on improving clinic processes

Clinical Care 

• Provide direct evidenced-based targeted short-term mental health services and referrals for veterans and their families. Perform and document client screenings, psychosocial assessments, and progress and referral information. Scheduled approximately 26-30 hours of face to face client time per week.
• Conduct clinical biopsychosocial assessments and demonstrate strong diagnostic and assessment skills
• Provide individual, couples, and family to patients, with a focus on delivering evidence-based treatments
• Provide treatment in compliance with state and federal guidelines as well as Center policies, protocols and procedures
• Provide direct or layered supervision to student trainees

Training Opportunities

The clinic offers a broad range of training opportunities for full-time staff to include:         

• Cognitive Processing Therapy (6 month certification program)
• Prolonged Exposure Therapy (6 month certification program)
• Gottman Method Couples Therapy (Levels I and II)
• Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (intensive supervision and training)
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (certification track)
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (basics via Beck institute, Beck supervisor on staff for individual supervision) and additional CBT related training
• Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicide (consultation and advanced training)
• Layered/Group supervision of graduate students
• Supervision and clinical practice hours towards full licensure in Maryland and near-by states.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for children

Critical Competencies for Success

Exceptional Communicator:  Ability to communicate clearly and effectively via oral and written means.  Ability to present a positive and friendly demeanor to veterans, their families, staff, and clinic support personnel, funders and the general public.  Ability to develop and provide oral presentations

Team Player: Ability to work as part of an effective multidisciplinary team

Exceptional Clinician: Proven capacity to deliver results through short-term therapy programs.  Ability to identify and assess high risk veterans or family members and provide appropriate acute care intervention.

Technical: Ability to learn and appropriately utilize the electronic health record.  

Decision Making:   Ability to think analytically and evaluate the impact of case management recommendations.   Ability to set work priorities and to evaluate and create solutions to work related problems

Ability to Succeed in a Not-for-Profit Environment: Demonstrated experience working successfully within a highly collaborative and collegial organization.  Comfort rolling one’s sleeves up and engaging in day-to-day operations. Passion for and commitment to ESDCMDVA’s mission

Qualifications

• Education:   Master in Social Work and independent license to practice as a Social Worker (LCSW-C, etc.), or similar level of degree and training (LCPC, LMFT, etc.). Must be independently licensed to practice in the state of Maryland, Virginia, DC, or West Virginia. 
• A minimum of three years post-graduate  experience in an outpatient clinical setting
• Experience working with or managing the care of adults, children, couples, and families 
• Knowledge in DSM-5 diagnoses 
• Experience in PTSD diagnosis and treatment 
• Experience and training in providing cognitive behavioral therapy and other evidence-based treatment required. 
• Willingness to be cross-trained in new modalities
• Veteran or military family member strongly preferred, experience working with military populations required
• Knowledge of the appropriate and effective use of protected health information, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act
• Working knowledge of Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) a strong plus

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Easterseals policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified applicants and employees regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, veteran status, status as a special disabled veteran, or any other protected criteria as established by federal, state, or local laws. Employment decisions at Easterseals are based solely upon relevant criteria, including an individual’s capabilities, qualifications, training, experience, and suitability.