Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor

Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Dayton, Ohio

Salary Range: $92841 - $120696 Per Year

Job Summary: The incumbent is a Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) whose duties and responsibilities relate to the case management of Veterans who are identified as "high risk" for suicide or suicide behaviors.

Major Duties:

• Duties: The Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor will conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of veterans and family members. The incumbent evaluates the need for mental health services and makes appropriate referrals for individual, group marital and family treatment services. The incumbent will conduct crisis management intervention to suicidal patients including conducting suicide risk assessments, referral to the appropriate level of care for continued mental health treatment, means reduction and the development of crisis management safety plans with patient input. The incumbent will assist with coordinating the enhanced care which are required for a ninety-day period or longer for patients on the facility high risk for suicide flag. The incumbent will participate in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans include the appropriate follow for patients that are flagged high risk for suicide in a manner that is timely and appropriate. The incumbent will provide a full range of mental health services within commonly accepted standards of clinical mental health practice which include case work, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as indicated/appropriate. The incumbent will coordinate treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans. The incumbent will document clinical interventions and activities in patient's clinical record utilizing Electronic Health Records and ensure appropriate hand off when transferring of patient care. Frequent travel may be required as part of providing suicide prevention social work case management services to suicidal service members and/or patients and their families, at locations such as CBOCs, community agencies or patient residences, etc. Such travel may require the incumbent to function without immediate supervision and consultation. Maintains a level of productivity and quality consistent with facility and clinical mental health standards and the complexity of the assignment. Participates in interdisciplinary team meetings, appropriate facility meetings, and clinical mental health meetings. Shares knowledge and experiences gained from own clinical practice and education relevant to the field of clinical mental health. Must be able to provide supervision for licensure and social work student supervision. The incumbent performs other duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 8:00am-4:30pm Functional Statement #: 92201

Qualifications: BASIC REQUIREMENTS. The basic requirements for employment as a LPMHC are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. §7402(b)(11). To qualify for appointment as a LPMHC all applicants must: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.g.). Education. 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). Examples of related mental health counseling fields include, but are not limited to Addiction Counseling; Community Counseling; Gerontology Counseling; Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling. CACREP defines the date when graduates are considered to have graduated from a CACREP accredited program. Additional information may be obtained from http://www.cacrep.org/directory/. 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. NOTE: It is VHA policy that a LPMHC who does not yet have a license that allows independent practice must be supervised by a licensed independent practitioner of the same discipline who is a VA staff member and who has access to the electronic health record English Language Proficiency. LPMHCs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.j Grade Determinations: Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, GS-12 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-11 grade level. Senior LPMHCs must have five years of post-licensed experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressive professional competency and expertise and be licensed to provide clinical supervision to trainees or unlicensed LPMHCs. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs below: 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: Work is mostly sedentary and primarily performed in an office setting located at the Dayton VA Medical Center. Typical office work involves active listening, reading, observing, and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, writing reports and clinical notes, writing policies and procedures, and speaking to groups of people as part of suicide prevention related trainings. The position requires the use of office equipment such as computers, keyboards, telephones, and all-in-one business machines. Visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity are required. The incumbent may potentially have long periods of walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pushing, pulling and light lifting up to 35 pounds for items such as books, binders, reports, records, and training materials. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. The work can occur at an off-based workstation in coordination with the community partners. When work is performed in a setting away from the office, the work environment cannot be controlled. This position potentially requires some nontraditional work hours to include possible evening, early morning, weekend, and holiday hours. If required as a condition of employment, the incumbent must complete annual Employee Health requirements, such as annual TB screening or testing, employee physicals, etc. Occasional Travel will be required to promote suicide prevention initiatives in the community and CBOCs. A valid driver's license is required for official travel. The incumbent who provides care in home settings or other off-site locations may be required to drive and/or ride in GSA vehicles.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 03/20/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12901472. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

Application Deadline: 2026-03-20