Therapist

POSITION SUMMARY

This position requires excellence in performing multiple psychotherapies including, but not limited to, acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive behavioral, mindfulness, behavioral activation, dialectical behavioral, interpersonal, supportive, motivational interviewing, graded exposure and ritual prevention, solution-focused, desensitization, couples, family, grief, and trauma therapies. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is also preferred. Such therapies will be provided in both one-to-one and group settings. The therapist will be responsible to complete initial intakes for the behavioral health program. The therapist will make a clinical decision on the care that is recommended following the intake. The patient may be referred to see the Psychiatrist, may remain with the therapist for Psychotherapy or may see both providers, based on the patients needs and their acceptance of treatment options. The therapist will work collaboratively with the behavioral health team (psychiatrist, case manager and behavioral health medical assistant) directly and with primary care providers indirectly. Treatment plans will be developed, maintained and adjusted over the course of treatment for each patient. The therapist will monitor patients in a patient registry and aid in making recommendations for a portion of these patients by record review without actually seeing the patients. The therapist will contact patients at predefined intervals for those patients who are missing appointments, meeting treatment plan goals, or as otherwise required. The therapist will coordinate care and ensure patients obtain referrals to outside sources or back to their primary care team after completing treatment plan goals. Upon discharge from specialty services, the therapist will implement a relapse prevention plan with each patient. The therapist will also perform initial assessments of patients. While the preferred mode of delivering care is person-to-person, telemedicine services may also be used. Position is responsible for the management of psychosocial aspects of chronic and acute diseases. The application of behavioral principles to address lifestyle and health risk issues. Emphasis is on prevention and self-help self-approaches, partnering with patients in a treatment approach that build resiliency and that builds and encourages personal responsibility for health. Provides consultation and co-management in the co-treatment of mental disorders and psychosocial issues. Working within a fully-integrated, multidisciplinary model within our primary care Health Centers.

EXPECTATIONS

Every Adelante employee will strive to maximize their performance and contribution to Adelante Healthcare and the community we serve every day. Employees are expected work in a manner that demonstrates a commitment to quality, patient safety, employee engagement, innovation, and the highest standards of personal integrity, professionalism and competence.

OUR CORE VALUES

• Compassion
• Excellence
• Integrity
• Learning
• Respect
• Sustainability

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Provide behavioral health services to children, adults, and families as part of the continuum of care.
• Completes initial intake and diagnostic assessments on all clients referred into the Behavioral Health Program. Develops initial treatment plans and updates treatment plans to include age appropriate clinical interventions/objectives/goals that are observable and measurable.
• Provides quality clinical consultation to providers and staff in areas of individual, family, child and adolescent, regarding mental and behavioral health related issues
• Assessment and DSM-V/ICD-10 diagnostics for patients referred by medical staff of Adelante Healthcare
• Provides brief, evidence based, solution focused behavioral interventions with active development of psychotherapeutic/psychoeducational Behavioral Change Planning
• Cultivates education, administration, and self-management skills for targeted populations with psychological issues impacting physical and/or behavioral health issues
• Promotes Adelante Practitioners knowledge of patient behavioral health issues and providers education to assist with enhancing primary care utilization of behavioral health interventions
• Promotes a smooth interface between care provided throughout the organization and the communities specialized mental/behavioral health system
• Collaborates and co-manages the patients behavioral health care with consistent, expeditious feedback to referring practitioners
• Provides on-site availability for crisis triage and intervention
• Documents the clinical behavioral health aspect of patient interventions and tracks the patient referrals to specialty behavioral health care.
• Attends monthly department staffing and weekly supervision meetings.
• Promotes positive patient/guest relation in accordance with Adelante Healthcare policies, providing a high level of quality in personal attention and service to patients and visitors.
• Observes organizational policies concerning unscheduled absences and reports unscheduled absences in accordance with departmental procedures.
• Complies with the organization Safety Policies and Procedures. Ensures compliance with governmental licensing and regulatory requirements where applicable.
• Maintains familiarity with and abide by all established facility and departmental policies and procedures, noting changes when they are published/posted.
• Reports to work at the start of the shift 98% of the days scheduled. Follows the work rotation schedule. Explains and gives proper notification of absenteeism, as outlined in the facility Policies and Procedures. Attends a minimum of 98% of the staff meetings. Reads and signs off on all minutes of the meetings not attended. Participates in committees as assigned. Maintains 100% attendance at mandatory skill/departmental updates. Seeks out facility or external education/training that would further develop individual skills, experience or knowledge necessary for a high standard of functioning in his/her job.
• Observes and respects the confidentiality of information in regard to patients, visitors and fellow employees including salary information, if exposed to any of the above referenced information in the course of his/her job function.
• Dresses according to the organization's dress code policy and procedure, as well as, complies with specific departmental regulations pertaining to employee appearance
• Demonstrates an understanding of facility organizational structure by utilization of appropriate channels of communication. Maintain consistent, timely communication regarding all facets of departmental activities with his/her co-workers, therefore, demonstrating good customer service skills with both external and internal customers.
• Ensures compliance with all regulatory requirements and Behavioral Health Policies and Procedures.
• Must be available during off hours as position may include some "on call responsibilities needed by Mercy Maricopa.
• One-year of full-time employment is preferred but not required.
• Proficiency with electronic medical records and office computers and software.
• This position must work with (PCP, Integrated Behavioral Health Team, medical assistants, nursing, others) and report to (Program manager, Psychiatrist, CMO, others)
• High school diploma or GED from an accredited institution preferred
• Certification to perform cardiopulmonary Resuscitation for the Health Care Professional (CPR) and AED through courses that follow the guidelines from the American Heart Association and Red Cross (cognitive and skills evaluations)
• Valid Level One Fingerprint Clearance Card issued by the Arizona Department of Public Safety for all specialty behavioral health locations

NONESSENTIAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bilingual fluency in Spanish preferred

POSITION REPONSIBILITIES/ESSENTIAL

• Master's degree in the Behavioral Health field (Psychology, Social Work) with two (2) years of directly related experience is desired
• LPC
• Computer literacy is required
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) is preferred
• Certification or certification eligibility as an LCSW, LPC, Psy.D., LISAC, LMFT, or Ph.D. is required.
• Excellent working knowledge of behavioral medicine and evidence-based treatments for medical and mental health conditions.
• Ability to work through brief patient contacts as well as to make quick and accurate clinical assessments of mental and behavioral conditions.
• Should be comfortable with the pace of primary care, working with an interdisciplinary team, and have strong communication skills.
• Good knowledge of psycho-pharmacology
• Ability to design and implement clinical pathways and protocols for treatment of selected chronic conditions

Additional Duties and Responsibilities

• Other duties as request or assigned

PCMH

All employees are responsible for promoting and participating in interdisciplinary communication and collaboration to enhance the delivery of quality across the health care system. Employees should maintain an environment which supports and engages patients and co-workers in a caring team based model to promote wellness and improve health outcomes.

Adherence to Compliance and Code of Conduct

All employees are required to comply with Adelante Healthcares written standards, including its Compliance Program and Standards of Conduct, policies and procedures and reporting of any conduct that potentially violates Adelantes legal or compliance requirements. Such compliance will be an element considered as part of the regular performance evaluation.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be required to sit for long periods of time, is required to stand, walk, use hands to handle or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb steps/stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear; smell; manage stress as it relates to essential job functions. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds without assistance, and may occasionally be required to lift or move up to 50 pounds with assistance. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is exposed to weather conditions prevalent at the time when traveling to various clinic sites. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The employee may be subject to health hazards (contagious diseases, blood borne pathogens, etc.) when working in the clinic area.