Marriage and Family Therapist-Womens BHIP

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/30/2024.

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• Licensure: must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFTs), which includes diagnosis and treatment. Only those with a Marriage and Family Therapist license will be considered.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Education: Candidates must meet one of the following:

• Master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by COAMFTE,
• Master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a MFT program from a regionally accredited institution,

OR

• Master's degree or doctoral degree in a comparable mental health degree (Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession.

Experience, Education and Licensure: In addition to the basic requirements, the GS-11 full performance level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-master's degree experience in the field of marriage and family therapy work (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure in a State at the independent practice level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs in subparagraph (b) below. OR, In addition to the basic requirements, a doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy or comparable degree in mental health that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession (Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) may be substituted for the required one year of marriage and family therapy experience in a clinical setting.
AND the candidate must be licensed to practice at the independent practice level and they must demonstrate the following KSA.

Demonstrated KSAs: In addition to meeting the KSAs for GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• Skill to independently assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members.
• Ability to provide counseling and/or psychotherapy services to individuals, groups, couples and families in a culturally competent manner that facilitates change through restructuring and reorganizing the client system.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with Veterans and their families, colleagues, and other professionals in collaboration throughout treatment regarding clinical, ethical and legal issues and concerns.
• Knowledge and understanding of existing relevant statutes, case law, ethical codes, regulations and VA policies affecting the practice of marriage and family therapy. This includes the ability to assist Veterans and their families in making informed decisions relevant to treatment to include limits of confidentiality.
• Ability to provide orientation, training and consultation to new MFTs including clinical oversight of MFT graduate students, and/or provide clinical supervision to pre-licensure MFTs.
• Skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents, data management, maintaining accurate, timely and thorough clinical documentation, and tracking quality improvements.

Assignments. MFTs at the full performance level are licensed to independently practice marriage and family therapy. MFTs can provide general mental health services to Veterans within the ethics and guidelines of the professional standards. MFTs at this level formulate, implement, and re- evaluate treatment plans through continuous assessment identifying the Veteran's challenges, strengths, readiness to change, external influences and current events surrounding the origins and maintenance of the presenting issue, and interactional patterns within the client system. In the event that Advanced or Supervisory level assignments are not established/supportable, the incumbents at this level can be responsible for clinical supervision for licensing purposes only, provided they have an AAMFT approved supervisor credential.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11.

Physical Requirements: Duties performed require some physical effort such as sitting, standing, driving, walking, bending, typing, and carrying of light items such as papers, files, books, or reports that do not require special physical demands. The work requires typical safety precautions associated with working in the community and mental health care settings, such as, patient physical or verbal interactions, driving a Fleet vehicle, working with office equipment, and avoiding real or potential accidents. The work may also require occasional travel to local area satellite facilities and/or out of town/state for required/suggested training, conferences or meetings.

References: VA Handbook 5005/101 Part II Appendix G44

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.