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UHS
Birmingham, Alabama

LEAD THERAPIST (LICENSED)

Counselor / TherapistFull-Time

Compensation

Pay not listed

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the pay range, the work setting, call expectations and time off.

Posted 11m ago · Verified live

Job Description

Responsibilities

Lead Therapist

MUST HAVE availability to attend an 8- business day Orientation from 8a-4p without interruptions.

The Lead Therapist provides clinical direction, social services, and therapy services for residents/patients on the clinical unit assigned. This position will be responsible for overall program and therapeutic milieu coordination.

The aim is that the program and staff follow their handbook, that each patient has an appropriate MTP, and that lead staff follow the appropriate MTP. The Clinical Program Coordinator will monitor program schedule compliance, serve as a role model for therapeutic communication, and promote a positive work environment.

Hill Crest Behavioral Health is an acute care, 194 bed inpatient psychiatric facility located in Birmingham, AL, providing mental health services for adolescents and adults.

  • Hill Crest Behavioral Health offers comprehensive benefits for the Lead Therapist position, such as:
  • Challenging and rewarding work environment
  • Competitive Compensation & Generous Paid Time Off
  • Excellent Medical, Dental, Vision and Prescription Drug Plans
  • 401(K) with company match and discounted stock plan

SoFi Student Loan Refinancing Program

Career development opportunities within UHS and its 300+ Subsidiaries!

More information is available on our Benefits Guest Website: benefits.uhsguest.com

hillcrestbhs.com

What do our current Therapists value at UHS?

An environment that puts patient care first. One of the most rewarding aspects of working as a Clinical Program Coordinator is providing excellent care, comfort, and security to the patients and families you treat, at their most vulnerable times. Having the opportunity to grow, learn, and advance in your career.

There are very robust continuing education options and opportunities for leadership development as a Clinical Program Coordinator with UHS. Supportive and responsive leadership. Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.

About Universal Health Services

One of the nation’s largest and most respected providers of hospital and healthcare services, Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE: UHS) has built an impressive record of achievement and performance.

Growing steadily since its inception into an esteemed Fortune 300 corporation, annual revenues were $15.8 billion in 2024. During the year, UHS was again recognized as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune; and listed in Forbes ranking of America’s Largest Public Companies.

Headquartered in King of Prussia, PA, UHS has approximately 99,000 employees and continues to grow through its subsidiaries. Operating acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities, outpatient facilities and ambulatory care access points, an insurance offering, a physician network and various related services located all over the U.S. States, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. uhs.com

Qualifications

Lead Therapist

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Graduate from an approved college or university with a Master’s degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychiatric Nursing or closely related field.

Current license or eligibility for license as a LMSW, ALC, LMFT, LPC, or LICSW in the State of Alabama required.

  • Minimum 2 years demonstrated excellence in counseling and social work
  • Ability to manage clinical programs and milieu
  • Essential Job Duties/Responsibilities

% Of Time

1.

In collaboration with the Risk Manager and Nurse Manager investigates critical incidents and complaints from patients, personnel and other departments and inform Director of Clinical Services.

2%

2.

Assure a therapeutic and safe environment, advocates for patient rights, and encourages compliance with program requirements.

5%

3.

Plan, develop, and coordinate the needs of the program with other disciplines activities, and programs.

10%

4.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the total program and make recommendations and changes as indicated.

10%

5.

Assure unit is clean and neat, and maintenance upkeep is conducted. Report any problems in this area to the Director of Plant Operations as needed.

2%

6.

Utilize the Nurse Manager or Director of Nursing as a resource to address nursing issues and concerns.

1%

9.

Completes regular patient record reviews for assigned program to ensure compliance with clinical documentation, per P/P.

4%

10.

Meet with the Nurse Manager and residents/patients to assess program needs and allow feedback.

3%

11.

Review grievance forms with Nurse Manager and Patient Advocate regularly and in a timely fashion.

2%

12.

Initiates and complete admission screening, discharge, and aftercare planning. Demonstrate an adequate knowledge base of growth and development.

10%

13.

Consistently demonstrate competence in day-to-day scheduling of duties by competing tasks on time with little assistance from others as required.

5%

14.

Provides individual and family therapy, as assigned. Utilizes appropriate knowledge and skills in providing treatment to patients/residents and their families.

10%

15.

Complete psycho-social assessments per policy and procedure. Communicates with family members and referral sources to obtain historical information.

2%

16.

Complete groups as assigned and individual and family therapy as indicated. Document accurately and precisely in a timely manner and per P/Ps.

5%

17.

Collaborates with program staff to plan and/or attend off-campus program outings for residential units, if assigned.

5%

18.

Participate in treatment team meetings and completed necessary documentation, make changes and update Treatment plan per P/Ps. Serves as the Treatment Team Champion by scheduling patients, ensuring all program patients have treatment plans, and complete all required attendance forms.

10%

19.

Coordinate and document referrals and discharge planning. Ensures that each discharge in the program completes a Patient Satisfaction Survey.

5%

20.

Attend all mandatory employee in-services as scheduled and remain certified in HWC and CPR.

1%

21.

Performs other duties as assigned/required by this position.

5%

22.

Coordinates with program staff to create monthly group therapy schedule.

5%

Primary Equipment/Applications Used

List primary equipment used

Computer

List required software and required proficiency

Microsoft Office Suite

EEO Statement

All UHS subsidiaries are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates. UHS subsidiaries are equal opportunity employers and as such, openly support and fully commit to recruitment, selection, placement, promotion and compensation of individuals without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), genetic information, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

We believe that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success.

Avoid and Report Recruitment Scams

At UHS and all our subsidiaries, our Human Resources departments and recruiters are here to help prospective candidates by matching skill set and experience with the best possible career path at UHS and our subsidiaries.

During the recruitment process, no recruiter or employee will request financial or personal information (e. g., Social Security Number, credit card or bank information, etc.) from you via email. Our recruiters will not email you from a public webmail client like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.

If you suspect a fraudulent job posting or job-related email mentioning UHS or its subsidiaries, we encourage you to report such concerns to appropriate law enforcement. We encourage you to refer to legitimate UHS and UHS subsidiary career websites to verify job opportunities and not rely on unsolicited calls from recruiters.

Qualifications

Education
Master's degree (postgraduate degree)
Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

Program coordinationTherapeutic milieu managementIndividual therapyCrisis interventionPatient advocacyTreatment planningPsychosocial assessment

Counselor Career Context

Of the 50 active Mental Health Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 56% are remote, 26% have no call, 78% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for Alabama is 88.8 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 60.3% of Alabama clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Mental Health Therapy by the numbers
MeasureThis jobMarket
Listed paynot listedMental Health Therapy median $95k (middle half $85k–$118k)214 comparable listings, Oct 2026
Cost of livingAlabama index 88.8US average = 100BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)
Mental Health Therapy listings in Alabama79 active7,975 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Oct 2026
Work settingon-sitepeers: 56% remote · 26% no call · 78% no weekends50 benchmarked listings
Sign-on & loan repaymentloan repaymentAlabama Counselor listings: 0% state a sign-on bonus · 19% offer loan repayment133 active listings, Oct 2026
Sources: WeekdayDoc live listing index, BEA Regional Price Parities (2024); as of Oct 2026. Same values as the Weekday Verdict and Market Insights on this page.

Top Counselor Jobs

39 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution

25 jobs
10
<$70k
8
$70k-90k
2
$90k-110k
5
$110k-130k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks

27 jobs
401k / retirement match
78% this job
CME allowance
56% this job
Loan repayment
26% this job
Sign-on bonus
22%
PSLF eligible
7%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

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$60-$62/hr
#2

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$74k-$126k
#3

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT, LPC, LCSW)

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#4

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$115k-$120k
+ 37 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 6.0this job 3.0
Better work-life than 20% of Mental Health Therapy (Counseling) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 7,942 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

UHS logo

About UHS

Hospitals and Health Care
Aiken, South Carolina
501-1,000 employees

Benefits & Perks

Competitive Compensation
Generous Paid Time Off
Medical, Dental, Vision and Prescription Drug Plans
401(K) with company match
Discounted stock plan
SoFi Student Loan Refinancing Program
Career development opportunities
Continuing education options

Living in Birmingham

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$109k
Typical market rent
$1,305/mo
Residents’ average commute
21 min
State income tax
Up to 5%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Sep 2026), Zillow market rents (Sep 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.