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Sharp HealthCare
San Diego, California

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist - Chemical Dependency Evening Program - Sharp McDonald Center - Per Diem - Variable Shift

CounselorIncludes weekendsNo callPer Diem

Listed compensation

$50.72-$73.31/hr

The week · per this posting

Ask the employer about the work setting, nights and shift pattern and time off.

Posted 4mo ago

Job Description

Hours:

Shift Start Time: Variable Shift End Time: Variable AWS Hours Requirement: 8/40 - 8 Hour Shift Additional Shift Information: This position primarily supports evening operations and will be scheduled to work Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

Flexibility outside of these hours may be required based on business needs. Weekend Requirements: As Needed On-Call Required: No Hourly Pay Range (Minimum - Midpoint - Maximum): $50.720 - $65.450 - $73.310 The stated pay scale reflects the range that Sharp reasonably expects to pay for this position.

The actual pay rate and pay grade for this position will be dependent on a variety of factors, including an applicant’s years of experience, unique skills and abilities, education, alignment with similar internal candidates, marketplace factors, other requirements for the position, and employer business practices.

What You Will Do To assist patients and families with behavioral health and environmental resources to reach the maximum level of functioning during the current episode of care.

This position is responsible for conducting behavioral health psychosocial assessments and clinical interventions, inclusive of individual, group, and family therapy in the partial hospitalization and structured outpatient programs.

In collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, coordinates patient care and provides case management for assigned patients.

Required

Qualifications

Master's Degree In Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work or Psychology from an accredited graduate program. 1 Year Experience in a behavioral health setting. AHA Basic Life Support for Healthcare Professional (AHA BLS Healthcare) - American Heart Association

  • REQUIRED California BBS Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) - CA Board of Behavioral Sciences
  • REQUIRED Preferred Qualifications 3 Years Experience. Acute/psychiatric hospital experience, discharge planning/case management experience. Essential Functions Communication and teamwork Communicates with the members of the healthcare team and court officers, conservator's office and /or patient advocates as appropriate to expedite patient progress, while upholding patient rights and facility safety. Maintains ongoing communication with multi-disciplinary team members regarding patient status and follow-up. Consults with team members in development of treatment plans. Attends treatment team and staff meetings inservices and case presentations as designated by unit/department/program. Arranges and facilitates patient care conferences for difficult/high-risk psychosocial cases to enhance resolution of identified issues. Identifies Bioethical dilemmas and initiates appropriate response. Consults, coordinates, and intervenes in crisis situations while assisting staff in de-escalating volatile situations and facilitating Code Green and critical incident debriefings. Develops interdisciplinary education to increase staff knowledge. Discharge and patient follow up Utilizes appropriate community resources on behalf of patients and families. Develops an appropriate and timely discharge plan. Educates patient and family of options for discharge based on patient's mental health/legal/insurance status. Provides continuity of care referrals to patients and families for ongoing community services/support upon discharge.

Schedules follow up appointment with psychiatric provider within 7 days of discharge. Provides discharge information to next level of care. Completes thorough safety planning with patient and family including gun removal as an appropriate measure.

Leadership Provides professional role modeling and collaboration with interdisciplinary team, assisting unlicensed MFTs, Social Workers and students to develop competency and acquire technical skills: Designs, implements, and/or supports evidence-based processes and therapeutic programs for patients and families that improve clinical practice.

Provides the acquisition of clinical knowledge and skills to new staff/student interns and interdisciplinary team. Provides leadership as role model and/or consultant to develop/retain professional clinical staff.

Foster the integration of the professional role as a clinical decision maker by providing consultation and educational presentations to members of the healthcare team. Attends and participates in meetings and assists management in decision making in absence of Manager/Lead.

Patient assessment Assesses, evaluates, and documents the psychosocial needs of the patient and family: Performs appropriate patient assessments (psychosocial, SI/HI, safety, DC planning) as related to the clinical services provided. Formulates plan of care based on clinical assessment.

Develops and implements treatment goals which address identified patient needs. Completes all documentation elements as appropriate, including, but not limited to, assessments, treatment plan, consultations, recommendations and interventions.

Documentation is performed in a timely, complete, legible, concise and accurate manner, in accordance with Sharp HealthCare and professional license guidelines, meeting third-party payor and regulatory requirements.

Safe and therapeutic environment Provides therapeutic interventions within the scope of care with patient and family that are appropriate to the patient's diagnosis, developmental milestones, age, culture, and ethnic diversity: Demonstrates knowledge and safe use of therapeutic procedures, appropriate clinical boundaries, and treatment modalities.

Demonstrates effective crisis intervention, problem solving techniques in individual/family therapy, and therapeutic process groups and is a resource to others in these areas.

Reports all mandatory protective concerns such as Elder Abuse, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Tarasoff as required by law and Sharp HealthCare policies and procedures.

Serves as a patient advocate through encouraging patient and family participation in decision making and acts to uphold individual rights; Informs, educates, supports, and evaluates patient/family response to therapeutic interventions via collateral calls, conjoint therapy sessions, utilization review process, and/or referrals and revises care plan as necessary.

Sharp HealthCare is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability or any other protected class Sharp HealthCare is a not-for-profit health care system based in San Diego, California, with four acute care hospitals, three specialty hospitals, three medical groups and a health plan.

We provide medical services in virtually all fields of medicine, including primary care, heart care, cancer, orthopedics, women’s health, rehabilitation, robotic surgery and bariatric surgery. Sharp sets the community standard for exceptional care.

Sharp Grossmont Hospital and Sharp Memorial Hospital have received prestigious Magnet recognition by the American Nurses Credentialing Center for excellence in nursing practices and quality patient care.

At the heart of our organization are more than 18,000 affiliated physicians, nurses, staff and volunteers who are on a journey to make health care better for our patients and their families.

It’s what we call The Sharp Experience – treating each person with dignity, compassion and respect, and using our clinical excellence and advanced technology to deliver the highest-quality patient care.

We are dedicated to transforming the health care experience by making Sharp the best place to work, the best place to practice medicine and the best place to receive care in San Diego.

Key Responsibilities

Conduct behavioral health psychosocial assessments and provide individual, group, and family therapy within partial hospitalization and outpatient programs. Coordinate patient care and develop timely discharge plans in collaboration with an interdisciplinary treatment team.

Requirements

Requires a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work, or Psychology and a valid California LMFT license. Candidates must have at least one year of behavioral health experience and AHA Basic Life Support certification.

Qualifications

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

Certifications

BLS (preferred)

Key Skills

Psychosocial AssessmentIndividual TherapyGroup TherapyTreatment PlanningClinical DocumentationPatient AdvocacyDe-escalation

Marriage & Family Therapy — Counselor Career Context

Of the 50 active Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT) listings this role was benchmarked against, 30% are remote, 32% have no call, 70% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist - Chemical Dependency Evening Program - Sharp McDonald Center - Per Diem - Variable Shift at Sharp HealthCare a 6.4 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the top 35% of all Marriage & Family Therapy counselor listings evaluated on our platform. Contributing factors include no on-call duties.

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Salary Distribution31 jobs

13
<$75k
5
$75k-100k
4
$100k-125k
9
$125k-150k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks33 jobs

401k / retirement match
73%
CME allowance
45%
Loan repayment
27%
PSLF eligible
21%
Sign-on bonus
18%

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Work-life snapshot

median 6.9this job 6.4
Better work-life than 30% of Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 883 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • No call
  • Includes weekends

Living in San Diego

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$1.01M
Typical market rent
$3,036/mo
Residents’ average commute
24 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
111.9
State income tax
Up to 13.3%
Sources & methodology

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

BEA 2024 · San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

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