Mental Health Counselor
Listed compensation
$55k-$75k
The week · per this posting · Monday – Friday
Ask the employer about the work setting, nights and shift pattern and time off.
Job Description
The Iowa Primary Care Association is actively recruiting a Mental Health Counselor to provide care at a community health center (FQHC) in Fort Dodge, IA!
LISW and LMHC all encouraged to apply!
What is a community health center (FQHC)?
The largest source of comprehensive primary care for underserved communities and populations.
With an integrated care model that includes medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services, patients can access comprehensive, coordinated services often under one roof.
Role Details
Hours: 8 a. m.-5 p. m. Monday-Friday; no weekends and open to flexibility to provide occasional evening coverage; no call
- Sees on average 8 patients per day
- Provider team includes: 1 PMHNP & 1 LISW/LMHC
- EHR: Ochin Epic
- Predominantly adult patients with kids/adolescents still included.
Duties
Provides psychosocial assessment to patients and families to identify emotional, social and environmental strengths and problems related to their diagnosis, illness, treatment and/or life situation for those referred by primary care providers.
Formulates, develops and implements a comprehensive psychosocial treatment plan utilizing appropriate clinical social work and/or counseling treatments and interventions. Interventions may include crisis intervention, brief and long-term individual, marital, and family and/or group therapies.
Provides therapeutic crisis intervention and emergency behavioral health services as required.
Participates in period staff conferences to present case histories; confer with internal external members of therapy team to develop comprehensive evaluations or plan pertinent therapy programs to provide maximum benefits for each patient.
Prepares and maintains a case record for each patient to describe the nature of social problems and services suggested or provided.
Provides education to patients and families around issues related to adaptation to the patient’s diagnosis, illness, treatment and/or life situation.
Maintains working knowledge of and liaison with community agencies and resources.
Benefits
Student Loan Repayment Programs: Eligible for $50,000 in student loan repayment in exchange for 2 years of service through state & federal programs
- Competitive Salary: starting at $55,000-75,000 based on experience.
- Wellness Reimbursement Program: Reimburse your monthly gym/fitness/wellness fee up to $25/month.
Comprehensive Insurance: Medical, dental, vision, life, accidental death and dismemberment, short-term disability, long-term disability, and flexible spending available.
Paid Time Off: 160 hours for full-time salaried employees + 8 paid holidays (1 additional floating holiday after 6 months of employment)
Retirement Plans: 401k with 5% employer match.
Join us in making a difference in the community while enjoying a rewarding career with excellent benefits and a supportive work environment!
Requirements
Graduation from accredited master’s social work, counseling, marriage/family therapy and/or behavioral health education program.
Licensed as behavioral health professional to practice as LISW or LMHC in Iowa
Key Responsibilities
The counselor will provide psychosocial assessments and develop comprehensive treatment plans for patients referred by primary care providers. They will also conduct individual, marital, family, and group therapy sessions while maintaining accurate case records.
Qualifications
- Education
- Master's degree (postgraduate degree)
Key Skills
Work-Life Balance Analysis
WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Mental Health Counselor at Iowa Primary Care Association a 8.3 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as excellent. This places the position in the top 10% in Mental Health Counseling — ranked against 693 active Mental Health Counseling listings on WeekdayDoc. Contributing factors include no on-call duties, no weekend requirements.
Counselor Career Context
Iowa Primary Care Association ranks #6 of 16 employers hiring Counselor on WeekdayDoc by average advertised pay, and holds silver-tier status on the Top Employers work-life index, composite score 80/100, 20 active listings.
Of the 50 active Counselor listings this role was benchmarked against, 36% are remote, 26% have no call, 68% require no weekends.
Counselor pay on WeekdayDoc is up 3.6% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).
The cost-of-living index for Iowa is 87.8 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$65k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $74k in an average-cost state. 59.8% of Iowa clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).
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