Pace Center for Girls logo
Pace Center for Girls
Fort Myers, Florida

Reach Therapist

CounselorFull-Time

Listed compensation

$58k

The week · per this posting

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 1mo ago

Job Description

Starting Salary: $58,000

Work Hours- Flexible Full Time Hours

Summary

At Pace we transform girls’ lives through academic and counseling programs based on a gender-responsive, strength-based and trauma informed framework. Team members create a safe place for girls to learn, grow, and heal.

The Therapist role provides community-based prevention, diversion, and early intervention services to girls ages 11-17. This position is aimed at helping girls build resiliency and decrease risk-related behaviors through the application of a holistic clinical framework.

Qualifications and Education Requirements

Required

  • Master’s degree required with a major in Social Work, Psychology, Mental Health Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy or related field required
  • Minimum three to five years’ experience required preferably working with at-risk youth
  • Current driver’s license required
  • Licensed as a Mental Health Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist or Clinical Social Worker or meet licensing eligibility as a registered intern
  • Understand culturally relevant needs of diverse populations
  • Knowledge of case management and community behavioral health practices
  • Youth development knowledge
  • Experience using personal computers and basic office equipment required
  • Knowledge of laws relating to youth and families

Roles and Responsibilities

Direct Care Services

  • Increase girls’ resiliency by building protective factors at the individual, family and community levels.
  • Address risk factors using holistic assessment, goal setting, and care plan development, and through provision of targeted clinical interventions
  • Empower girls and families by improving relationships, increasing self-efficacy, and encouraging self-advocacy, and to make decisions that will lead to productive, fulfilling, and healthy lives
  • Utilize the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Cultural-Relational Theory, considering any history of trauma and leveraging girls’ strengths
  • Provide weekly therapy services to girls in a variety of settings (school/home/community/center) using evidenced-based and research-informed therapeutic interventions
  • Provide family support/counseling with caregivers to encourage girl progression in the change process and to work with girls’ natural support systems
  • Provide solution-focused counseling approaches toward the resolution of risk factors for substance abuse following the standards of the Florida Administrative Codes Chapter 65D-30
  • Provide crisis intervention as warranted, including risk assessments and family support
  • Conduct psycho-educational and therapy groups that are girl-centered, focusing on social-emotional and life skill development
  • Provide wrap-around care (case) management services, including transportation services when needed, collaborate with outside entities and community providers involved in girls’ care, make referrals as appropriate, and advocate for needed resources

Non-Direct Care Services, Care Planning, and Monitoring

  • Engage in clinical supervision for girls served and contribute clinical knowledge to the care planning team
  • Provide advocacy within the community by attending conferences and public speaking events
  • Review eligibility requirements for girls entering the program, complete enrollment paperwork, biopsychosocial assessments, clinical documentation, screening tools, care plans and transition plans
  • Collaborate with schools and community agencies to support the change process of girls, infusing Gender-Responsive, Trauma-Informed, and Strength-based programming
  • Contribute positively toward programmatic outcomes and the collection of data
  • Other duties as assigned

Additional Qualifications and Requirements

Other

  • Ensures the integration of the Six Developmental Domains and Gender Responsive programming in daily practices
  • Must adhere to the Pace Center for Girls Values and Guiding Principles and upholds the ethical standards of the Agency
  • Follows mission, values and principles, policies and procedures of the Pace Center for Girls
  • Availability to work evenings and weekends as required to fulfill workload

requirements

  • Must be able to travel by automobile, plane, train, etc.; occasional overnight travel may be required

Competencies

  • Achievement oriented – action oriented.
  • Teamwork – collaborates.
  • Self-awareness – demonstrates self-awareness.
  • Functional expertise and usage – functional.
  • Accountability – ensures accountability.
  • Oral communication – communicates effectively.
  • Customer focused – focused on customer.
  • Integrity – instills trust.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics can be stressful, is fast-paced and requires alertness and flexibility. The noise level is usually quiet; however, noise can accelerate to moderate and high levels.

This position requires a Level II pre-employment background screening pursuant to Chapters 435, 984, 985 and 943, Florida Statutes, and the Department of Juvenile Justice policy and procedures. Additional information is available through the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse Education and Awareness website: https://info.flclearinghouse.com

Key Responsibilities

The therapist provides community-based clinical services, including individual and family counseling, to help girls build resiliency and decrease risk-related behaviors. They also manage care plans, conduct assessments, and collaborate with community entities to support the girls' development.

Qualifications

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

Key Skills

Clinical therapyTrauma-informed carePsychological assessmentPsycho-educational groupsRisk assessment

Counselor Career Context

Pace Center for Girls ranks #15 of 19 employers hiring Counselor on WeekdayDoc by average advertised pay.

Of the 50 active Mental Health Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 40% are remote, 30% have no call, 68% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for Florida is 103.4 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$58k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $56k in an average-cost state. 58.1% of Florida clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Location & Logistics

Florida has no state income tax, which can significantly increase take-home pay compared to high-tax states. At the posted ~$58k midpoint, that is roughly $2k–$4k a year versus a typical 4–7% state rate.

Top Counselor Jobs

35 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution35 jobs · 28 employers

16
<$75k
5
$75k-95k
8
$95k-115k
6
$115k-135k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks26 jobs

401k / retirement match
92%
CME allowance
54%
Sign-on bonus
31%
Loan repayment
19%
PSLF eligible
8%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

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

LifeStance Health · Madison, Wisconsin

$92k-$125k
#2

Remote Licensed Talk Therapist - Fee For Service

Thriveworks · Massachusetts

$124k
#3

Licensed Talk Therapist - Fee For Service

$124k
#4

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT)

$115k-$120k
+ 33 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 6.3this job 4.8
Better work-life than 40% of Mental Health Therapy (Counseling) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 7,885 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Living in Fort Myers

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$341k≈ 5.9× annual pay
Typical market rent
$1,745/mo≈ 36% of gross pay
Residents’ average commute
25 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
102.3
State income tax
None
Sources & methodology

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

BEA 2024 · Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

Ratios use this listing’s gross annual pay. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

Pace Center for Girls logo

About Pace Center for Girls

Non-profit Organizations
Jacksonville, Florida
501-1,000 employees