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Primary Health Care
Des Moines, Iowa

Behavioral Health Therapist - East Side Clinic

CounselorNo weekendsFull-Time

Compensation

Pay not listed

The week · per this posting · Monday – Friday

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

Posted 1mo ago · Verified live

Job Description

As a Behavioral Health Practitioner (BHP) at PHC, you will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of healthcare providers and care team support staff to address the mental and behavioral health needs of patients in a primary care clinic setting. You will provide assessment and behavioral interventions as well as brief-targeted and long-term therapy for children, adolescents, adults, and families.

This position will provide services at PHC East Side Clinic in Des Moines and will typically work Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5 PM or 9 AM - 6 PM. Our team members are occasionally needed to cover other shifts or to work at other PHC clinics in Ames, Des Moines, and Marshalltown. Mileage reimbursement and/or an out of town travel bonus may apply.

Bilingual language skills in Spanish and English and/or experience providing therapy services for children are strongly preferred for this position.

What You Will Do

1. Provides behavioral health care in accordance with established standards, regulations, and policies and procedures of PHC. Collaborates with PHC healthcare and psychiatric providers, ensuring the delivery of comprehensive clinical services to primary care patients, targeting interventions to improve patient functioning, behavior and clinical outcomes.

2. Provides brief and long term therapy to individuals and families in PHC clinics or via telehealth to support optimum mental, behavioral, emotional, and physical health. Provides assessment and diagnostic impressions, including identifying and evaluating health risk behaviors. Develops and updates treatment plans as appropriate.

3. Accepts referrals from internal healthcare providers and external sources. Responds to the referring provider’s concern or question, as appropriate, providing timely, focused feedback.

4. Makes referrals for community mental health resources as appropriate. Collaborates with clinic staff to provide patients with referrals for appropriate specialty.

5. Maintains current and accurate documentation of services provided in accordance with standards set by PHC and grant requirements. Provides maintenance of various management databases.

6. Provides clinical consultation and educational programs on behavioral health related topics to staff, students, consumers, and other agencies as requested.

7. Follows and ensures compliance with all regulatory requirements including, but not limited to, risk management, health records/peer review, accreditation requirements and federal, state, and local regulations.

Required Qualifications

  • Social Worker (LISW or LMSW), Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) or Marital and Family Therapist (LMFT) license recognized by the State of Iowa.
  • Master’s degree in Social Work, Marital and Family Therapy, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, or related field accepted for required license.
  • Experience with and working knowledge of third-party payers and associated regulations.
  • Must be obtained within 90 days of employment:
  • Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers.
  • Mandatory Reporter Training for Child Abuse and Dependent Adult Abuse recognized by the State of Iowa.

Required Skills

  • Strong professional skills with ability to interact with others calmly and empathically along with de-escalating difficult situations.
  • Strong interpersonal skills with ability to work with diverse populations.
  • Strong problem-solving skills with analytical and critical thinking capability.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills.
  • Strong customer service skills.
  • Basic computer proficiency, including use of email, word processing and spreadsheet applications, and electronic health records.
  • Excellent collaboration and team-oriented skills.
  • Good listening skills.
  • Organization, prioritization and time management skills.
  • Detail orientation with a high degree of accuracy.
  • Flexible and adaptive with ability to manage stress and maintain resilience.

We Take Care of Our People

Your related experience and skills determine your base pay within our pay range. In addition to base pay, PHC offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:

  • Generous PTO accrual
  • Eight paid holidays
  • License/certification fee reimbursement*
  • Paid time off for continuing education & continuing education reimbursement*
  • Tuition reimbursement program
  • 401k with company match
  • Medical, dental, vision
  • Life & disability insurance
  • Flexible spending & health savings accounts
  • Supplemental accident & critical illness insurance
  • Discounted pet insurance
  • PHC Pride rewards program

Visit phciowa.org for a summary of PHC’s benefits.

*Applies to positions requiring clinical licensure or certification.

Grow Your Career with PHC

We take pride in offering development and growth opportunities to our team. Some of our training opportunities include Emerging Leaders, Dental Assitant Trainee Program, & Medical Assistant Trainee Program. In the last year, over 30% of our open positions were filled through promotions or transfers.

Join the PHC Community

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Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5 PM or 9 AM - 6 PM

40 Hours Per Week

Key Responsibilities

The Behavioral Health Practitioner collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to provide mental and behavioral health assessments and therapy to patients in a primary care setting. They are responsible for developing treatment plans, maintaining accurate clinical documentation, and providing referrals to community resources.

Requirements

Candidates must hold a valid Iowa license as an LISW, LMSW, LMHC, or LMFT and possess a Master's degree in a related field. Experience with third-party payer regulations and the ability to obtain Basic Life Support and Mandatory Reporter training within 90 days are required.

Qualifications

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

Certifications

BLS

Key Skills

Behavioral health therapyClinical assessmentTreatment planningCrisis de-escalationStress management

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Behavioral Health Therapist - East Side Clinic at Primary Health Care a 6.0 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the top 35% of all Mental Health Therapy counselor listings evaluated on our platform. Contributing factors include no weekend requirements.

Counselor Career Context

Primary Health Care holds silver-tier status on WeekdayDoc's Top Employers work-life index, composite score 75/100, 15 active listings.

Of the 50 active Mental Health Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 48% are remote, 30% have no call, 70% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for Iowa is 87.8 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 59.8% of Iowa clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Top Counselor Jobs

36 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution28 jobs · 25 employers

12
<$75k
6
$75k-95k
3
$95k-115k
4
$115k-135k
3
$135k+

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks26 jobs · 25 employers

401k / retirement match
92% this job
CME allowance
38% this job
Sign-on bonus
31%
Loan repayment
23%
PSLF eligible
19%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Virtual School Based CounselorContract

Lets Therapy · Springfield, Pennsylvania

$66 per hour
#2

Remote Licensed Professional Counselor-VirginiaContract

Adjuvant Behavior Health · Virginia Beach, Virginia

$66/hr
#3

Licensed Mental Health Counselor (Bilingual)

$65/hr
#4

Licensed Mental Health Therapist (LMFT, LCSW, LPCC)

$117k-$134k
+ 34 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 6.0this job 6.0
Better work-life than 50% of Mental Health Therapy (Counseling) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 8,002 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • No weekends

Living in Des Moines

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$227k
Typical market rent
$1,126/mo
Residents’ average commute
20 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
91.7
State income tax
Up to 6%
Sources & methodology

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

BEA 2024 · Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

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

Primary Health Care logo

About Primary Health Care

Hospitals and Health Care
Des Moines, IA
1,001-5,000 employees

Benefits & Perks

Generous PTO accrual
Eight paid holidays
License/certification fee reimbursement
Paid time off for continuing education & continuing education reimbursement
Tuition reimbursement program
401k with company match
Medical, dental, vision
Life & disability insurance