Behavioral Health Counselor

Starting at $57,300

Major Function

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Director of Behavioral Health and Clinical Supervisor of Behavioral Health, the Behavioral Health Counselor (BHC) provides behavioral health services in an integrated care and trauma informed manner. The BHC will work in a patient center and collaborative manner providing services to patients which includes but is not limited to brief intervention counseling, identification of social determinants of health, referrals to mental health and substance use services as appropriate, and follow up services to patients via face to face or through telemedicine. Is responsible to work independently, managing a diverse caseload; does related work as required.

Essential Functions

Direct Service

• Provide comprehensive assessment and diagnosis of behavioral health clients.
• Provide effective treatment planning and assisting clients in successfully achieving goals.
• Evaluate crisis situations and apply appropriate interventions.

Actively participate in meetings that support the integrated health care model to provide comprehensive care for clients.

Assist in the detection of “at risk” patients and development of plans to prevent further psychological or physical deterioration.

Assist the primary care team in developing care management processes such as the use of guidelines, disease management techniques, case management, and patient education to improve self-management of chronic disease.

Provide assessment, consultation, and brief intervention for psychological/psychiatric problems and/or disorders.

Teach patients, families, and staff care, prevention, and treatment enhancement techniques.

Monitor the site’s behavioral health program, identifying problems related to patient services and making recommendations for improvement.

• Complies with and meets the required standards for Joint Commission and HRSA accreditations.
• Collaborates with all members of the Integrated Care Treatment team in service of the patient.
• Other duties as assigned.

Program Development and Maintenance

Develops and maintains liaison relationships with community resources as able, specifically other behavioral health and substance abuse agencies. Works to establish collaborative services and to lessen duplication of care.

In conjunction with other staff utilizes the electronic community resource directory provided by the Trenton Health Team.

Participates in the development, implementation, and evaluation of special projects and/or pilot programs.

Interprets Center behavioral health policies and procedures to providers, institutions, agencies, recipients, and other concerned individuals.

Establishes and maintains necessary records and files. Drafts correspondence in the course of official duties.

Collects, records, and analyzes significant program-related data; develops monthly statistical and programmatic reports.

Staff Development

• Serves as a full member of the HJAHC clinical staff team.
• Participates fully in Behavioral Health departmental meetings and other agency meetings as warranted.

Participates in professional and related meetings, conferences, and continuing education training as available; prepares reports as requested.

Keeps appraised of developing areas of behavioral health and provides colleagues with updates as appropriate.

Assists in behavioral health departmental tasks, including programmatic and infrastructure design, implementation, and evaluation.

Learns and implements various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the Center or its related units.

Assists with onboarding of new staff as supervising university interns as requested.

Additional Responsibilities

Performs other duties and assumes other responsibilities as apparent and/or as assigned by the Director of Behavioral Health. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Defines and maintains the standards of social work practice within the Center based on all dictates of the National Association of Social Worker’s Code of Ethics and the Social Workers Licensing Act of 1991 (N. J. S. A. 45:15BB-1 et seq.) and amendments thereto and with all the rules of the New Jersey State Board of Social Work Examiner

Requirements

Education & Experience

Master’s Degree in Social Work or PhD in Clinical Psychology required

Licensure and/or Certifications

• Licensed in the State of New Jersey as a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) required
• Licensed in the State of New Jersey as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) and Licensed Addiction Counselors (LAC) can also be considered for this position.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND OTHER (KSAO’s)

Computer Skills: To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Word Processing software.

Excellent working knowledge of behavioral medicine and evidence-based treatments for medical and mental health conditions.

Ability to work through brief patient contacts as well as to make quick and accurate clinical assessments of mental and behavioral conditions.

Should be comfortable with the pace of primary care, working with an interdisciplinary team, and have strong communication skills.

Good knowledge of psycho-pharmacology.

Ability to design and implement clinical pathways and protocols for treatment of selected chronic conditions.

Physical & Work Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This position requires the manual dexterity sufficient to operate phones, computers and other office equipment. The position requires the physical ability to kneel, bend, and perform light lifting. This person must have the ability to write and speak clearly using the English language to convey information and be able to hear at normal speaking levels both in person and over the telephone. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus. Generally, the working conditions are good with little or no exposure to extremes in health, safety hazards and/or hazardous materials.