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Duke Health
Durham, North Carolina

Behavioral Health Therapist

CounselorIncludes callFull-Time

Compensation

Pay not disclosed

Employment & setting
Full-Time
Call expectations
Includes call
Weekends
Not specified
Posted 28m ago · Verified live

Job description

At Duke Health, we're driven by a commitment to compassionate care that changes the lives of patients, their loved ones, and the greater community. No matter where your talents lie, join us and discover how we can advance health together.
About Duke Regional Hospital
Pursue your passion for caring with Duke Regional Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. With 388 beds it is the second largest of Duke Health's four hospitals and offers a comprehensive range ofmedical, surgical, and diagnostic services, including orthopedics, weight-loss surgery, women's services, and heart and vascular services.

Provide psychosocial assessments, diagnosis, and psychotherapy treatment. It is an expectation to maintain a patient panel as outlined by departmental or team leadership with at least 80% of time dedicated to direct patient care. Scope of role, working schedule, and location may adjust with business need.

  • Provide psychosocial assessments of patients and families to identify emotional, social, and environmental strengths and problems related to their diagnosis, illness, treatment, and/or life situation.
  • Formulate, develop, and implement a comprehensive psychosocial treatment plan utilizing appropriate treatments and interventions.
  • Interventions may include crisis intervention, individual, marital, family and/or group therapies.
  • Screen, identify, diagnose using DSM nomenclature, treat and manage mental health and/or substance use problems in patients.
  • May participate in on-call or after-hours coverage.
  • Provide consultative services to health care team members within scope of care definitions as needed.
  • Maintain a working knowledge of relevant medical/legal issues that impact patient care.
  • Provide education to patients and loved ones around issues related to adaptation to the patient's diagnosis, illness, treatment and/or life situation.
  • Participate in multi-disciplinary healthcare teams and provide leadership in representing clinical perspective.
  • May provide teaching and training for staff and faculty.
  • Contribute to the academic mission of the health system by participating in academic activities.
  • Maintain working knowledge of and liaison with community agencies and resources.
  • Knowledge of health system resources to access and provide for patient care needs.
  • Document assessment, plan, interactions, and interventions according to departmental, hospital and/or health system guidelines and standards.
  • Maintain records in accordance with department, hospital, medical center and/or health system policies.
  • Attend and participate in staff, committee, department, and other administrative meetings.
  • Participate in department and/or health system continuous quality improvement.
  • Keep current with license requirements and seek to increase further enhancement of job-related knowledge.
  • Adhere to onsite and/or hybrid availability for work policies as outlined by direct supervisor.

Required Qualifications at this Level
Education:
Master's degree in human services/sciences from an accredited school.
Doctorate degree in human services will be acknowledged.

Experience

Two years of outpatient psychotherapy experience as a fully licensed, autonomous clinician. Experience working as a licensed therapist in a medical setting and/or in a team-based community program is preferred.

Degrees, Licensure, and/or Certification

Current licensure as a licensed LCSW, LMFT, and/or LCMHC LCAS is preferred as a secondary license. Outpatient Behavioral Health Therapist

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

  • Adherence to the practice standards and ethical guidelines of licensing board.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
  • A solid knowledge of clinical practice.
  • Excellent assessment, interviewing, and counseling skills with expertise in mental health and substance use areas.
  • Excellent working knowledge of psychopathology.
  • Familiarity with range of therapeutic interventions.
  • Must recognize when to escalate care/refer for further medical assessment.
  • Ability to work effectively and autonomously in a self-directed role.
  • Flexibility in accepting diverse work assignments and managing stress related to change.
  • Proficient in utilizing an Electronic Health Record (i. e. Epic experience preferred).
  • Ability to resolve/manage conflict.

Duke is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy related conditions), sexual orientation or military status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions

Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essential job functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.

Key Responsibilities

The therapist will provide psychosocial assessments, diagnosis, and psychotherapy treatment for patients and families. They will also participate in multi-disciplinary healthcare teams and contribute to the academic mission of the health system.

Requirements

Candidates must hold a Master's degree in human services or a related field and possess at least two years of outpatient psychotherapy experience as a fully licensed clinician. Current licensure as an LCSW, LMFT, or LCMHC is required.

Qualifications

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

Key Skills

Psychosocial assessmentSubstance use treatmentMental health assessmentConflict managementInterdisciplinary collaborationPatient educationCase managementTreatment planning

Counselor Career Context

Of the 50 active Mental Health Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 62% are remote, 8% have no call, 54% require no weekends.

Mental Health Therapy pay on WeekdayDoc is up 3.4% vs. the prior quarter (through Aug 2026).

The cost-of-living index for North Carolina is 94.3 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 59.2% of North Carolina clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

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Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks38 jobs

401k / retirement match
95%
CME allowance
34%
Sign-on bonus
18%
Loan repayment
16%
PSLF eligible
8%

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Work-life snapshot

1.5/ 10
Listing-based score

A signal to investigate—not a guarantee about the workplace.

  • Includes call