Summary This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. Responsibilities Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) (Advanced) serves as a core member of a multidisciplinary team. Responsible for providing family, couple and marriage counseling to Veterans. Conducts intakes, assessment interviews, develops treatment plans, and provides treatment to eligible Veterans and their families. Treatment modalities may include crisis intervention as well as both short term and long term services. May refer patients to other programs and professionals. Participate in all Alaska VAHCS functions as required, including consultations with others, emergency care, and interacting in trainings and staff meetings. Works to provide expert level psychosocial interventions and case management services to veterans with complex medical, social and behavioral conditions in which routine clinic based care is not effective. LRC serves to assist in implementation of policies and procedures from the National Recovery Coordinator and to facilitate implementation of recovery oriented services. Particular responsibility to ensure that the full range of psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery services is available to all Veterans with a serious mental illness and to promote activities that eliminate any stigma associated with mental illness. LRC Duties (30%) Champion and advocate for the recovery model. Develops a 3-5 year plan for the facility that identifies staged implementation of recovery oriented services. Develops a facility wide program for providers and veterans and their families geared toward de-stigmatization of SMI. Develops an ongoing education plan for providers, Veterans and families. Serves as consultant to MH programs and recovering veterans. Promotes use of evidence-based strategies for implementation. Assists with VA regional or local recovery-oriented trainings, meetings, or conferences. Serves as a MH Liaison to the facility Consumer Council. Provides an annual report on implementation progress to the VISN RC and the NRC. Meets quarterly with other VISN LRCs to coordinate a network response to recovery implementation. Participates in facility meetings and policy planning groups. Tracks and supports providers of patients with severe and persistent mental illness. Collaborate with providers. BHIP Clinical Responsibilities (70%) Screenings and Assessments Interviews Veterans and their significant others to determine specific problems. Independently conducts intake and needs assessment of Veterans and their significant others and establishes a relationship with the Veterans within the counseling setting. This includes making DSM diagnosis as appropriate to level of training. Treatment Planning and Goal Setting Responsible for developing comprehensive and unique goal-directed treatment plans that reflect a course of therapeutic intervention to address the needs identified in the assessment. Clinical Counseling Provides individual, conjoint, family, couples and group therapy for Veterans and significant others, including the potential use of Evidence Based Psychotherapies. Crisis Intervention Provide crisis intervention, stabilization, and follow-up for Veterans and significant others. This includes evaluation and management of suicidal/homicidal patients and other psychiatric emergencies. Responsible for timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation required by the Medical Center as appropriate and may present outcome data as appropriate. Consults with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues. Remains involved in program evaluation. Maintains full clinical privileges as a member of the medical staff. Abides by Medical Staff By-Laws for own practice and via oversight for Medical Staff within the Mental Health Service Line. Professional Competency Will keep abreast of current state of the art procedures, processes, and date-driven treatment approaches, including VA trained Evidence Based Psychotherapies. Responsible for all other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8am-4:30pm Telework: AD-HOC Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: 000000 Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. You may be required to serve a trial period. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. English Language Proficiency: MFTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3j. Education: Candidates must meet one of the following: Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by COAMFTE, Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a MFT program from a regionally accredited institution, OR, Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in a comparable mental health degree (Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession. Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to MFT positions in the GS-0182 series in VHA must hold a full, current, and unrestricted MFT license to independently practice marriage and family therapy in a State. Loss of Licensure: Once licensed, MFTs must maintain a full, current and unrestricted license to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure will result in removal from the GS-0182 MFT series and may result in termination of employment. Grade Determinations: Marriage and Family Therapist, GS-12 (Advanced) Education, Experience and Licensure: Candidate must have successfully completed evidence based training in family therapy and must have graduated from a COAMFTE accredited program OR have passed the AMFTRE. Candidate must have at least five years of post-licensed clinical experience in delivery of family systems therapy including one-year equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. This experience must demonstrate the use of an evidence based family therapy model while exhibiting progressive professional competency and expertise. Assignments requiring responsibility for providing clinical supervision must have an AAMFT Approved Supervisor credential. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs listed below. Demonstrated KSAs: Ability to provide specialized consultation for complex cases involving individuals, families and/or couples utilizing evidenced-based family systems theory/therapy. Ability to provide crisis intervention which includes assessment, safety planning and complex treatment planning using independent clinical judgment utilizing family systems theory/therapy. Ability to provide family systems therapy, which seeks to address Veterans and their family members on an individual level and deals with interpersonal interactions. Ability to provide unlicensed MFT staff/trainees with systemic clinical supervision towards licensure from a family systems theory/therapy perspective. Assignments: For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Advanced MFTs can be assigned as the sole licensed mental health provider in settings such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics or have responsibility and oversight for a MFT training program established under VA/VHA training policy as well as provide systemic clinical supervision to those MFT interns. The Advanced MFT who has responsibility for the training program provides family systemic clinical supervision to unlicensed MFTs and provides clinical consultation to less experienced staff. Advanced MFTs develop behavioral health related training curriculum and conduct trainings for clinical staff. Advanced MFTs meet routinely with inter-professional team members and leadership to communicate about program and veteran and family issues for in depth problem solving. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: This work requires light lifting (under 15lbs), moderate carrying (15-44lbs), use of fingers, walking, standing, near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, both eyes required, hearing (aid may be permitted), and emotional and mental stability. Environmental factors are working outside and inside, in dry atmospheric conditions, working closely with others, and working alone. Education Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.