Therapist

PURPOSE:
The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services strengthens families and communities throughout New York City by helping individuals of all backgrounds realize their potential and live as independently as possible. Guided by the values of hope, recovery and resilience, each year The Jewish Board has an impact in the lives of over 40,000 individuals and families in New York City. Our work is done across the city, encompassing 75 facilities, including 10 residences serving 400 children each year, 14 mental health clinics and 24 additional satellite clinics, 37 supportive housing programs totaling 1200 units, and 10 kosher residences that are home to 130 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

POSITION OVERVIEW:
You will receive ongoing training in the Multisystemic Therapy (MST) model as you work with families, youth, their communities, and other key members of their ecology to implement MST as designed. Extensive research has proven the effectiveness of MST. MST therapists do whatever it takes, via close collaboration with all involved, to address the needs of adolescents returning from residential placement for mental health, trauma and, in some cases, substance abuse. You will empower families to address challenging and/or problematic behavior and to help youth aged 12 – 17 ½ make life-transforming changes. Treatment progress is made through intensive interventions such as skill building, changing unhelpful family interactions, and increasing social support, to name a few.

KEY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Provide direct clinical treatment using the MST treatment model and principles. Some principles include leveraging strengths and focusing on the positive, understanding sequences of behavior, and increasing mature behavior.
• Conduct a thorough assessment of the client and family: gather information on behaviors of concern and strengths in the family and their ecology to inform conceptualization of the problem behaviors and interactions within the family’s ecological context.
• Maintain a caseload of 4 – 5 cases at any given time, meeting with each client twice a week at a minimum
• Comfort working with a diverse community of clients and traveling throughout New York to provide services in the home or community settings
• Knowledge of the types of families in the community
• Continuously work to engage the primary caregiver, family members, supports, and community agency staff (school, outpatient mental health providers, residential case planners and line staff, child welfare, community stakeholders) in change-oriented treatment.
• Dedicate time to weekly case planning and evaluation of case progress, with ongoing support from your supervisor and team members.
• Complete thorough paperwork in a timely manner including progress notes, weekly case summaries, and treatment plans
• Receive regular training, professional development, supervision, and consultation activities designed to help you acquire extensive clinical skills within the MST treatment model.
• Assure, along with fellow clinicians, that clients have access to 24 hours/day, 7 days/week support as needed.

CORE COMPETENCIES for the position include:

• Excellent youth and family engagement skills
• Strong verbal and written skills
• Attention to details
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team

EDUCATIONAL/TRAINING REQUIRED:

• Master’s degree in clinical or counseling Psychology, Social Work, or a related subject area required. Eligibility for Professional Licensure in a behavioral health field is required. New master’s degree candidates are welcome with a limited permit.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED/LANGUAGE PREFERENCE:

• Spanish speaking highly preferred.
• Willingness to travel throughout New York City required. Driver’s License preferred.
• Direct use of pragmatic (i.e., structural, strategic, and functional) family therapies
• Therapy with children and adults using cognitive-behavioral techniques
• Couples therapy using behaviorally-based approaches
• Implementation of interventions within or between systems in the youth’s natural ecology (i.e., family, peer, school, and neighborhood)
• Collaboration and partnership with community agencies
• Previous work providing in-home or community-based therapy services

COMPUTER SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Knowledge of Microsoft Office required
• Ability to learn new systems and applications

VISUAL AND MANUAL Dexterity:

• Able to read paper and electronic documents and perform significant data entry into various computer programs.
• Manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination to travel independently using public transportation.

WORK ENVIRONMENT/PHYSICAL EFFORT

• To perform the essential functions of this job the candidate must be able to travel within New York City carrying equipment such as a notebook, forms, laptop, mobile hotspot and cell phone weighing up to approximately 10 pounds.
• Risks/hazards associated with the position are those which may be encountered travelling around New York City and interfacing with clients experiencing an acute mental health crisis or serious emotional disturbance.

If you join us, you’ll have these great benefits:

• Generous paid time off in addition to paid agency holidays and 15 sick days
• Affordable and high-quality medical/dental/vision plans
• Tuition assistance and educational loan forgiveness
• Free continuing education opportunities
• 403(b) retirement benefits and a pension
• Flexible spending accounts for health and transportation
• 27/7 Accessible Employee Assistance Program
• Life and disability insurance

Who we are:
The Jewish Board delivers innovative, high-quality, and compassionate mental health and social services to over 45,000 New Yorkers each year. We are unique in serving everyone from infants and their families to children, teens, and adults. We are proud to employ and serve people of all religions, races, cultural backgrounds, gender expressions, and sexual orientations. We are committed to building diverse, equitable, and inclusive teams to help support our mission, and we strongly encourage candidates from historically marginalized backgrounds to apply to work with us.

More on Equal Opportunity:
We are an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.