Priority Care Counselor

STAFF THERAPIST POSITION DESCRIPTION

Adults and Couples

POSITION TITLE: Priority Care Therapist REPORTS TO: Director of Client Care, Adults and Couples

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Priority Care Therapist is a Staff Therapist who provides timely access to assessment and psychotherapy for clients who would benefit from beginning care more quickly than traditional outpatient scheduling may allow. Clients may present with elevated clinical acuity, recent loss or life transition, emerging mental health concerns, or may simply choose Priority Care as a more immediate pathway into treatment.

The Priority Care Therapist conducts comprehensive clinical and risk assessments and, when appropriate, provides a focused, time-limited course of psychotherapy, typically 8–20 counseling sessions. Throughout care, the therapist assesses progress, responds to safety and support needs when they arise, and helps determine whether the client can appropriately conclude treatment, transition to longer-term care within Mosaic, or would be better served by community providers, psychiatric services, or a higher level of care.

Success in this role requires strong clinical judgment, excellent assessment and risk-management skills, the ability to establish therapeutic rapport quickly, effectiveness in focused and time-limited psychotherapy, and thoughtful transition planning. The Priority Care Therapist works collaboratively with Client Services and the broader clinical team to support timely access, continuity of care, and appropriate treatment planning.

Mosaic values collaborative care and believes excellent therapy is strengthened through consultation, humility, curiosity, and thoughtful engagement with the diverse sources of meaning, purpose, and connection that shape clients' lives.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Professional Services: Provide Priority Care assessment, psychotherapy, stabilization, and transition-of-care services within the scope of practice indicated by licensure.

2. Organizational Provider Activities: Participate in organizational provider activities, including SERT groups, Peer Reviews, Continuing Education, and other clinical consultation and development activities.

3. Center Administration and Development: Participate in Center administration, referral development, education, consultation, and community relations.

EXAMPLES OF WORK

Professional Services

• Providing the agreed-upon number of scheduled clinical hours while maintaining sufficient flexibility to accommodate expedited Priority Care referrals.

• Conducting comprehensive intake and clinical assessments, including risk and safety evaluations, for clients entering Priority Care.

• Assessing appropriateness for Priority Care and Mosaic outpatient treatment and making recommendations regarding level of care when indicated.

• Providing focused, time-limited psychotherapy, typically within an 8–20 session episode of care, with longer-term treatment within Priority Care occurring on an exception basis when clinically appropriate.

• Developing and implementing safety plans, support plans, stabilization strategies, psychoeducation, and other interventions responsive to client needs.

• Maintaining a focused and appropriately time-limited caseload by regularly assessing treatment progress and transition needs, supporting clinically appropriate conclusions or transfers of care, and maintaining appropriate availability for incoming Priority Care referrals.

• Coordinating transitions of care, including referrals to Mosaic clinicians, community providers, psychiatric services, or higher levels of care.

• Remaining clinically involved through transitions of care, as appropriate, to support continuity of care and client safety.

• Facilitating emergency referrals and hospitalization processes when clinically indicated.

• Maintaining electronic clinical records in keeping with Center policies and procedures.

• Working with administrative staff to support appropriate fee arrangements, including use of Clinical Case Exemptions when temporary fee reductions are indicated by financial hardship and clinical need.

• Representing the standards and practices of their primary professional field.

Organizational Provider Activities

• Working cooperatively with Client Services, staff colleagues, consultants, and referring professionals to support timely and coordinated care.

• Participating actively in SERT groups, Peer Reviews, clinical staffing, case consultation, Continuing Education, and other organizational provider activities.

• Seeking consultation proactively when clinically indicated and contributing thoughtfully to the consultation and professional growth of colleagues.

• Collaborating with receiving clinicians to support effective referrals, continuity of care, and clinically appropriate transitions.

• Attending administrative staff meetings, staff retreats, and other required team-building or organizational activities.

Center Administration and Development

• Participating actively in the development and maintenance of the Center's referral network, including relationships with community providers, psychiatric services, hospitals, and higher levels of care.

• Supporting the identification and development of referral resources that strengthen Mosaic's ability to connect clients with timely and appropriate services.

• Performing administrative and development tasks as assigned.

• Participating in Center education, consultation, community relations, and outreach activities, and representing Mosaic professionally within the community as opportunities arise.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:

• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a master's or doctor's degree in counseling, psychology, social work, marriage and family therapy, pastoral counseling or equivalent.

• Valid license within the State of Texas required, must be free from any license sanction and/or professional restrictions that could negatively impact the organization. Membership to corresponding professional associations respective of licensure preferred.

• At least 2 years of clinical training and experience respective of field of practice and licensure preferred.

• Demonstrates capacity to work freely with clients and to protect them from the therapist's own problems.

• Demonstrates a willingness to build and maintain self-reflective capacity, including awareness of personal dynamics that may arise in clinical work and the ability to engage in ongoing growth and supervision.

• Proficiency in a coherent theory and practice of therapy, ability to clearly articulate how theory impacts work with clients.

• Ability to use the language and methodology of differential diagnosis and familiarity with the contributions of various diagnostic tests.

• Ability to assess a client's therapeutic needs, to establish a therapeutic relationship, and to conduct, complete, terminate, and evaluate that therapy.

• Ability to relate the contributions of various disciplines to the therapeutic task and to make appropriate use of inter-professional collaboration.

• Ability to work effectively with the community, including but not limited to donors, sponsors, other nonprofits, and agencies that collaborate with the organization.

• Ability to honor and integrate a client's spiritual and/or religious beliefs and practices within the therapeutic process.

• Ability to think wholistically about the therapeutic task and the relation of therapy to the total task of integrating care for mind, body, and spirit.

• Demonstrated commitment to or experience with culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and inclusive care for diverse populations.

• Ability and willingness to develop and cultivate his/her own caseload by representing the organization in the community and relating to referral sources.

• Ability to establish and maintain appropriate personal and professional relationships and boundaries both within and outside the organization.

POSITON SPECIFIC DEMANDS

This position performs the majority of work indoors, with some outdoor work during special

events. Job duties require the ability to remain in a stationary position between 50-80% of the time worked; the ability to traverse the office area; constantly operate office machinery such as computers, calculators, faxes and printers. Duties also require the ability to lift, push, pull or move items up to approximately 25 pounds. Occasionally, an individual in the position might find the need to kneel, stoop, crouch or traverse tight spaces. The position requires the individual to be able to communicate frequently using appropriate senses in order to detect, discern, identify, recognize, judge, observe, estimate, inspect or assess details of the work environment.

The individual in this position could be exposed to changes in climate when working outdoors; and be subject to tension, stress and difficult situations from time to time. Occasionally, the individual could be exposed to hazardous chemicals such as inks, toners, cleaning chemicals or similar. Exposure to blood/bodily fluids and bloodborne pathogens is expected to be rare.

Please note: nothing in this job description restricts administration’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time;

This description reflects administrations assignment of essential functions, it does not provide or restrict the tasks that may be assigned;

This job description is subject to change at any time.