State of Maryland

The Mental Health Professional Counselor Advanced is the advanced level of professional counseling work, at the Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor level, providing counseling services as an expert in a specialty area such as dissociative, adjustment or bipolar disorders, or in a defined treatment or population area to clients with mental health disorders by using assessment, evaluation, intervention, rehabilitation and treatment regimens. As an expert in a specialty area, these employees may provide instruction, guidance and consultation to lower-level Mental Health Professional Counselors and other staff. Employees in this classification do not supervise.

Employees receive general supervision from a program administrator. Employees in this classification may be required to work evenings and on weekends. The work is performed in State mental health programs located in State institutions, facilities and offices including inpatient and outpatient facilities, jails, detention centers, prisons, halfway house facilities and community-based programs.

The Mental Health Professional Counselor Advanced is differentiated from the Mental Health Professional Counselor, in that the Mental Health Professional Counselor Advanced performs an advanced level of work in a specialty area or in a defined treatment or population area, while the Mental Health Professional Counselor performs the full range of duties under general supervision. The Mental Health Professional Counselor Advanced is differentiated from the Mental Health Professional Counselor Supervisor in that the Mental Health Professional Counselor Supervisor supervises lower-level Mental Health Professional Counselors.

Provides mental health diagnosis, clinical counseling and case management services to clients with mental and emotional disorders as an expert in a specialty area such as dissociative, adjustment and bipolar disorders; or in a defined treatment or population area, may act as an instructor and consultant to lower-level Mental Health Professional Counselors and other staff;

May provide Critical Incident Stress Management/Debriefing, as required;

Attends, participates at and chairs meetings in the absence of the mental health program head;

Plans, develops and revises policies and procedures to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of an agency’s mental health program;

Advocates for client services, collaborates with other disciplines involved in providing treatment and coordinates all treatment activities with services provided to the client by other resources;

Evaluates client progress in implementing the treatment plan, and makes appropriate changes to ensure progress;

Screens clients with mental and emotional disorders to determine the most appropriate initial course of action with regard to treatment;

Assesses clients with mental and emotional disorders to gather and interpret information necessary for planning treatment and evaluating progress;

Develops client treatment plans including problem areas, desired treatment outcomes and the strategies for achieving them;

Makes referrals to facilitate the client’s use of available support systems and resources in response to needs identified in clinical evaluation;

Identifies and responds to client in crisis;

Provides mental health-related education and teaches life skills relevant to the recovery process to clients with mental and emotional disorders;

Documents client-related information in accordance with accepted principles of medical records management;

Provides group counseling to clients with mental and emotional disorders;

Adheres to accepted ethical and behavioral standards of conduct and participates in continuing professional development;

Performs other related duties.

Knowledge of one or more specialty areas in mental health counseling, intervention, treatment;

Knowledge of principles and practices of mental health counseling, intervention, treatment and rehabilitation;

Knowledge of the philosophies, practices, policies and outcomes of the most generally accepted and scientifically supported models of treatment, recovery, relapse prevention and continuing care for mental health-related problems;

Knowledge of the established diagnostic criteria for mental and emotional disorders, treatment modalities and placement criteria within the continuum of care;

Knowledge of models and theories of treatment problems related to mental health;

Knowledge of the social and cultural context within which mental and emotional abuse exist;

Knowledge of ethical and behavioral standards of conduct in the helping relationship; Knowledge of principles of learning and a variety of educational techniques;

Knowledge of medical and pharmacological resources in the treatment of mental and emotional disorders;

Knowledge of methods of measuring treatment outcome;

Knowledge of federal, State, local and agency policies and procedures governing the delivery of treatment services;

Knowledge of a variety of current and emerging helping strategies for reducing the negative effects of mental and emotional use, abuse and dependence;

Skill in tailoring helping strategies and treatment modalities to the client’s stage of dependence on negative influences to change or recovery;

Skill in providing treatment services appropriate to the personal and cultural identity of the client;

Skill in working cooperatively with other professionals and agencies;

Skill in making effective presentations to a variety of audiences;

Skill in accurately documenting client-related information;

Skill in adapting clinical practice to the range of treatment settings and modalities in correctional institutions;

Skill in applying crisis management skills to client crisis;

Skill in applying setting-specific policies and procedures to clinical practice;

Ability to plan, develop and revise policies and procedures to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of an agency’s mental health program;

Ability to establish and maintain a therapeutic relationship with clients with mental and emotional disorders and their significant others;

Ability to identify the support systems and resources available to clients and their significant others;

Ability to identify and utilize the role of family, social networks, self-help groups and systems in the treatment and recovery process;

Ability to make constructive therapeutic responses when the client’s behavior is inconsistent with stated recovery goals.

Education: Determined by the Maryland State Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists under the requirements for Certified Professional Counselors.

Experience: Two years of experience providing professional counseling to clients with mental health disorders by using assessment, evaluation, intervention, rehabilitation and treatment regimens.

Note: 1. These requirements are established by the Maryland State Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists. The Department of Budget and Management, Office of Personnel Services and Benefits does not have the authority to accept substitutions or equivalents.

2. Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a commissioned officer in Mental or Behavioral Health Counseling classifications or Mental or Behavioral Health Nursing and Specialist specialty codes in the counseling field of work on a year-for-year basis for the required experience. 

1. In accordance with Health Occupations Title 17 and Code of Maryland Regulations 10.58.01.05, candidates placed in this classification must be licensed by the Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor.

2. Candidates appointed to positions in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of a motor vehicle. Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operator's license valid in the State of Maryland.