State of Maryland

16  

The Mental Health Graduate Professional Counselor is the entry level of professional counseling work, at the Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor level, providing counseling services to clients with mental disorders by using assessment, evaluation, intervention, rehabilitation and treatment regimens. Employees in this classification do not supervise.

Employees in this classification receive close supervision from a Mental Health Professional Counselor Supervisor or other supervisor approved by the Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists. 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 Graduate Professional Counselor and the Mental Health Professional Counselor are differentiated on the basis of licensure and supervisory control exercised by the supervisor over these employees. The Mental Health Graduate Professional Counselor is the Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor level of work and the employee learns to perform duties under close supervision. The Mental Health Professional Counselor is the Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor level of work and the employee performs the full-range of duties under general supervision.

Learns to provide mental health diagnosis, clinical counseling and case management services to clients with mental disorders with the most complex problems as defined by standard treatment criteria;

Learns to advocate for client services, collaborate with other disciplines involved in providing treatment and coordinate all treatment activities with services provided to the clients by other resources;

Learns to provide group counseling to clients with mental and emotional disorders;

Learns to evaluate client progress in implementing the treatment plan and to make appropriate changes to ensure progress;

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

Learns to assess clients with mental disorders to gather and interpret information necessary for planning treatment and evaluate client progress;

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

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

Learns to identify and respond to clients in crisis;

Learns to provide mental health-related education and to teach life skills relevant to the recovery process to clients with mental and emotional disorders;

Learns to document client-related information in accordance with accepted principles of medical records management;

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

Performs other related duties.

Specific educational and experience requirements are set by the agency based on the essential job functions assigned to the position.

A Class Description provides information about the Nature of Work, Examples of Work and General Requirements for a classification in the Management Service or a classification in the Skilled or Professional Service in which all positions have been designated Special Appointments. Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities; Minimum Education and Experience Requirements; Special Requirements; and recruitment and testing procedures are set by the using agency. Class descriptions broadly define groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies. Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

Jan 1 2008 12:00AM

Director, Division of Classification and Salary