State of Maryland

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.

Knowledge of the philosophies, practices, policies and outcomes of the most generally accepted and scientifically supported models of diagnosis, 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;

Ability to learn the federal, State, local and agency policies and procedures governing the delivery of treatment services;

Ability to learn a variety of helping strategies for reducing the negative effects of mental and emotional abuse and dependence;

Ability to learn to apply research findings and outcome data to improve clinical practice;

Ability to learn to tailor helping strategies and treatment modalities for the client’s dependence on negative influences to change or recover;

Ability to learn to provide treatment services appropriate to the personal and cultural identity of the client;

Ability to learn to work cooperatively with other professionals and agencies;

Ability to learn to make effective presentations to a variety of audiences;

Ability to learn to accurately document client related information;

Ability to learn to adapt clinical practice to the range of treatment settings and modalities in State institutions and facilities;

Ability to learn to apply crisis management skills to client crisis;

Ability to learn to apply setting-specific policies and procedures to clinical practice;

Ability to learn to establish and maintain a therapeutic relationship with clients with mental health disorders;

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

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

Ability to learn 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 Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC).

Experience: None.

Note: 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.

LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS AND CERTIFICATES:

1. In accordance with Health Occupations Title 17 and Code of Maryland Regulations 10.58.01.09, a candidate placed in this classification must be licensed as a Graduate Professional Counselor by the Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists.

2. Employees certified as a Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC) may practice graduate professional counseling for 2 years under the supervision of an approved supervisor. As required by the Maryland State Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists, these employees must possess certification as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) by the end of this 2 year period.

3. 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.