WHAT DOES A CLINICAL THERAPIST DO?
Published: July 17, 2024 - The Clinical Therapist develops and implements individualized recovery and wellness plans using Recovery Coaching, engaging participants actively in their recovery journey. This role involves conducting comprehensive assessments, creating service plans in collaboration with participants and their support networks, and maintaining detailed documentation in electronic databases to ensure continuity and effective communication. Additionally, the therapist provides leadership and supervision to staff, ensuring the delivery of high-quality recovery services and fostering a supportive team environment.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Clinical Therapist
1. Clinical Therapist Roles
- Crisis Intervention: Provide evidence-based client-centered, solution and recovery-focused patient and family crisis interventions.
- Education and Training: Educate staff and providers on the screening, early assessment, and diagnosis of common psychological/behavioral ailments.
- Care Coordination: Arrange and monitor appropriate care and services for the members.
- Community Liaison: Liaise with schools and other outside organizations to maintain consistent care for patients and families.
- Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrate positive and effective interpersonal skills when dealing with patients/families, visitors, peers, and other healthcare team members.
- Advocacy: Serve as an advocate with other agencies and service providers, obtaining the most effective recovery-oriented outcome for each individual.
- Discharge Planning: Guide the implementation of the discharge plan in partnership with each participant.
- Care Coordination: Provide coordination of care with the participant, natural supports, area programs, community resources, etc.
- Legal Compliance: Assure timelines are met for involuntary evaluation, detention, and treatment proceedings.
- Incident Management: Assure Incident Reports are initiated, completed, reviewed, and submitted according to agency policy.
- Capacity Management: Oversee and implement the agency’s capacity management plan.
2. Clinical Therapist Additional Details
- Psychotherapy Provision: Provide psychotherapy to individuals diagnosed with a variety of mental health disorders.
- Therapy Facilitation: Conduct individual, family, couples, and/or group therapy. Skills group encouraged.
- Caseload Management: Maintain a caseload of up to 25 weekly clients.
- Treatment Implementation: Implement treatment plans and utilize appropriate therapeutic interventions.
- Stakeholder Communication: Maintain contact (via phone, email, or in-person) with school staff and families.
- Ethical Compliance: Comply with ethical guidelines corresponding to the profession.
- Guideline Adherence: Follow employee guidelines as outlined in the employee handbook.
- Communication Skills: Possess excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Time Management: Display strong time-management skills.
- Record Keeping: Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports.
3. Clinical Therapist Essential Functions
- Therapeutic Service Provision: Provide therapeutic services to patients and their families and supply psychosocial educational materials as deemed appropriate.
- Team Collaboration: Work in collaboration with multidisciplinary team members, including external partners, to assess needs and coordinate services for patients and their families by providing evaluation/treatment in the form of individual, marital, family, and group therapy.
- Clinical Assessment and Counseling: Assess, evaluate, and counsel patients to develop clinical treatment plans, diagnose psychosocial disorders, and complete required documentation and paperwork on time.
- Service Coordination: Coordinate services with other providers, both internal and external.
- Cultural Sensitivity: Demonstrate knowledge of and sensitivity to a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
- Crisis Intervention: Perform short-term counseling and crisis intervention.
- Scope of Practice Compliance: Provide services within the scope of practice established by the respective licensing board.
- Priority Setting and Organization: Demonstrate the ability to set priorities in directing appropriate patient care, function in an organized and time-conscious manner, and maintain complete accountability for actions taken.
- Professional Development: Enhance professional growth and development through participation in education programs, current literature, in-service meetings, and workshops.
- License Maintenance: Maintain the appropriate license by completing CE requirements and renewing the license.
- Policy Adherence Promotion: Actively support and promote adherence to the policies and procedures of the Hospital and Social Services as outlined in policy and procedures.
4. Clinical Therapist Role Purpose
- Clinical Assessment: Conducts clinical assessments, diagnoses, and discharge planning.
- Treatment Planning: Develops client-centered treatment plans, monitors treatment progress, and updates the treatment plan.
- Therapeutic Intervention: Addresses mental health and/or substance abuse symptoms using individual, group, and/or family treatment.
- Crisis Management: Provides crisis assessment and interventions.
- Clinical Consultation: Seeks clinical consultation throughout the treatment episode and when encountering new and/or high-risk clinical circumstances.
- Collaborative Practice: Works collaboratively with other members of the treatment team including the Case Manager, Counselor, Medical, and Psychiatrist.
- Data Analysis: Collects and reviews data to inform and enhance the delivery of services.
- Quality Improvement: Develop continuous quality improvement based on data analysis and evaluation.
- Needs Assessment: Assists in the process of designing, conducting, and evaluating a Needs Assessment to identify gaps and barriers in services.
5. Clinical Therapist Responsibilities and Key Tasks
- Recovery Plan Development: Develops a recovery service plan and uses Recovery Coaching to engage each participant in their recovery journey.
- Participant Engagement: Assists participants in identifying their hopes and dreams and the solutions they are seeking by using the Recovery Coaching process to develop and record an individualized Recovery and Wellness plan.
- Service Documentation: Documents information and services provided in an electronic database, ensuring continuity of the service record and as a tool for communication with other team members.
- Assessment Completion: Ensures completion of designated assessments of all guests brought to the facility, developing plans and recovery solutions in partnership with the participant.
- Collaborative Information Gathering: Partners with the participant to obtain collateral information from the person’s support team such as family members, friends, case managers, and other area programs, based on the person’s preferences.
- Advance Directive Details: Obtains details of Advance Directives such as Mental Healthcare Power of Attorney and WRAP crisis plans to partner with the person to design and plan care.
- Legal and Process Information Provision: Provides information to each person served about their legal status, their service options, and the process of care such as subsequent steps.
- Provisional Diagnosis and Authorization: Determines a provisional diagnosis, obtains documentation of medical necessity, and submits authorizations for service in a timely fashion.
- Team Communication: Meets with the team to communicate information obtained, communicate the preferences of the person being served, and offer recommendations concerning the plan of service and plan of discharge.
- Leadership and Team Supervision: Provides leadership, coaching, and supervision for all staff on the assigned shift to create a well-functioning team in which each team member fully contributes to creating recovery opportunities and culture.
Relevant Information