Summary
 
Provides leadership in mental health intervention to students in order to promote emotional health, student success and retention.  Provides psychological intake, assessment, crisis intervention, personal counseling/psychotherapy, case management, consultation and referral services. Collaborates with other managers and Deans to enhance services to students by demonstrating a commitment to supporting, empowering and retaining students from underrepresented groups.
 
Distinguishing Career Features
 
The Mental Health Counselor is a mental health professional supporting Student Mental Health Wellness. The Counselor will offer regular "wellness" workshops, referrals to community services, student, faculty/staff consultations and staff development activities. 
 
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
 
Specific duties may vary among departments and jobs.  Incumbents typically perform a substantial portion or all of the following kinds of duties:

• Provide personal short-term and crises counseling services through direct contact with students individually, in groups and screenings.
• Develop student, faculty and staff training/workshops.
• Develop student, faculty and staff educational/resource materials.
• Provide referrals that empowers students to identify and utilize college and community support services.
• Provide individual assessment, and counseling to students seeking assistance with personal, psychological or interpersonal problems.
• Develop and implement preventive, educational and outreach programming to students who are often marginalized or minoritized.
• Keep timely, appropriate, and accurate clinical records.
• Participate in departmental meetings, group supervision, and continuing education; continuously seek to improve the quality of services.
• Assist in assessing student psychological or wellness needs; collaborate with the college's Behavioral Assessment Team (BAT) to make appropriate community and program referrals.
• Respond to mental health emergencies on campus.
• Present educational programs to members of the college community to promote personal, interpersonal and psychological health.
• Develop and demonstrate a multicultural awareness and contribute to cultivating an inclusive, diverse, and respectful college community.
• Assist in research relevant to assessing student needs and describing student behavior and culture; assist in the evaluation of the effectiveness of counseling and other services and activities.
• Performs other related duties as assigned that support the objective of the position.

Minimum Qualifications

Knowledge and Skills:
The position requires specialized knowledge of the principles and practices associated with social work and counseling in a behavioral, medical, and educational environment.  Requires specialized knowledge of and experience in the use of modern social work techniques such as family systems, ecological perspectives, College-sponsored systems, and mental health. Requires knowledge and understanding of the relationship between the services and matriculation processes.  Requires working knowledge of the uses and limitations of assessment tests.  Requires working knowledge of development of and use of learning, diagnostic, and communication aids. Requires specialized and in-depth knowledge of regulations, policies, educational codes, and guidelines governing community colleges.  Requires a sufficient knowledge of computer applications such as common office productivity software, internet, and software supporting academic and behavioral assessment, case management, and higher education in general.  Requires sufficient math skills to read, record, and understand statistical data and concepts.  Requires professional level writing skills sufficient to prepare case management materials and reports.  Requires well-developed oral communications skills to convey concepts in individual and group counseling in College and community-based settings, and work cooperatively with a diverse population of students and service providers. Requires knowledge and understanding of the philosophy and objectives of the community colleges' mission. Requires excellent communication skills to prepare reports, professional correspondence, and make presentations to a diverse audience.  Requires well-developed human relation skills to build effective work teams, proactively resolve student problems, and portray a positive image of the College.
 
Abilities:
Requires the skill sets to perform the responsibilities of the position including delivery of assessment, advisory, and counseling services.  Requires the ability to abide by professional ethical guidelines and comply with all federal and state law as it relates to the professional practice of psychology, social work or mental health counseling. Requires the ability to read, interpret, and apply Mental Health Therapists' instructions.  Requires the ability to conduct socio-environmental analysis and prepare social and family histories.  Must be able to design and develop behavioral and instructional objectives for students.  Requires the ability to work cooperatively with faculty and staff, and health care and service providers, families, and agencies.  Requires the ability to develop and maintain active advocacy relationships with students.  Requires the ability to organize and prioritize work and manage time and a case load efficiently.  Requires the ability to communicate in a professional manner, in both formal and informal settings with students, faculty, staff and others involved with care.  Requires the ability to accomplish departmental objectives and perform assignments in any and all mental health and counseling processes.  Requires the ability to establish work standards and review performance of staff.  Requires the ability to learn, interpret, and apply State Education Code, Government Code, Board Policies, and other federal and state regulations as related to the responsibilities of the position.  Requires the ability to assess effective Student Health management concepts and strategies.  Requires the ability to guide and motivate others toward goal achievement. Requires the ability to direct and facilitate development of personal and team perspectives, and develop and deliver training programs.  Requires the ability to enter commands to extract data and reports from student information systems.  Requires the ability to develop and monitor budgets and maximize financial resources.  Requires the ability to work collaboratively and productively with internal and external constituencies that come from diverse backgrounds. 

Education and Experience:

• The position requires a Master's degree in counseling, rehabilitation counseling, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, guidance counseling, educational counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy or marriage, family and child counseling, or the equivalent.  
• Two (2) years post-master's degree experience in a college counseling setting or with young adults in a clinical setting.
• Sensitivity to issues of gender, culture, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, socio-economic status.
• Or, any combination of education and experience that would provide the required qualifications.

• An earned doctorate in counseling or clinical psychology (PsyD or PHD) or a related field.
• Two (2) to five (5) years post-doctoral degree experience in a college/university counseling center.
• Experience in providing psychological services, teaching, and/or counseling in an educational institution.
• Experience in crisis intervention and critical incident management.
• Bilingual ability in Spanish or Vietnamese.

• Licensure in California as a Psychologist. Or
• Licensure in California as Clinical Social Worker. Or
• Licensure in California as Marriage and Family Therapist. Or
• Licensure in California as Professional Clinical Counselor.
• May require a valid driver license.

Conditions of Employment for Temporary Positions
Contract, temporary, hourly position.
*This is a categorically funded position and may be extended, modified, or eliminated based upon funding and program objectives. 

• Regular attendance is considered an essential job function; the inability to meet attendance requirements may preclude the employee from retaining employment.
• The person holding this position is considered a mandated reporter under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set forth in Coast Community College District policies, procedures, and Title IX. (Reference: BP/AP 5910)
• The Coast Community College District celebrates all forms of diversity and is deeply committed to fostering an inclusive environment within which students, staff, administrators, and faculty thrive. Individual's interested in advancing equity and inclusion goals are strongly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodations will be provided for qualified applicants with disabilities who self-disclose.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES:
Applications must be received no later than the posted closing date. There are NO EXCEPTIONS.  Electronic applications may be completed by visiting www.cccd.edu/employment.  Once you have completed an electronic application, you may apply to open positions within the Coast Community College District by submitting the application and all other required materials. Required materials differ for each open position and must be complete when submitted for a specific posting. Instructions for completing applications and applying to posted positions are available online or by calling Applicant Processing at (714) 438-4716.

All application materials become the property of the Coast Community College District and will NOT be copied or returned. Information for TDD users is available by calling (714) 438-4755.
 
Application Requirements:
To be considered for employment you must submit a complete application packet. A complete application packet includes: 

1. A complete Coast Community College District Employment Application.
2. A current resume (uploaded as a separate attachment - PDF recommended).
3. A cover letter highlighting your qualifications for the desired position (uploaded as a separate attachment - PDF recommended).
4. Answers to the Supplemental Question (clear and detailed responses required as they will be carefully evaluated to determine the most qualified candidate(s) to be invited for an interview; please do not paste your resume, or put "see resume" or "N/A").