Family Therapist/Clinician at Mount Prospect Academy

Company Background

Welcome to Mount Prospect Academy (MPA), a rapidly growing nonprofit agency founded in 2003, with the goal of helping struggling adolescents find a zest for life and succeed in the business of life.

MPA has evolved to offer a variety of mental health support services to a diverse population of “hard to treat” and “difficult to place” adolescents. Our targeted services include home and community-based treatment, residential treatment programs, group homes, and special education schools. MPA is known for its ability to achieve successful outcomes with difficult-to-serve individuals throughout New England.

Mission:

MPA's mission is to provide a caring, safe therapeutic environment where students have the opportunity to grow and acquire the skills they need to reach their educational and social potential. We aim to develop trusting relationships with students and facilitate experiences that promote their ability to self-regulate; manage thoughts and feelings; and develop feelings of safety, confidence, and competency.

Summary:

The Family Therapist (FT) role is to provide culturally sensitive, therapeutic services to the students and their caregivers. Family Therapists use formal counseling and Evidenced Based Practices (EBP) therapeutic techniques in otherwise less conventional treatment settings. Counseling is less commonly provided within the office setting but rather in the milieu or in the home dependent on the students' needs. FT's help establish lifelong connections, providing clinical support for youths and their caregivers and assist in overcoming obstacles, identifying strengths, and developing supports to ensure the youth and families overcome their previous challenges and achieve success. FT's will work on identifying and problem-solving challenges for students and caregivers that resulted in the student requiring the additional resources that residential care provides.

The position provides an excellent learning experience for FT's, as they are expected to develop comprehensive assessment and treatment plans with the residents and their families/caregivers and then become familiar with presenting these to administration, faculty, referral sources, etc. as part of the treatment team process. In addition, FT's are expected to build a positive therapeutic rapport with their assigned students and caregivers while working to enhance accountability through utilization of the caregivers, restorative justice planning and other interventions designed to improve relationships and work through past and current stressors related to family dynamics. FT's are the overarching facilitator of family treatment. They will work with the student's clinical team (if applicable) to relay the goals and objectives within the treatment plan to the respective treatment team members. Family Therapists will also work with Permanency Coordinators to identify strategies to promote any of the family work that is being implemented. They will also continue to support a trauma informed approach within their respective milieus using Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI), the Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC) Framework, and other identified trauma informed interventions. The FT's provide documentation via SOAP notes in the Kaleidacare system for family sessions, group counseling notes for situations where there is more than one student and completes assigned documentation tasks as outlined below. The FT meets with the respective treatment team members to assist in reaching the student's permanency plan goal. Common FT responsibilities include development and implementation of treatment plans, behavioral support plans, safety plans, and writing of court, monthly progress, and assessment reports.

Responsibilities and Duties:

Mount Prospect Academy (MPA) assures equal opportunity and public access, and if necessary, affirmative action in all its policies regarding employment and provision of services. MPA does not discriminate in its hiring, programs or policies on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, sex, marital status and sexual orientation.