Veterans Health Administration
Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor
Department of Veterans Affairs · Hickory, North Carolina
- Salary
- $85,473 - $111,120 per year
- Pay grade
- GS-11
- Schedule
- Full-time
- Appointment
- Permanent
- Opened
- Oct 27, 2026
- Closes
- Nov 5, 2026
- Remote
- No
- Telework eligible
- No
- Security clearance
- Not Required
- Promotion potential
- None
- Announcement
- CBTA-13089184-27-ANW
Who may apply: Open to the public
Applications are submitted on USAJOBS.gov, not on Careers.org. Always confirm details in the official announcement.
Summary
The Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) is assigned as a member of the CBOC Mental Health Team. Incumbent provides a full range of evaluation and psychotherapeutic clinical services to Veterans with challenging and complex psychiatric and substance abuse problems, family members and caregivers, including evaluations and screenings, individual and group therapy, evidence-based therapies, case management, crisis management, and administrative duties as assigned.
Duties
- Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Provides a full range of evaluation services and diagnoses mental disorders, particularly for complex or unusually difficult patients many of whom have psychiatric and medical problems. Provides education to patients, family members, and significant others. Provides evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy Develops, implements, and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for Veterans with psychological and psychiatric problems patients receiving services within the CBOC Mental Health Service. Provides case management and support to Veterans with psychiatric and psychological problems. Works collaboratively and cooperatively with an interdisciplinary treatment team to provide services to Veterans with psychiatric and psychological problems. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday- Friday 7:30am- 4:00pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Qualifications
Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education. Hold a master's or doctoral degree in: Clinical Mental Health Counseling; Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; or a related field, from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Examples of related mental health counseling fields include, but are not limited to Addiction Counseling; Community Counseling; Gerontology Counseling; Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling. CACREP defines the date when graduates are considered to have graduated from a CACREP accredited program. Additional information may be obtained from http://www.cacrep.org/directory/. NOTE: Traditional Rehabilitation counseling programs that are accredited by CACREP do not meet the LPMHC qualification standards as Traditional Rehabilitation counseling differs from Clinical Rehabilitation counseling. Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to LPMHC positions in the GS-0183 series in VHA must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment. English Language Proficiency. LPMHCs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.j. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). All persons employed in VHA in as LPMHC on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level, or demoted within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the full performance level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. If an employee who was retained (grandfathered) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. Grade Determinations: Experience, Education, and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of post-master's or post- doctoral degree mental health counseling experience (VA or non-VA exp…
Education
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
Job data from USAJOBS.gov. Careers.org is not affiliated with or endorsed by OPM. Retrieved Nov 4, 2026, 11:24 AM EST.