Counselor
Job Description Job Description:\n\nPosition Summary The Counselor provides compassionate, ethical, and individualized behavioral health services to adults, couples, families, and groups experiencing substance use disorders, co-occurring mental health conditions, relationship concerns, trauma, life transitions, and other behavioral health challenges. The Counselor supports the mission and treatment philosophy of Integrative Recovery Therapies by providing care that is simple but comprehensive, solution focused, trauma informed, and responsive to the needs, strengths, values, culture, relationships, and recovery goals of each client. Treatment should promote lasting improvement across the interconnected areas of mind, body, spirit, relationships, and daily functioning. Depending on qualifications and assigned responsibilities, the Counselor may provide individual counseling, family counseling, couples counseling, group therapy, substance use disorder treatment, intensive outpatient programming, crisis support, care coordination, community-based services, and telehealth services. Essential Duties and Responsibilities Clinical Assessment and Treatment PlanningConduct timely and thorough biopsychosocial assessments, substance use assessments, risk assessments, and other clinical evaluations within the scope of the Counselor’s license or credential.Identify presenting concerns, client strengths, functional limitations, recovery resources, family and relationship dynamics, trauma history, environmental factors, and barriers to treatment.Develop and maintain individualized, measurable, and clinically appropriate treatment plans in collaboration with clients and, when authorized and appropriate, their families or significant others.Recommend appropriate levels of care, referrals, consultations, and supportive services based on clinical findings and client needs. Counseling and Therapeutic ServicesProvide individual counseling to clients experiencing substance use, emotional, behavioral, relational, or situational concerns.Facilitate therapeutic and psychoeducational groups, including groups addressing recovery skills, relapse prevention, coping strategies, emotional regulation, communication, relationships, trauma recovery, decision-making, and personal growth.Use evidence-based and person-centered interventions that may include:Motivational InterviewingCognitive Behavioral TherapyDialectical Behavior Therapy skillsAcceptance and Commitment TherapyTrauma-informed approachesMindfulness-based interventionsRelapse-prevention strategiesPsychoeducationSolution-focused interventionsFamily-systems principlesTwelve-step-informed approaches, when consistent with client preferencesStrengths-based and recovery-oriented practicesAdapt counseling approaches to each client’s readiness for change, cognitive abilities, culture, identity, values, spiritual beliefs, family circumstances, and treatment goals.Help clients gain insight, explore possibilities, strengthen internal and external supports, develop practical coping skills, and make sustainable changes.Maintain appropriate therapeutic boundaries while establishing relationships characterized by empathy, respect, honesty, consistency, and psychological safety. Intensive Outpatient and Group ProgrammingFacilitate assigned Intensive Outpatient Program groups and related individual or family sessions.Establish and maintain a structured, respectful, and emotionally safe group environment.Encourage appropriate peer interaction, shared learning, accountability, support, and development of a healthy recovery network.Manage challenging group dynamics, behavioral concerns, interpersonal conflict, resistance, and disruptions using clinically appropriate interventions.Track client attendance, participation, progress, level-of-care needs, and readiness for transition or discharge.Collaborate with the treatment team regarding admission, continued service, transfer, discharge, and aftercare recommendations. Documentation and Compliance 1. Complete accurate, objective, clinically meaningful, and timely documentation.Ensure that documentation supports medical necessity, client progress, clinical decision-making, continuity of care, and billing requirements.Maintain client records in compliance with organizational policies, professional ethical standards, payer requirements, HIPAA, and applicable confidentiality requirements governing substance use disorder treatment information.Obtain appropriate client authorizations before communicating with family members, referral sources, courts, employers, probation or parole personnel, or other outside parties, except where disclosure is legally permitted or required.Maintain all required licenses, credentials, registrations, continuing education, professional liability coverage, and supervision documentation. Care Coordination and CollaborationParticipate actively in interdisciplinary treatment-team meetings, clinical consultations, supervision, case reviews, and quality-improvement activities.Coordinate services with physicians, psychiatric providers, case managers, social workers, peer-support professionals, hospitals, residential programs, community agencies, legal-system partners, and other providers as appropriate.Assist clients in accessing community resources related to housing, transportation, employment, education, medical care, legal concerns, family support, mutual-help groups, and recovery services.Communicate professionally and promptly with authorized referral sources and collaborating providers.Support effective transitions between levels of care and reduce gaps in treatment and recovery support. Community and Organizational ResponsibilitiesRepresent Integrative Recovery Therapies professionally in interactions with clients, families, referral partners, community organizations, and the public.Support the clinic’s commitment to community education, recovery support, and accessible behavioral health services.Participate in outreach activities, workshops, support groups, or community-based programs when assigned.Contribute to a workplace culture characterized by compassion, professionalism, cooperation, accountability, inclusion, ethical conduct, and respect.Participate in staff training, clinical supervision, performance improvement, program development, and evaluation activities.Perform other clinically appropriate duties consistent with the Counselor’s education, credential, competence, and scope of practice. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Knowledge The successful candidate must possess or demonstrate the ability to develop knowledge of:Substance use disorders, including alcohol, opioids, stimulants, sedatives, cannabis, polysubstance use, and behavioral patterns associated with addiction.Co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders and the ways in which each condition may affect the presentation and treatment of the other.Behavioral health conditions that may include depression, anxiety, trauma-related disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, attention and executive-functioning concerns, grief, adjustment difficulties, and emotional dysregulation.The biological, psychological, relational, social, cultural, environmental, and spiritual dimensions of behavioral health and recovery.The stages of change, recovery-oriented systems of care, harm-reduction principles, relapse prevention, recovery capital, and multiple pathways to recovery.Trauma-informed care and the potential effects of trauma, adverse experiences, stigma, discrimination, incarceration, family disruption, and prior negative treatment experiences.Individual, group, couples, and family counseling principles appropriate to the candidate’s license, training, and demonstrated competence.Family systems, codependency, boundaries, communication patterns, attachment concerns, trust repair, conflict resolution, and the effects of substance use on families and relationships.Evidence-informed counseling approaches, particularly Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, person-centered counseling, mindfulness, solution-focused techniques, and skills-based behavioral interventions.Crisis assessment and intervention, including suicide risk, violence risk, abuse and neglect, overdose risk, intoxication, withdrawal, and psychiatric destabilization.Clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning, progress evaluation, discharge planning, and level-of-care decision-making.Ethical principles governing informed consent, confidentiality, professional boundaries, dual relationships, conflicts of interest, client autonomy, cultural responsiveness, and scope of competence.Federal and state confidentiality, privacy, documentation, and record-retention requirements applicable to behavioral health and substance use disorder services.Community resources, mutual-help organizations, recovery supports, crisis resources, medical services, and social-service systems.The importance of integrating client strengths, values, identity, culture, spirituality, relationships, and personal goals into treatment. Skills The successful candidate must demonstrate skill in:Establishing therapeutic rapport with clients who may be ambivalent, guarded, distressed, discouraged, resistant, or affected by stigma or previous negative treatment experiences.Listening actively and communicating empathy without losing appropriate structure, boundaries, or clinical objectivity.Conducting comprehensive assessments and translating findings into focused, individualized treatment plans.Facilitating engaging and clinically purposeful individual, family, couples, and group sessions within the candidate’s scope of practice.Using motivational techniques to help clients explore ambivalence, identify personally meaningful goals, and strengthen commitment to change.Balancing compassion and accountability in a manner that protects client dignity and supports behavioral change.Recognizing changes in client functioning, relapse risk, mental status, emotional stability, and safety.De-escalating emotionally charged situations and responding effectively to crises.Managing group dynamics, including conflict, withdrawal, monopolizing, resistance, emotional escalation, and boundary concerns.Providing clear psychoeducation using language appropriate to the client’s age, education, culture, cognitive functioning, and stage of recovery.Engaging families and significant others without compromising client autonomy, confidentiality, or treatment boundaries.Producing concise, accurate, organized, and clinically defensible documentation.Managing a caseload, maintaining scheduling commitments, meeting documentation deadlines, and prioritizing competing responsibilities.Collaborating with multidisciplinary professionals while maintaining clear roles and effective communication.Receiving and incorporating clinical supervision, feedback, and performance guidance.Using electronic health records, secure communication systems, telehealth platforms, and standard office technology.Maintaining composure, professionalism, sound judgment, and respectful communication during difficult interactions. Abilities The successful candidate must be able to:View clients as whole people rather than as diagnoses, symptoms, behaviors, or past decisions.Provide individualized care that considers the client’s mind, body, spirit, relationships, environment, and personal definition of meaningful change.Work effectively with people from varied cultural, racial, socioeconomic, religious, spiritual, gender, sexual-orientation, family, and recovery backgrounds.Maintain a nonjudgmental and affirming therapeutic environment while addressing harmful, unsafe, or self-defeating behavior directly.Adjust therapeutic strategies when a client is not progressing or when treatment needs change.Identify the limits of personal competence and seek consultation, supervision, referral, or additional training when necessary.Maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion when handling highly sensitive clinical information.Separate personal beliefs and experiences from the client’s treatment needs and goals.Tolerate emotional intensity, uncertainty, setbacks, recurrence of substance use, and gradual progress without becoming punitive, dismissive, or disengaged.Develop professional relationships with clients while maintaining appropriate ethical and interpersonal boundaries.Work independently while remaining accountable to clinical leadership and the interdisciplinary team.Provide services during daytime or evening hours based on program needs, including participation in the Intensive Outpatient Program schedule when assigned.Travel to community-based service locations when required by the position.Meet the physical, emotional, and cognitive demands necessary to provide safe and effective counseling services, with or without reasonable accommodation. Organizational and Cultural Competencies All Counselors are expected to demonstrate the following: Compassionate Engagement Treats each client with dignity, patience, sensitivity, and respect. Creates an environment in which clients feel heard, valued, and safe enough to engage honestly in treatment. Ethical Practice Makes decisions based on client welfare, professional ethics, informed consent, confidentiality, competence, and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individualized Care Avoids one-size-fits-all treatment. Adapts services to the client’s needs, strengths, circumstances, values, readiness, relationships, and recovery goals. Comprehensive Perspective Recognizes the interaction among substance use, mental health, physical wellness, trauma, relationships, spirituality, social conditions, and daily functioning. Solution-Focused Practice Helps clients move beyond problem identification toward insight, practical strategies, healthier patterns, stronger supports, and sustainable change. Respect for Client Autonomy Supports clients in making informed choices and developing their own meaningful goals rather than imposing the Counselor’s personal beliefs or preferred recovery pathway. Accountability Follows through on responsibilities, maintains accurate records, meets clinical and administrative deadlines, and addresses concerns openly and professionally. Collaboration Works cooperatively with clients, families, colleagues, referral partners, and community resources to improve continuity and quality of care. Growth and Reflective Practice Uses supervision, feedback, continuing education, and self-reflection to improve clinical effectiveness and maintain professional competence. Minimum QualificationsMaster’s degree in counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy, psychology, addiction studies, or a closely related behavioral health discipline from an appropriately accredited institution.Current Louisiana license, provisional license, registration, or credential that legally authorizes the candidate to pe
