Early Childhood Clinician - Child Guidance Center of Southern CT

Job Description Summary:

Job Description:

JOB SUMMARY

Working under the supervision of the Director of Early Childhood Services, with support and additional learning opportunities provided by the Child First Learning Collaborative and CGC’s multi-disciplinary team of professionals, the Developmental Psychotherapist will work in a team with a Care Coordinator to provide intensive in-home therapy to families with children under 6. Each Child First team works with families to improve parent-child relationships and offers care coordination to connect families to needed community services.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Conduct comprehensive, strength- and need-based child and family assessments, diagnoses and clinical formulations
• Develop detailed care plans, responsive to the priorities of the family needs and strengths identified in the assessment
• Engage families in individualized psychotherapeutic and psycho-educational parent and child interventions
• Conduct mental health consultation in early care and/or educational settings
• Participate in reflective supervision provided by the Program Director
• Utilize the agency’s electronic health record (EHR) system to ensure proper and timely completion of clinical documentation, program statistics, and outcome data, in compliance with all applicable agency, program, and government requirements and best practice standards
• Actively participate in all activities of the Child First Learning Collaborative and CGC’s exciting array of in-service training and staff development activities
• Other related activities as needed

QUALIFICATIONS

Required Skills and Education

• , , , Masters in Counseling, MFT, or other license track mental health profession required
• Licensed in a mental health profession in Connecticut, or eligible to immediately become licensed required
• Minimum 3 years experience providing mental health diagnostic and treatment services to children (birth to 5 years) and high risk families, with specific experience providing dyadic parent- child treatment, play therapy and in-home interventions
• Familiarity with reliable research findings and promising practices in early childhood development; developmental, emotional and behavioral disorders; affects of trauma and environmental stressors on brain development; attachment theory; and other topics relevant to work with the Child First population
• Ability to demonstrate a belief in resilience and the power of emotionally corrective relationships and to empathize with parents and assist them with the challenges of parenting
• Knowledge and experience working with adults with serious mental health, substance abuse, and cognitive challenges required
• Experience providing mental health consultation in early childhood care and educational settings
• Ability to demonstrate an understanding of normal child development and grounding in at least one relevant orientation to treatment ( psychodynamic, trauma informed, family systems, etc.)
• Experience working with patients from culturally diverse backgrounds, and the ability to demonstrate cultural competence and sensitivity required
• Verbal and written English fluency required; candidates with fluency in Spanish, Haitian Creole, or another language widely spoken in our community, a strong asset
• Computer skills required; familiarity with EHR systems a plus

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS/WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Hours will vary; our schedules range Monday-Friday
• Minimal physical effort. Must be able to operate computer and telephone continuously. Regular regional travel as necessary.