Clinical Therapist Emerging Adults

Multisystemic Therapist – Emerging Adults Position Overview

• Support emerging adults in their transition from group residential foster care into independent living with a minimum of disruptions and reduce the risk of emerging adults requiring further systemic involvement and placement
• Eliminate or significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of the emerging adult’s referral concerns in mental health, educational/vocational, interpersonal, and behavioral domains
• Empower the emerging adult and their social network with the skills and resources needed to independently address the difficulties that arise in independent living, and to empower the emerging adult to overcome family, peer, school, employment, and community concerns
• The group residence programs served by MST‑EA (Cedar Knolls House and Kaplan House) serve transition aged youth displaying a wide range of behaviors including psychiatric diagnoses, trauma and loss, and related family/behavioral issues. The target for MST‑EA focuses on transition age youth, 17 to 26 years old, transitioning from the group residence into the community. Program works with the emerging adult from up to 2 months prior to discharge up to 10 months post‑discharge to support the successful reintegration back to the community and social network

• Conduct mental status exams with clients (as needed)
• Conduct MST assessment including review of referral information, identifying and engaging key participants, identifying systemic strengths and weaknesses, and developing an analysis of the fit of problem behaviors within the ecological context
• Engage primary caregiver(s) and/or other key social network members in active change‑oriented treatment by identifying and overcoming barriers to engagement
• Develop trauma‑informed, strength‑based, and culturally‑competent treatment plans in collaboration with the client and his/her social network
• Ensure client and social network safety by conducting regular safety assessments and developing comprehensive safety plans
• Be available and on call to provide clinical support to participants and their family of care
• Implement initial case conceptualization, treatment planning, collaborative goal setting, intervention implementation, outcomes review, and strategy revision procedure using the MST Analytic Process
• Facilitate home‑ and community‑based treatment with clients 2‑3 times per week per client for four clients
• Maintain clear and concise weekly case summaries that promote peer and supervisory review and feedback, and that demonstrate compliance with the nine MST Principles and the MST Analytic Process
• Ability to engage and collaborate with all relevant systems and key participants within each system, to maintain alignment throughout MST treatment
• Provide direct clinical treatment using methods compatible with MST principles and practices
• Participate in all MST training, supervision, consultation, MST Therapist development activities, and ongoing MST‑EA quality assurance system
• Engaging in weekly program team meetings/case conferences/high‑risk meetings
• Oversee client progress and ensure proper discharge planning

Master’s degree in clinical or counseling Psychology, Social Work, or a related subject area required and a license in a counseling field (LMSW, LCSW, LMFT, LMHC, LCAT, etc); limited permit/provisional licenses will be considered.

• Direct use of pragmatic (i.e., structural, strategic and functional) family therapies
• Therapy with children and adults using cognitive behavioral techniques
• Motivational Interviewing skills targeting therapeutic engagement and commitment to change
• Behavioral therapy targeting school behavior and academic performance
• Implementation of interventions within or between systems in the youth’s natural ecology that affect or influence the behavior of the youth (i.e., family, peer, school, and neighborhood)
• Collaboration and partnership with community agencies
• Previous work providing in‑home or community‑based therapy services
• Bilingual‑Spanish preferred

$60,000 – $68,000 (depending on experience, bilingual differential, etc.)