LCSW/LICSW, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Site: The General Hospital Corporation

 

Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, business people, tech experts, researchers, and systems analysts to advance our mission. As a not-for-profit, we support patient care, research, teaching, and community service, striving to provide exceptional care. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries and invite all applicants to join us and experience what it means to be part of Mass General Brigham.

 

Starting rates: LCSW $68,224 $3,000 Sign on (non MGB employees)
LICSW $92,227 $10,000 Sign on (non MGB employees)

 

Job Summary

The Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) will work within the Child Psychiatry Division in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic, focused on trauma-informed mental health interventions for children and parents. Responsibilities include providing mental health care, care coordination, and programmatic support. Opportunities for training and professional development are integrated from the outset and tailored to individual clinicians.

As a key member of the team, the clinical social worker will be a part of the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy-Elementary (DBT-E) intervention (approximately 2.5 days/week) and the Integrated Primary Care (IPC) program (approximately 1.5 days/week). The remaining time (approximately 1 day/ week) will vary based on clinician and programmatic needs. This may include a combination of training and professional development opportunities, especially initially or short-term outpatient clinical care at a later stage.

DBT-E is a 12-week, family-based intervention for preadolescent children (ages 7-12) with emotion and/or behavior regulation difficulties. This evidence-informed intervention focuses on strengthening the parent-child relationship and equipping parents with developmental guidance, behavioral strategies, and mindfulness skills to support children’s behavioral improvements. The clinical social worker will train in the DBT-E intervention and serve as a DBT-E therapist. They will also have protected time for program management and administrative responsibilities (e.g., coordinating and scheduling intakes). Clinicians may also be involved in clinically focused research projects for DBT-E or other interventions based on project needs and the applicant’s interests. Families enrolled in this intervention are often recruited from one of our other clinical programs, called the IPC program.

The IPC program serves children (infancy – age 21) and families in the Boston area, integrating psychology and social work clinicians in primary care clinics to screen, triage, and provide brief interventions for a range of mental health needs for patients. IPC clinicians provide assessments and brief interventions to children and families during routine primary care pediatric and adolescent medicine clinics for a range of developmental, emotional, and mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety, depression, ADHD, adjustment to medical diagnoses).

This full-time (40 hours/week) hybrid position is ideal for candidates with a primary interest in trauma within a generalist clinical training background and working with school-age children. Sign-on bonus available for eligible non-MGB employees.

 

The LCSW/LICSW will work closely with Makiko Watanabe, PhD, Nancy Rotter, PhD, Mia Owens LCSW, and Archana Basu, PhD, as well as a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, social work clinicians, and researchers. The position is intended as a multi-year position that is renewable on an annual basis, contingent upon job performance and funding availability. Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Training in the DBT-E clinical protocol developed by Drs. Makiko Watanabe, Christina Dolce, and Archana Basu for a clinical research trial to serve as a DBT-E therapist working with elementary school-age children (ages 7 – 12) and their parents/ caregivers.

• Being an active learner, completing didactics, training (online, readings for team consultation meetings), and coming prepared for team meetings and supervision.

• Coordinating, scheduling, and conducting initial intakes for the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy-Elementary (DBT-E) intervention.

• Managing administrative tasks for the DBT-E program (e.g., organizing meetings, maintaining agendas, coordinating with the clinic intake team, developing resource lists, organizing clinical data to contribute to the development of presentations or drafts of manuscripts or grants).

• Working collaboratively with medical staff (e.g., pediatricians, nurses, etc.), administrative staff (e.g., resource coordinators, schedulers, etc.), and mental health team members.

• Providing screening, assessment, psychoeducation, and brief intervention to children (infants – age 21) and families in the IPC program.

• Participating actively in bi-monthly IPC team meetings focused on triaging and assigning cases and program development.

• Collaborating with IPC team psychologists to make appropriate referrals for their patients and families and provides information about community-based services and providers in conjunction with the resource specialist.

• Providing clinical assessment and trauma-informed, evidence-based interventions with children and their families/ parents on an outpatient time-limited basis across DBT-E, IPC, and on an outpatient basis.

• Assessing suspected abuse and files mandated reports as indicated by guidelines. Coordinates with the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Mental Health and Department of Developmental Disabilities, as required, and coordinating with the MGB Child Protection Team.

• Completing documentation in the patient’s electronic medical record in a timely manner and communicating effectively with the multidisciplinary team to facilitate patient care.

• Understanding and following departmental, hospital, clinic, and team policies.

 

• Understanding and training in child and adolescent development

• Experience in trauma-informed and trauma-focused psychotherapy interventions for children and their families (e.g., Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) Framework, etc.)

• Experience in providing evidence-based child, family, and parent-focused interventions (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Parent Management Training, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, behavioral therapy, etc.)

• Experience with school-aged children required

• Knowledge of available community resources and services, including Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI) services, partial and inpatient hospitalization programs, addiction services, etc., and understanding of how to access these services

• Knowledge of community systems such as Child Protective Services and the ability to collaborate with these agencies when safety or mandated reporting concerns arise

• Demonstrated ability to understand the many roles of a social worker in an outpatient hospital setting and to work in a fast-paced multidisciplinary environment

• Ability to balance working autonomously, be self-directed, and show initiative with seeking consultation and supervision appropriately

• Excellent interpersonal skills with an established record of working effectively with children and families, as well as coworkers and supervisors in clinical and nonclinical administrative roles

• Basic understanding of the role of insurance providers and mental health benefits in accessing treatment

• Excellent organizational and time management skills

• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing

• Strong interpersonal skills enabling effective team collaboration

LOCATION

The LCSW/LICSW will work in an office setting and in the clinical environment of the Department of Psychiatry within Massachusetts General Hospital, including the Outpatient Child Psychiatry Clinic (32 Fruit Street, Yawkey 6A, Boston, MA, 02114) and the Integrated Primary Care (IPC) clinic (165 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA, 02114). When necessary, commuting between the two locations is approximately a 5-minute walk. The red line (Charles/MGH) is appro