Child First Clinician

Wellmore Behavioral Health; Miry Brook (CT); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Wellmore Behavioral Health in Connecticut seeks a Clinician for the Child First Program. The clinician partners with a Care Coordinator to engage families referred to the home-based program, using trauma-informed CPP to strengthen caregiver-child relationships and support emotional, language, and cognitive growth.

You will conduct relational, dyadic psychotherapy with young children and caregivers, provide consultation to teachers, participate in reflective supervision, and document findings for

Qualifications

• Master’s or Doctoral level mental health provider licensed in Connecticut.
• Three years minimum experience psychotherapeutically with diverse families and very young children (0–5).
• Past CPP training is highly valued.
• Open to learning, self-reflection, and reflective supervision.
• Knowledge of relationship-based, psychodynamic intervention and early child development; attachment theory; effects of trauma on brain development; poverty/homelessness.
• Experience providing mental health assessments and consultations in early care/education sites.
• Experience with adults with mental health, substance use, or cognitive challenges.
• Experience working in diverse home and community settings.
• Bilingual (Spanish-English) may be required.

Responsibilities

• Engage with families and the Care Coordinator to conduct collaborative assessments.
• Develop a comprehensive Plan of Care with the family.
• Provide home-based psychotherapeutic intervention using CPP and related modalities.
• Help caregivers reflect on personal history, feelings, and parenting practices.
• Avert crises and coordinate with supervisor during risk situations.
• Provide mental health and developmental assessment and consultation in early care settings.
• Participate in weekly reflective supervision and the Learning Collaborative.
• Maintain documentation for accountability and reimbursement.

Skills

Bilingual (Spanish-English)

Education

Master’s or Doctoral degree in mental health (CT licensure)

Job description

POSITION TITLE: ClinicianPROGRAM: Child First ProgramGENERAL STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES:The Child First Mental Health and Developmental Clinician partners with a Care Coordinator to engage families who are referred to the Child First home-based intervention. Child First’s primary goal is to strengthen the caregiver-child relationship so that it serves both as a protective buffer to unavoidable stress and directly facilitates the child’s emotional, language, and cognitive growth. The Clinician uses trauma-informed CPP, a relationship-based, dyadic, parent-child treatment model, which focuses on the primary attachment relationships of the young child. The Clinician engages with the caregiver in a supportive, reflective, and exploratory manner which fosters protective, nurturing, and responsive parent-child relationship. The Clinician’s therapeutic intervention focuses on: (1) helping caregivers understand typical developmental challenges and expectations; 2) increasing caregivers’ ability to reflect on the meaning and feelings motivating a child’s behavior; 3) supporting caregivers’ problem solving; 4) helping caregivers understand the psychodynamic relationship between parental feelings, history, and the caregiver response to the child. The Clinician also provides consultation to teachers in early care and education settings, as needed.SUPERVISION: Supervised by: Child First Team LeaderSupervises: Interns and/or those designated by supervisor.EXAMPLES OF RESPONSIBILITIES:Engage with the Child First family and the Care Coordinator in the collaborative family assessment process (i.e., gather information from interviews, observations of interactions and play, reviewed records, collateral sources, and standardized measures).Use all available information to develop a thoughtful, well-integrated clinical formulation and Child and Family Plan of Care, in partnership with the Care Coordinator and family.Provide Child First home-based psychotherapeutic intervention with young children and their caregivers using relational, dyadic psychotherapy (CPP) and other modalities.Help the caregiver gain insight regarding personal history (including trauma history), feelings for the child, and current parenting practices.Avert crisis situations by assisting the family in times of urgent need (e.g., risk of harm to child or caregiver, pending child removal), in consultation with the Care Coordinator and Clinical Director.Provide mental health and developmental assessment and consultation within early care and education settings and to other early childhood providers.Embrace use of videotaping to enhance both therapeutic work with families and reflective supervision.Engage in weekly individual, Team, and group reflective clinical supervision with Clinical Director.Engage actively in all aspects of the Child First Learning Collaborative, including in-person trainings, distance learning curriculum, and specialty trainings.Keep all appropriate documentation for clinical accountability and reimbursement.Participate in other clinical and administrative activities as appropriate.QUALIFICATIONS:Education & Experience:Master’s or Doctoral level mental health provider (e.g., LMSW, LCSW, LPCA, LPC, LMFTA, LMFT, clinical psychologist, other), licensed in Connecticut.Experience working psychotherapeutically with culturally diverse children and families, including parent-child therapeutic work and play therapy with very young children (0-5 years), for a minimum of three years. Past CPP training is highly valued.Openness to learning, capacity for self-reflection, and eagerness to participate in reflective clinical supervision.Knowledge of relationship-based, psychodynamic intervention and early child development; parent-child relationships and attachment theory; effects of trauma and environmental risks on early childhood brain development, especially violence exposure, maternal depression, and substance abuse; and community-level risk factors (e.g., poverty, homelessness).Experience providing mental health assessment and consultation to early care and education sites.Knowledge and experience working with adults with mental health, substance use, and cognitive challenges.Experience providing intervention within diverse home and community settings.Bilingual (Spanish-English) may be required.Strong commitment to the vision, mission, and goals of Child First.Highly organized, self-motivated, reliable, and flexible (including wiliness to work non-traditional hours, including at least on evening).Able to work as part of a team.Demonstrates excellent oral, written and computer skills.Reliable vehicle and appropriate insurance for home visits.LICENSURE/CERTIFICATION/REGISTRATION:Valid driver’s license, reliable transportation and valid auto insurance; CPR and first-aid may be required.