A job description is a requirement of all behavioral health organizations. Laid out with duties, responsibilities, and reporting mechanisms, the new employee has an understanding of their position. But how many organizations also have a competency checklist for each position?
The competency checklist is a worksheet with duties an employee performs to show they understand the position’s necessities. Most accreditation organizations require it as part of their survey process, yet behavioral health organizations do not. Although new employees are trained, how does a supervisor measure an employee’s readiness in their position?
Suppose your organization employs Master’s level therapists. You want to measure their proficiency in their first 90 days. First, you put down their job duties onto the list. Then you decide how to measure whether the employee demonstrates this skill. For example, if an employee must handle a crisis with a client when they express suicidal or homicidal thoughts. The employee may not have a client currently with a crisis and can’t show their skills in that manner. But by the supervisor reviewing with the employee company protocols on crisis management, the employee demonstrates this knowledge.
Then the supervisor can role-play a crisis with them portraying the client while the new employee shows how they would handle the emergency. These steps make the supervisor confident with the employee’s responses. Of course, because the therapist is under the supervisor’s purview, the therapist would still consult with the supervisor during the crisis. But the supervisor can document their beginning level of expertise.
The next steps are to expand beyond job duties. Beyond the job description, what other skills are required to demonstrate a competent therapist? Documentation, cultural competency, dealing with client resistance and countertransference, and the use of therapeutic interventions are some other tasks to list on the competency checklist.
Within the first 90 days, the supervisor should have an idea if the new employee can perform the duties the company requires of a therapist. And have documentation to prove it. And if the employee falls behind during their continued employment, the checklist can be revisited with retraining or additional skills to improve their performance.
Praxes provides behavioral health consulting to organizations in areas of accreditation and human resources. For more information, please contact us.
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PRAXES is a nationwide behavioral health software, consulting, and training company. No one in the behavioral health industry has a better reputation, and if you give us the chance, we’ll show you why! At PRAXES, our services improve the efficiency and structure of behavioral health agencies serving children and families nationwide. PRAXES brings over 45 years of administrative and clinical expertise. With more than 100 client companies nationwide, we offer the expertise to advance the quality of behavioral health services. We accomplish these goals through our new clinical decision software, our training of best practices, and helping companies meet regulatory standards. At PRAXES, we believe in being creative and fostering new ways to serve children and their families. Our vision is to empower the families our agencies serve with skills that not only improve their functioning, but help them to thrive in their everyday lives. When you give us the chance, you’ll be connected directly to our friendly staff, so you can expect immediate attention to your inquiry. So, don’t wait, call now!
Dan Thorne has unique perspectives on the field of mental health. As a clinician, he has had over 40 years of experience working with clients in the Southern California area. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Irvine, he worked with children in the Orange County Juvenile Hall. Here he honed his earliest techniques on at-risk children. After that, he obtained his Master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton.
In the 1990’s, Dan turned his attention to the clinical and administrative side of behavioral health organizations. For three years, he was the Assistant Administrator of Starting Point, a chemical dependency facility in Costa Mesa, CA. In 2001, he took an opportunity to be the Director of Harbor View Community Services Center in Long Beach. When he arrived, the Center had only 80 clients and 13 staff. When he left, there were over 400 clients and 75 staff. Dan created several programs through their contract with the Los Angeles County Departments of Mental Health and Child and Family Services. Under his guidance, Harbor View became one of the leading providers of children’s services in Los Angeles County.
While improving the results of the client’s parents at the Center, Dan reflected on his experiences as a parent. His children themselves had special needs such as mental and intellectual challenges, and Dan knew the toll it takes on the parent. In order to help the child, the parent has to be healthy. From this concept, he created his parenting program. After years of refining it, teaching it to his staff at the Center, and then taking the results and comments from these efforts, he became the developer of the current PRAXES program. It is a culmination of Dan’s personal trials and tribulations as a parent along with empirical results and research of over 40 parenting programs.
Our vision at PRAXES is to advance the strength of parents and caregivers of children with special needs (mental health, intellectual, or physical) through education, support, and empowerment. Thus, they can live healthy and functional lives while caring for the child.
Apogee is a clinical decision software designed to help behavioral health practitioners with their treatment and patient engagement. It provides evidence-based and research-based components. Not only do they consist of elements from such practices as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Seeking Safety, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Functional Behavior Analysis, but also the Intensive Models for Parents, Youth, and Children.
PRAXES has over 30 years of accreditation experience. We know what it takes to get your organization accredited. Whether it’s Joint Commission, CARF, or COA, our team can provide an evaluation of your current status and review the standards which need improvements. We will assist you with the policies, documentation, and training required to be accredited.
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