Clinical Therapist

State of Montana • Deer Lodge, MT

14h • Onsite

About The Position

The Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) is creating a safer Montana through Accountability, Rehabilitation and Empowerment. If you want to work making positive changes in your community, the Montana Department of Corrections is the place for you!
The Rehabilitation and Enterprise Division ensures the physical and mental well-being of inmates, delivers educational and vocational opportunities within prisons, and oversees community facilities dedicated to successfully reintegrating offenders into Montana communities. Join the team responsible for building better tomorrows today!
As a Clinical Therapist working within a secure prison, you will play a pivotal role in addressing the complex mental health and behavioral needs of an incarcerated population. Your work will directly support institutional safety by reducing crisis incidents, improving emotional regulation, and fostering pro-social behavior among residents.
Through the delivery of evidence-based and trauma-informed therapeutic services, you will help individuals confront the underlying factors contributing to criminal behavior, including trauma, substance use, and chronic mental illness. Your interventions will promote accountability, enhance coping skills, and support long-term behavior change within a highly structured environment.
Operating as part of a multidisciplinary team alongside security staff, medical providers, and case managers, you will help create a safer and more rehabilitative facility culture. Your ability to balance clinical care with security protocols, maintain strong professional boundaries, and build trust in a correctional setting will be essential to your success.
The impact of your work extends beyond the facility walls. By preparing individuals for eventual reentry, you will help reduce recidivism, strengthen community outcomes, and contribute to the long-term safety and well-being of communities across Montana.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in social work, psychology or counseling
• Must be licensed or able to be licensed as a LCSW or LCPC by the State of Montana.
• A person with a candidates license must be fully licensed within one year of hire date.
• Alternative combinations of education and experience will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Responsibilities

• Addressing the complex mental health and behavioral needs of an incarcerated population.
• Reducing crisis incidents.
• Improving emotional regulation.
• Fostering pro-social behavior among residents.
• Delivering evidence-based and trauma-informed therapeutic services.
• Helping individuals confront the underlying factors contributing to criminal behavior, including trauma, substance use, and chronic mental illness.
• Promoting accountability.
• Enhancing coping skills.
• Supporting long-term behavior change within a highly structured environment.
• Balancing clinical care with security protocols.
• Maintaining strong professional boundaries.
• Building trust in a correctional setting.
• Preparing individuals for eventual reentry.

Benefits

• competitive compensation
• generous State of Montana Benefits
• State of Montana employment may qualify for student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees