Grief Counselor

Chapters Health System•Falls Church, VA

9d•$55,580 - $82,726•Hybrid

About The Position

The Grief Counselor provides short-term counseling support to individuals, children, and families who are coping with grief and loss issues due to a death. This may include anticipatory grief support. Services are available to hospice families as well as the larger community.

Requirements

At least 3 years of clinical counseling experience in the areas of death/dying grief, loss and survivorship.
Related clinical experience in varied multi-disciplinary settings and with short-term grief counseling with individuals, couples, children, families, and groups.
Superlative oral and written communication skills.
Ability to organize and manage projects within defined timeframe and budget.
Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
Excellent interpersonal and collaborative skills.
Organizational skills with ability to delegate and follow up.
Ability to manage multiple tasks and stressful situations with a positive attitude.
Strong work ethic and attention to detail.
Skills in clinical assessment, crisis intervention and counseling.
Knowledge of grief theories, relationship and family systems, and trauma informed therapies.
Advocates for clients with regard to communication with external support services.
Conducts effective community education that enhances understanding of the unique needs of the bereaved.
Exceptional leadership skills, including a faculty for conceptual thinking, peer motivation, problem solving, and who can demonstrate initiative, follow-up and follow-through.
Ability to work in a fast paced environment utilizing tact, patience, and diplomacy.
Ability to work independently.
Ability to resolve conflict and be comfortable with conflict resolution and management.
Ability to facilitate the development of trusting relationships and partnerships with physicians, payers, patients and co-workers.
Ability to maintain a positive public image for Capital Caring by dealing with patients and employees.
Ability to communicate respectfully, openly, honestly and directly.
Ability to serve as coach, mentor and a positive role model.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office and internet browsers.
Ability to effectively navigate client health information systems.
Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written or oral form and deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
Regularly required to sit and talk or hear.
Occasionally required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; taste or smell and push, pull.
Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
Ability to effectively manage work-related stress and maintain consistent customer service focus skills.
Required to drive extensively and navigate to new client locations, on a tight schedule, sometimes in heavy traffic.

Nice To Haves

Anticipatory grief support
Services available to hospice families as well as the larger community.
Bereavement orientation and training of new staff, volunteers, and interns.
Push and pull heavy objects.
Display a full range of body motion.
Works in a business office with computers, printers, copy/fax machines and telephones.
The noise level in the work environment is usually light to moderate.
The environmental conditions are that of what is to be expected in a temperature-controlled building, and client residence environment.
Required to drive to alternate work locations to meet with clients, to attend organizational sponsored meetings and training opportunities, and to provide community education.

Responsibilities

Aligns all professional practice with Capital Caring Health’s mission to provide patients and their families with advanced illness care of the highest quality and in accordance with the core values of patients and families first, always do the right thing, and respect everyone.
Develops the Bereavement Plan of Care based upon the IDT assessment after the time of patient death, and includes the following: Assesses family/caregiver grief and loss issues related to death of patient, Offers short-term individual/family counseling, and access to support groups, and workshops, Offers phone calls, condolence cards, grief literature, and special programs to meet the needs of the grieving population, Provides grief interventions tailored to meet the needs of the client, factoring in age and any other factors which impacts services, Assesses the impact of social, spiritual, and cultural issues on the grief reaction, Completes community-based referrals as indicated, Assesses for complicated grief reactions.
Provides community based short-term individual/family grief counseling due to issues related to death, as requested.
Participates in the provision of education, support, and supervision to CCH intern programs.
Actively seeks to provide grief support/education to residents and staff of area partner facilities (ALF/SNF/INF and ICF/IMR).
Develops and facilitates grief support groups, workshops and special programs to meet the needs of and within assigned regional area. Collaborates these activities with staff in other regions as well as IDT.
Completes all Family Service On-Call shift requirements in accordance with their regional expectations.
Participates in all QUAPI and organizationally sponsored in-service trainings and webinars.
Provides Bereavement orientation and training of new staff, volunteers, and interns.
Maintains clinical records of clients served within electronic medical record and in accordance with CHAP/organizational compliance standards.
Effectively utilizes organizational documentation and tracking tools for data collection.
Communicates effectively through both oral and written communications across settings.
Protects client rights to confidentiality in accordance with Capital Caring Health and HIPAA policies and regulations.
Maintains a person-centered, non-judgmental approach to service provision while treating everyone with dignity and respect.
Maintains professional boundaries with all workplace interactions.
Conveys warmth, compassion, and empathy in promoting patient right to self-determination while being mindful of individual differences which includes cultural, spiritual, ethnic, and gender diversity.
Responds promptly to requests for grief education for the larger community and for individuals seeking services.
Participates in offering staff grief support related to their Hospice work.
Achieves expected productivity standard as defined by the organization and in alignment with best practices.