Discovery Horse, LLC Mental Health Practitioner Fort Ripley, MN · Full time

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Discovery Horse is a behavioral health and mental wellness agency located on a beautiful farm in Minnesota offering multiple approaches to healing individuals, families, and whole systems.  Discovery Horse (DH) routinely collaborates with local children’s and adult mental health agencies to provide coaching and behavioral health interventions that conceptualizes healing in the context of the whole person, their relationships, and their environment. 

Discovery Horse provides intensive services to youth and families. 

Discovery Horse believes that engaging an individual’s support system and providing consistency in relationship and services invites lasting change in healing and behavioral change, specifically with youth/individuals who have extensive trauma histories. When youth/families join our program they are being invited into a community, along with allies and advocates who will dive into ‘life' with them and be part of their support system. 

When you join the Discovery Horse team, regardless of your position, you become part of that community. This isn’t just a job, it is a lifestyle.

This is a full systems approach. We put as much emphasis on the scheduled session time as we do the time between sessions. Discovery Horse staff practice and role model safe connected relationships at all times, which includes the ability to recognize mistakes and be accountable for them while initiating repair. 

Families at Discovery Horse actively connect with and relate to the animals (when appropriate), people, and places here at the farm - staff observe patterns and behaviors in real time, intervene in real time, and build new behaviors in real time - much more so than in a closed office setting where behaviors rarely emerge. We provide in the moment coaching on connection, physiological and emotional regulation, and executive functioning skills that repair and heal old patterns, not just in thinking, but in the whole brain and body. When appropriate, we also work off-site and in-home, supporting individuals and families to create shifts for healthier relating that transforms people and relationships.

At Discovery Horse, we model building an organization based on healthy relating principles from the bottom-up - we encourage the personal work that provides a solid foundation to providing services in a healthy, authentic way - without self-sacrifice and the resulting burn out that is so common in our fields.

Position Summary 

This relationship based role will provide direct support and input to team members of client needs and aid in the development of treatment plans based on the individual’s priorities and optimize client functioning.  This role will utilize creativity in interventions to assist clients in achieving their goals in a connected/regulated manner.  You will come along side clients while providing support to increase social and self-management skills to assist them in engaging in their preferred community in a connected/regulated manner. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:

• Provide guidance on a range of developmental goals from self-regulation to effective communication. 
• Provide assistance, support and education to clients using concepts and principles based in the neurorelational sciences. 
• Transportation and support in the community: outings/field trips, medical appointments and other supportive services that fall into service plan
• Facilitates one to one discussions and skill groups as outlined in individual service plans
• Verbally communicate with the immediate supervisor as needed.
• Maintain a connected relationship  with all humans and animals at the farm.
• Attend weekly case consultation meetings
• Establish professional relationships with collateral contacts. Collaboration is a core value at Discovery Horse.
• Contribute to/Guide assessment and service planning to direct relational and skills based services in a variety of settings to include on the farm, in the community and in the home. 
• Coordinate services with the entire team: case managers, school staff, service providers and families
• Attend and engage in all meetings and trainings 
• Complete all required documentation in a timely manner
• Session Notes, time keeping. Contact notes and incident reports
• Some case management duties are to be expected

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Analytical, problem-solving and judgment-making skills
• Social Skills
• Emotional resilience
• Inclination to respond to events with proactivity. 
• Attention to detail and initiative
• Organization and ability to multitask efficiently
• Effective time management, including prioritization of time sensitive items and the ability to meet deadlines.  
• Organizational skills
• Strong interpersonal skills to support relationships
• Must have proficiency of Microsoft Word, G-Suite and ability to learn other computer programs as needed.
• Exceptional written, verbal, analytical, and interpersonal skills. Must work effectively in a team-structured delivery system. 
• Knowledge of local community resources is a plus.
• Successful clearance of background checks
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work with a variety of individual backgrounds and ages. 
• Willingness to work with children, adolescents and adults is required
• Bachelor's Degree in human services field
• Travel is an important aspect of this position - a valid and clean driving record is required  
• Group facilitation experience is a bonus. 
• Willingness to participate in ongoing learning and development
• Willingness to practice, model and engage with clients using concepts and principles based in the neurorelational sciences. 
• Ability to ask for help, receive feedback and be accountable for mistakes is a skill set that is necessary for the success of this position. 
• Preferred experience working with trauma, families, schools and community based services

Physical Demands and Work Environment 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. 

Benefits:

• Cutting edge training and experience providing brain and body based support services to individuals
• Flexible schedule 
• Work environment that practices self care as an organizational value
• Monthly Wellness Stipend: $300
• Mileage reimbursement when not using a commercial vehicle (all business miles)
• Paid Time Off: 10 days per year (includes sick time) Available after 90 days of employment
• 7 paid holidays:

1. Christmas Day
2. Thanksgiving Day
3. Memorial Day
4. Labor Day
5. Independence Day
6. Good Friday - 2 hours, off early
7. Easter Sunday

Note

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the incumbents will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at will” relationship