Family Therapist, Eating Disorders
Weekly outpatient therapy isn't always enough, and a trip to the ER isn't the only answer. Patients and their families rely on Compass Health Center when in crisis – every day, we help people overcome depression, anxiety, suicidality, obsessions/compulsions, trauma, chronic pain, and other obstacles in order for our patients to live freely.
About This Role
Our Family Therapists play a key role in our multi-disciplinary teams and work to ensure synergy across treatment. As a Family Therapist in the Over-18 Eating Disorders Program, you’ll conduct sessions with patients and the people who support them that will aim at reducing accommodation, building support skills, and creating a home environment that sustains recovery after discharge. You’ll also facilitate interpersonal skills groups for patients. If your passion is helping those who are working to support patients, you would be a great addition to our team.
Compass is proud to be a trailblazer within the future of behavioral health, offering fully virtual PHP/IOP programs to patients across the entire state of Illinois. Our virtual programs meet the needs of modern healthcare, providing flexibility for both patients and clinicians while increasing access to fundamental care.
What You'll Do:
Family and Support Sessions
- Facilitate family and support system sessions for a caseload of assigned adult patients and their loved ones
- Conduct couples and partner sessions where the primary support is a spouse or partner
- Assess role of support system in maintaining or interrupting disordered behaviors
- Provide psychoeducation about eating disorders, co-occurring conditions, and the treatment model
- Identify and target accommodation of eating disorder behavior and co-occurring conditions
- Coach support people in practice skills
- Address diet culture and weight talk within family system
- Work with patients and families to prepare the home food environment for step-down and discharge
Group Facilitation
- Facilitate interpersonal and family-focused skills groups within program curriculum
- Support patients in applying interpersonal skills to conversations with family, partners, and support people
- Contribute to the development of caregiver-facing programming as program grows
Care Coordination
- Partner with Primary Therapist to align family work with patient’s case formulation and treatment targets
- Contribute clinical observations and insights during interdisciplinary rounds and program meetings
- Communicate with outside providers for continuity of care
- Collaborate with the treatment team in assessing progress and need for higher level of care, step-down, or discharge
- Help family coordinate an effective discharge and aftercare plan
Program Operations
- Chart family session content and clinical observations in the electronic medical record
- Participate in weekly family therapy meeting, required program training, fidelity monitoring, supervision, and consultation
- Other duties, as assigned
Who You Are:
Credentials and Experience
- Psychologist or master’s level therapist (required)
- Independently licensed or license-eligible as a psychologist, LCSW, LCPC, or LMFT (required)
- 1+ years clinical work experience post-degree delivering family or couples therapy (strongly preferred)
- Experience treating eating disorders (preferred)
- Experience treating OCD, anxiety, PTSD, and/or depression (preferred)
- Have experience in a PHP, IOP, residential, or inpatient setting
Skills and Approach (preferred)
- Working knowledge of conceptualization of eating disorder treatment and co-occurring conditions
- Able to work with adult patients and their support systems, balancing family involvement against patient autonomy and consent
- Able to identify family accommodation and coach support people to withdraw it without escalating conflict
- Able to hold a validating stance towards caregivers while maintaining clear expectations of t