UCLA Health

Behavioral Health Clinical Advisor - LCSW or LMFT, Santa Monica

UCLA Health$121K — $160K *
Healthcare
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Master's degree in Social Work (MSW) or Psychology/Marriage and Family Therapy
  • California Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
  • 2-3 years of relevant experience in complex care coordination
  • Ability to establish rapport and therapeutic alliances with patients
  • Knowledge of community resources and psychosocial factors across life stages

Responsibilities

  • Provide psychosocial assessments and care coordination for outpatient practices
  • Consult with multidisciplinary teams on case management and treatment plans
  • Advocate for patient needs and coordinate services with healthcare providers
  • Conduct urgent mental health assessments and interventions
  • Manage projects to improve access to behavioral health services

Benefits

  • Access to ongoing professional development and training
  • Collaborative and supportive work environment
  • Opportunities for advancement within UCLA Health
  • Engagement in innovative behavioral health service delivery
  • Comprehensive healthcare benefits for employees and their families
Full Job Description
General Information

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Work Location: Santa Monica, CA, USA

Onsite or Remote

Fully On-Site

Work Schedule

Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm

Posted Date

08/03/2026

Salary Range: $121960.08 - 160922.16 Annually

Employment Type

2 - Staff: Career

Duration

Indefinite

Job #

32275

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

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In this role, you will provide a range of services to multidisciplinary teams with emphasis on outpatient practices of the UCLA Health-Behavioral Health Associates serving adult, geriatric populations, child and adolescents. Duties may include psychosocial assessment; care coordination, consultation to the team, individual, family or group psychotherapeutic treatment; liaison with community agencies; treatment plan documentation; and disposition planning and advocacy. The Clinical Advisor is a resource to providers, patients, care coordinators, and performs complex care coordination for high risk patients to improve access to psychiatric care and to prevent unnecessary ED admissions and hospitalizations. The Clinical Advisor has three main functions: 1. Resource and complex care coordination, 2. Project coordination/management for innovative approaches to deliver behavioral health services to enhance/improve access to care and 3. Direct clinical services, the clinical advisor may provide direct mental health services including urgent assessments, interventions, and recommendations to individual patients and their families and recruitment for and coordination of group therapy sessions.

The Clinical Advisor serves as a patient advocate, demonstrates problem solving skills to resolve conflict and to assist patients/families/caregivers to identify their past and present coping skills. Works collaboratively with the patient, community resources, other providers, managed care operations, the UCLA Health System, and health plans to implement, identify, coordinate, and monitor options and services to meet at-risk patients' healthcare needs. The Clinical Advisor aims to foster continuity of care and reduce unnecessary utilization of healthcare services by coordinating and providing health services that meet individuals' health needs. By connecting key individuals involved in the care of the patient and decreasing fragmentation and duplication of care, the Clinical Advisor is able to enhance the quality and cost effectiveness of the care that is delivered in the outpatient setting. The Clinical Advisor also keeps current with the professional mental healthcare knowledge and pursues further enhancement of job-related knowledge.

Salary Range: $121,960 - $160,922 Annual

Job Qualifications

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  • Master's degree in Social Work (MSW) or Psychology/Marriage and Family Therapy
  • California Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
  • Experience and skill interacting with health care providers in a multidisciplinary setting
  • 2-3 years of relevant experience
  • Working knowledge of general theoretical and clinical models
  • Ability to develop effective rapport and working therapeutic alliances with patients
  • Skill in writing clear and complete clinical notes and summaries of clinical evaluations
  • Skills and experiences in documenting/charting to ensure current and accurate medical records are entered and documented in patient files in accordance with established Medical Records policies and procedures
  • Knowledge of LCSW/LMFT ethics and scope of practice
  • Ability to perform a complete mental status exam and recognize changes in mental status
  • Ability to establish and maintain effective and mutually respectful relationships with professionals and support staff
  • Knowledge of pertinent current community resources, including income maintenance, mental health treatment, special education, residential and vocational supports
  • Ability to provide and maintain appropriate coordination of care with existing providers and/or variety of community agencies and demonstrate assertiveness, persistence, and diplomacy as an advocate for the patient
  • Ability to triage high risk behavior of patients
  • Knowledge of community resources for higher level of care or specialty care
  • Knowledge of psychosocial factors related to all life stages; expertise in at least one stage
  • Ability to communicate clearly and therapeutically with patients and families regarding diagnosis, progress, treatment plan recommendations
  • Ability to establish and maintain effective and mutually respectful relationships with professionals and support staff
  • Ability to assess and respond appropriately in a timely fashion to the safety needs of patients, family and staff
  • Knowledge of child and adult abuse and neglect reporting laws and procedures
  • Knowledge of scope of practice of relevant other disciplines including psychiatry, psychology, and psychiatric nurse Practitioners.
  • Ability to recognize complex clinical situations and seek and apply consultation of supervision when needed
  • Ability to respond calmly and effectively in crisis situations
  • Demonstrated resourcefulness, effective written and verbal communications and diplomacy
  • Demonstrated leadership and organizational abilities with previous demonstration of consistency, independence, flexibility, initiative and creativity
  • Skill at writing documentation that is timely, meaningful, complete, legible, grammatically correct, concise and consistent with legal and administrative standards
  • Ability to use a computer for electronic mail and word processing, internet access to University policies and procedures, and community resources for patients/families


As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts an offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of substantiated misconduct with a previous employer.

Current/former UC employees are subject to a personnel file review.

About UCLA Health

UCLA Health is a world-renowned academic medical center located in Los Angeles, California. It comprises four hospitals, including Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and more than 200 primary and specialty care clinics. UCLA Health is affiliated with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and is consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the United States. The health system employs over 20,000 people and serves as a major center for patient care, medical education, and research.
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