Backpack Healthcare- Residency Program

At Backpack Healthcare “we believe that clinician satisfaction = client satisfaction” Backpack Healthcare is a clinician led, minority owned online behavioral health company whose sole purpose is to provide access to care for those who need it most....our children.

Residency Program Overview

With over 40,000 graduates from social work and counseling profession each year, there are lots of new clinicians coming into the field, however, over 57% of those never become licensed. The Residency program, created by Backpack Healthcare, is a 24-month training program for graduate-level mental health clinicians to help them achieve and maintain professional licensure. This program is composed of training from multiple LCSW-C and LCPC supervisors with various specialties and experiences. Backpack’s residency program guarantees weekly individual supervision with a trained and board certified supervisor. We also facilitate weekly group supervision (synchronous and asynchronous depending on the week) that will also qualify for supervision hours towards board requirements. Groups are currently pending APA, ACA, and NASW approval for Category I continuing education credits.

Within each cohort, we aim to create a network of individuals of similar licensure looking to collaboratively learn how to be the most effective, well-rounded, and culturally humble clinicians. Residents will reaffirm their knowledge of theory and learn related techniques to implement in practice, the area that is most difficult for clinicians and one that is not often focused on during education.

Upon completion, residents will successfully treat patients with a variety of mental health diagnoses, apply ethical standards to their practice, assess for risk, treatment plan, and advocate for patients within the community, as well as have a reference guide of interventions and activities to implement in sessions.

Key Features:
• Dedicated preparation for LCSW licensing examination, all informed by NASW’s knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) guidelines
• Theoretical Orientation Development
• Diagnosing and Treating common DSM-V TR diagnoses
• Application of skills for the therapy space
• Collaborating with other professionals, including working as a treatment team at Backpack.
• Profession-specific training in accordance with the NASW and ACA codes of ethics
• Potential for free continuing education credits throughout the program
• Weekly individual and group supervision for direct feedback on daily clinical practice- 100+ individual supervision and 70+ group supervision hours (or CEU opportunities) guaranteed.
• Supportive and collaborative environment for peer and professional consultation

Requirements: • Attained a master's degree in social work, counseling, or a relevant discipline (typically M.A. or M.S.). • Successfully completed licensing assessments such as the ASWB clinical exam, National Counselor Examination (NCE), or the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination. • Acquired, or currently pursuing, professional licensure (e.g., LMSW, LGPC) in a state where Backpack offers services. Presently, this includes Maryland and Virginia, with additional states anticipated by year-end. *Note: The clinician does not need to reside in the state, but must hold licensure within it. • Maintained good standing with their respective professional boards.

Residency Program Graduate Clinician Responsibilities and Expectations:
• Attend weekly individual supervision
• Attend all scheduled group supervision (three-times per month)
• Notify Team Lead, Supervisor, and Residency Program Manager if unable to attend supervision
• Facilitate at least 2 groups during their time in the program
• Complete a case consultation presentation at the end of the program
• Track client hours, indirect hours, and supervision hours each week
• Complete documentation within 24 hours of the start of the session.
• Revisions requested from the supervisor should be completed within 72 hours of feedback being provided.
• Maintain a caseload of youth, adolescents, and families as per contract requirements

Residency Program Clinician Supervisor Responsibilities and Expectations:
• Conduct weekly individual supervision sessions with all supervisees, using weekly theme(s) provided by the residency program.
• Notify the Residency Program Manager if a weekly individual session does not occur.
• Facilitate at least one cohort’s group supervision sessions
• Complete documentation review for all supervisees and sign off on all documentation within 1 week of service date. 30 minutes per supervisee will be approved for documentation review weekly.
• Follow up revisions should be reviewed and signed off on within 1 week of resident updates.
• Attend quarterly reviews with supervisee, Residency Program Manager, and Team Lead.

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