The posting
Texas Sports Academy is a K-12 school designed for serious student-athletes who want both elite academics and high-level athletic development. Students cover 2x the material in just 2 hours a day, using the same 2-Hour Learning model as Alpha Schools. That frees up their entire afternoon for serious training, where they work alongside former pro and D1 athletes coaching them at the highest standard.
We're hiring a school counselor to be our first dedicated mental health professional and build student wellness support from the ground up. This is a clinical role at its core: you'll be the academy's expert in crisis, the person who assesses risk when a student makes a suicidal statement, builds the safety plan, and owns the support plan after an outcry. You'll do this work remotely with students across Texas.
You've assessed suicide risk, built safety plans with students and families, and stayed steady while a crisis was still unfolding. Here, that work happens over video, so you'll need to earn real trust through a screen and make yourself easy to reach before anything goes wrong. A full independent Texas clinical license, a clinical master's, and hands-on crisis experience are non-negotiable; beyond those, we care most about how you show up when a student needs you.
What You'll Do
- Crisis Response: Serve as the same-day clinical escalation point for suicidal statements, self-harm, and mental health crises. You'll conduct risk assessments, build safety plans with students and families, and coordinate with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and 911/988 when a crisis requires it.
- Support Plans: Own the ongoing support plan for each student after an outcry, crisis, or DFPS report: check-ins, accommodations, and coordination with guides and families, consistent with our Mental Health & Student Outcry Policy.
- Short-Term Counseling: Provide brief, solution-focused counseling in the moment of need, and refer students to community providers when they need ongoing therapy.
- Early Identification: Review the patterns guides flag (attendance, disengagement, concerning work) and reach out to students before a concern becomes a crisis.
- Staff Training: Train guides to recognize warning signs, respond to disclosures without questioning the student, and follow mandated reporting requirements.
- Documentation: Maintain confidential clinical and support records on a strict need-to-know basis.
Requirements
- Crisis Intervention: You've assessed suicide risk, built safety plans, and stayed steady through active crises, including over video with a student you can't physically reach. You know when a situation needs DFPS, 911, or 988, and you make that call without hesitating.
- Telehealth: You know how to build trust with a student through a screen: proactive, visible, and easy to reach. Telehealth experience is strongly preferred.
- Trauma-Informed Practice: You're fluent in trauma-informed, strengths-based work, and it shows in how you talk with students and families.
- Child and Adolescent Experience: You have 2+ years of clinical experience with children and adolescents.
- Licensure: You hold a full, independent Texas clinical license (LPC, LCSW, LMFT, or licensed psychologist). Associate and provisional licenses, like LPC-A or LMSW under supervision, don't meet this requirement.
- Education: You have a master's degree or higher in counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy, or psychology.
Bonus Points
- School-Based Mental Health: You've worked in a school setting or with school-based mental health programs.
- Bilingual: You speak Spanish and English.
- Athlete Mental Health: You've worked with student-athletes and understand performance-related stress.
