Mental Health Specialist

Common Threads is a mid-sized nonprofit agency located on Madison's East Side. Our mission is to empower autistic and neurodivergent individuals by providing relationship-based, meaningful, and holistic support. We accomplish this by offering a variety of evidence-based, personalized therapeutic and educational services built around each person''s strengths, interests, and goals.

Our school program provides transitional, half-day programming for students currently struggling to access education in their home districts. We aim to foster skill development and identify the specific supports that enable students to transition back to their home district successfully. Driven by the core belief that students do well when they can, our programming engages learners in building the foundational skills needed to thrive in an educational setting. We focus on five foundational program pillars:

• Self-advocacy
• Self-awareness and interoception
• Executive functioning
• Social awareness and communication
• Regulation

Position Summary

The Mental Health Specialist plays a vital role in supporting the emotional well-being, regulation, and self-advocacy skills of neurodivergent students within the Common Threads School Program. Embedded directly within a transdisciplinary classroom team, this position focuses on direct client support, staff consultation, and environmental design rather than managing clinical caseloads or IEPs. Additional responsibilities include resource networking, caregiver psychoeducation, developing educational materials, and creating wrap-around support systems that integrate Common Threads, the home district, and the home environment.

Essential Duties

• Assess and support emotional regulation and mental health needs across the school day through relationship-based, low-arousal interventions.
• Coach and support staff on integrating emotional regulation, interoception strategies, and trauma-informed practices into daily routines.
• Collaborate daily with teachers, support specialists, and therapists to embed mental health learning and interventions throughout the school day.
• Model co-regulation, maintain a supportive presence during moments of dysregulation, and assist teams with proactive de-escalation strategies that maintain student dignity.
• Collect and analyze observational data to help teams adjust environmental and intervention strategies based on real-time student readiness and changing needs.
• Consult with families on regulation strategies for the home and coordinate with external providers to support service alignment and care continuity.
• Advocate for and model trauma-informed, neuro-affirming mental health practices that validate student identity and presume competence across the home, school, and community settings.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master''s degree (or higher) from an accredited program in Social Work, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Counseling, or Marriage and Family Therapy.
• Current state license that allows practice of Psychotherapy or Psychology in Wisconsin preferred, or actively working toward WI state licensure.
• Deep enthusiasm for working with Autistics and neurodivergent individuals, with a commitment to continuous learning in current standards in neuroaffirming practice and neurodivergent neurology.
• Reliable transportation and car insurance meeting organizational liability standards ($100k/$300k/$100k) preferred.

Key Knowledge, Skills & Core Competencies

• Expertise in regulation-first approaches that prioritize student agency and autonomy over compliance-based methods.
• Strong framework recognizing that behavior reflects underlying emotional, sensory, or environmental needs.
• Practical experience using tools to support emotional awareness.
• Proficiency in identifying early signs of distress and utilizing low-arousal, non-confrontational strategies.
• Ability to translate complex mental health and regulation concepts into actionable classroom practices for educators and support staff.
• High comfort with ambiguity, shifting daily priorities, and adjusting approaches in real time based on student readiness.

Schedule & Working Conditions

• Monday through Friday full workday, including a half-hour lunch break.
• Follows the school-designated calendar during the one-year term, including professional development and training days.

Physical Demands & Environment

• Regularly required to talk and listen; frequently required to sit for periods, use a computer keyboard, monitor, mouse, and phone. Must maintain standing and alternative seating positions throughout the day to respond quickly to student needs. Must be able to walk expediently, run, support clients as necessary for safety, and occasionally lift/move up to 30 pounds. Occasional travel may be required.
• Casual, collaborative school and office environment. Common Threads actively fosters an inclusive work culture.

Common Threads is an Equal Opportunity Employer. As such, Common Threads complies with laws prohibiting discrimination against employees or qualified applicants for employment in hiring or in any decision affecting job status or pay on the basis of age, race, ethnicity, religion, color, gender, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, cultural differences, ancestry, physical appearance, arrest record or conviction record, military participation or membership in the national guard, state defense force or any other reserve component of the military forces of the United States, or political beliefs, or any other status protected by federal, state, and/or or local laws.

Common Threads and all subcontractors agree not to discriminate on the basis of disability in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the Wisconsin Statutes secs. 111.321 and 111.34, and Chapter 19 of the Dane County Code of Ordinances.