Description

Under general direction, provides psychological services in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of patients as assigned in a community program, correctional facility, primary care clinic, hospital and/or other clinical settings within the County of Santa Clara. This includes psychological assessment and diagnosis, psychotherapeutic interventions and treatments, disposition and planning of treatment, and neuropsychological and psychological consultation services and preparation of reports relating to diagnosis.

Typical Tasks

• Provides individual and/or group psychotherapy, health and behavioral intervention, and consulting services;
• Performs psychological work involving the examination, classification and diagnosis of patients, which may include diagnostic clinical interviews and the selection, administration, scoring and interpretation of a wide range of psychological and neuropsychological, intelligence, aptitude, personality, and highly specialized assessments in the evaluation of patients;
• Prepares interpretive reports presenting diagnostic findings, interview findings, clinical evaluations and recommendations for the treatment and rehabilitation of patients;
• Develops, implements, coordinates and evaluates advanced clinical treatment programs to assist patients and staff in obtaining the maximum yield from the psychometric assessment, psychodiagnostic evaluation, psychotherapeutic intervention and treatment;
• Consults with other departments to develop triage and treatment programs for patients with complex and/or multi-layered medical, psychological and psychosocial needs;
• Collaborates with physicians in screening and evaluating patients for psychotropic medications, within the scope of practice;
• Provides consultation and clinical guidance to other mental health professionals, medical providers, care team members/care managers, and health educators on matters relating to mental health, health psychology and neuropsychology;
• Provides training and supervision of unlicensed doctoral psychology trainees;
• Participates in developing mental health procedures within assigned population or segments of the community;
• Works to identify and reduce risk factors for suicide, homicide, and chemical dependency;
• Conducts capacity evaluations, mental status examinations and completes conservatorship affidavits under the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act as well as probate conservatorship;
• Conducts evaluations, responds to subpoenas, and provides testimony in cases involving custody, guardianship, liability and/or personal injury;
• Participates in patient, family, and team debriefing;
• Performs special projects related to community outreach and public information duties, inter-agency liaison activities, and research projects;
• Collaborates with other psychologists working on special projects;
• May initiate, design, collaborate and report on psychological research or programs;
• May assist in the development of training programs for staff and interns;
• Participates in and may lead patient care review conferences;
• Completes administrative responsibilities related to intake/admissions, scheduling, authorization, documentation, billing and related areas required within the scope of work;
• Works with family members of patients, staff members, outside agencies, and community groups on a consultative basis;
• Participates in internal and external professional and educational activities to enhance personal and professional competence;
• Participates in Medical Staff committees as appropriate;
• May be assigned as a Disaster Service Worker, as required;
• Performs other related duties as required.

Employment Standards

Sufficient experience and education to demonstrate the possession and direct application of the following knowledge and abilities:
Training and Experience Note: The knowledge and abilities required to perform this function are acquired through possession of a Doctoral level degree in Clinical Psychology, Psychology, Educational Psychology, Education with a specialization in Counseling Psychology, or Education with a specialization in Educational Psychology per Section 2914 of the Business and Professions Code, preferably from an American Psychological Association (APA) or Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) accredited graduate program.

• Principles of clinical supervision;
• Signs and symptoms of abnormal behavior, developmental, and psychiatric pathology, in child and/or adult populations;
• The current principles and methods of diagnosing and treating behavioral health disorders;
• Evidenced-based practices;
• Statistical procedures, research design, and methodology and their applications;
• Techniques of mental health consultation;
• Risk assessment and legal responsibilities related to suicidal and homicidal behavior;
• Federal, State, and County regulations and APA standards as they relate to patient treatment, patient rights and client/patient confidentially and other ethical issues;
• Cultural competency.

• Exercise initiative and tact and balance competing demands and priorities for resources;
• Exercise analytical and problem solving skills; collect and evaluate data, develop solutions and make recommendations;
• Assess, diagnose, and treat a full range of illnesses common to the population served;
• Effectively and accurately interpret clinical data and make judgements regarding diagnosis and prognosis;
• Prepare appropriate supporting documentation for the treatment provided, including findings and recommendations;
• Maintain proficiency in psychological evaluations such as assessments of intelligence, academic ability, attention, concentration, sensory-motor function, language, learning and memory;
• Demonstrate appropriate patient crisis handling skills;
• Coordinate patient care in a complex, matrixed system of care;
• Work effectively and demonstrate sensitivity with culturally and ethnically diverse patient populations;
• Evaluate patient response to treatments and team interventions and take corrective action to meet and/or modify goals and improve effectiveness of patient response;
• Work effectively and independently within a team;
• Analyze situations accurately and adopt effective courses of action;
• Maintain confidential records and reports;
• Effectively manage time, schedule and resources;
• Communicate effectively with patients, staff, and other health professionals.