Staff Psychologist (Psychologist, Grade N29)

About The Position

The expected Salary upon hire is: $91,797 - $130,000

The M ontgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) , an accredited agency, is a full spectrum life safety agency protecting about 500 square miles and over one million people who live and work in Maryland’s most populous jurisdiction . MCFRS is a combination system (volunteer/career) in the suburban Washington, D.C. area. MCFRS Responds annually to over 120,000 emergency calls for service and is staffed by nearly 2,700 career and volunteer responders .

The Mental Wellness Team for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service is currently looking for a licensed clinical psychologist who has a passion for helping the helpers of our community. We are recruiting someone who is compassionate, empathic, patient, calm during crises, and open-minded. We are looking for someone who is a mindful listener, pays close attention to detail , can be creative with problem-solving , can work independently and pro-actively , and has strong verbal communication and writing skills.

What You'll Be Doing

MCFRS is seeking to fill the position of a Staff Psychologist in the Behavioral Health Section. The Staff Psychologist works in the Human Resources Division and the responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Provide therapeutic services to F ire and Rescue career employees, volunteers, and their immediate family members.
• Provide clinical consultation for the Peer Support - Critical Incident Stress Management team.
• Conduct educational/training programs at the Public Safety Training Academy (PSTA), Emergency Communications Center (ECC), at local Fire and Rescue stations, and other locations, as needed.
• Provide clinical supervision to mental health providers (students, psychology associates, or other licensed clinicians)
  
  

Specific Responsibilities Include, But Are Not Limited To

Clinical (up to 75% of time)

• Deliver clinical treatment for work-related trauma exposure and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Critical Incident Stress (CIS), depression, and suicidality utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive processing therapy, cognitive therapy, prolonged exposure therapy, brief eclectic psychotherapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and other modalities, as appropriate .
• Treatment will also be for other issues, which may include but are not limited to: trauma (non-work-related), anxiety, depression, sleep issues, family or relationship difficulties, substance use, grief/loss, other occupational stressors, various medical diagnoses, and parenting issues
• Assist in providing referrals to appropriate providers outside of MCFRS as needed, e.g., EAP, HHS Crisis Center, private clinicians, substance rehab centers (International Association of Fire Fighters, IAFF Center for Excellence).
• Maintain appropriate clinical documentation.
• Provide clinical consultations and education if requested by MCFRS employees.
• Occasionally provide generalized clinical consultation to staff at Fire and Rescue Occupational Medical Services (FROMS) to maintain the confidentiality of therapy clients.
  
  

Peer Support - Critical Incident Stress Management (PS-CISM)

Serve as a mental health professional with the PS-CISM team:

• Provide clinical consultation as needed.
• Help train the PS-CISM team on various mental health topics and issues relevant to first responders.
  
  

Education/Training

• Teach FRS employees skills for maintaining mental wellness, which may include topics such as resiliency and stress management. Also provide education on substance use, trauma, critical incidents, and suicide prevention to recruit classes at the Public Safety Training Academy, in-station training, ECC, and other FRS worksites.
• Contribute to PS-CISM team trainings.
• Contribute to the resources that are made available to the department for various mental wellness topics via different mediums, e.g., books, articles, videos, podcasts, or live meetings/groups.
• Maintain a robust behavioral health presence with station visits and ride-a-longs.
• Providing clinical supervision to mental health providers (students, psychology associates, or other licensed clinicians)
  
  

Additional Information

• May need to occasionally work after hours (this is not an on-call or standby role.)
• Must be able to work varied hours, as needed.
• A Secondary Employment application must be submitted and approved for outside employment (i.e., private practice clients.)
• This position requires onsite work initially, with the potential for a hybrid (onsite/telework) schedule after successful completion of the probation period.
• This position will not conduct fit for duty evaluations, or assessments in disciplinary matters.
• Ability to attend meetings or perform other assignments outside the office, such as engaging with employees at FRS worksites.
  
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: At least three (3) years delivering clinical treatment for trauma, specifically providing treatment for Firefighters and/or other Public Safety/Emergency Response/Military employees for work-related trauma and Critical Incident Stress.
• Experience: At least two (2) years teaching/training psychology material, coping skills, and stress management.
• Experience: Two (2) years of professional, supervised experience in clinical therapeutic practice, including diagnostic and psychological testing service experience.
• Experience with and/or training that includes relationships, couples or family therapy.
• Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Doctoral degree in Psychology as defined by Health Occupations Article, 18-101, Annotated Code of Maryland.
• Equivalency: Must meet the general provisions of the Maryland State Board of Examiners of Psychologists as stated in Health Occupations Article 18-101, 18-302, and the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) 10.36.07 and 10.36.07.04.
• Licensure: as a Psychologist by the Maryland State Board of Examiners for Psychologists by the date of appointment to a County Psychologist position. Note: There will be no substitutions for this section.
• Candidates selected for an interview may be required to submit a de-identified clinical writing sample.****
  
  

Preferred Criteria, Interview Preferences

Interview Preference will be given to candidates who demonstrate:

• Experience with Crisis Interventions
• Experience with Trauma informed interventions
• Experience with p sychological services within a complex legal/regulatory environment
• Experience with p sychotherapy within a diverse population
• Experience with c onsulting and collaborating with an interdisciplinary team
• Experience with p roviding therapeutic interventions
• Experience with c urriculum development and training experience
  
  

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The Office of Human Resources (OHR) reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position.

Montgomery County Government(MCG) is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should email OHR at OHR@montgomerycountymd.gov . Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.

MCG also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference .

All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicant's responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria or interview preference status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on the Eligible List as a "Lateral Transfer" candidate and may be considered for an interview.

This will establish an Eligible List that may be used to fill both current and future vacancies.

If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.

Montgomery County Ethics Law : Except as provided by law or regulation, the County's "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriff's office) are subject to the County's ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code . Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.