Staff Psychologist

This position is for a Staff Psychologist within the Health Psychology Program. Preferred experience includes background in working with patients experiencing comorbid medical and mental health conditions, experience with health psychology interventions (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain), and health-related psychological assessments (e.g., pre-procedural mental health evaluations).

VA Careers - Mental Health Professionals: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOMintJXa3Y EDUCATION: Qualifications continued: The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-13.

References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G18- Psychologist Qualification Standard.

Physical Requirements: Pre-employment physical will be conducted in accordance with VA Handbook 5019.

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ . If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html . RESPONSIBILITIES: Clinical Responsibilities (75-90% of time)

Provides psychotherapeutic interventions including individual and group psychotherapy. Staff psychologists will:

Makes use of evidence-based treatments for a full range of patient populations and psychiatric conditions covered in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR).

Perform intake assessments and treatment planning tasks, and revise treatment plans as indicated in a timely manner.

Render treatment in various settings to include group and individual therapy formats, and telemental health, when appropriate.

Conducts psychological assessments (within the scope of granted privileges) such as psychodiagnostic assessments, neuropsychological assessments, and pre-procedural evaluations. Staff psychologists will:

Use appropriate psychological assessment measures to evaluate a patient's care needs in accordance with the referral question.

Maintain competencies in psychological assessment to ensure ethical practice and seek consultation when appropriate.

Render feedback to appropriate audiences and document findings of the assessment in a psychological assessment report, posted to the patient's chart in a timely manner.

Completes consults, patient correspondence, or other requests for care in a timely manner.

Consults with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues.

Completes suicide risk screenings, risk assessments, safety plans, behavior reports, and other processes relevant to suicide prevention standards.

Academic/Teaching/Training: (0-10% of time)

Provides training and supervision to psychology postdoctoral fellows, predoctoral interns, practicum students, and other health trainees.

Serves as a consultant to staff and trainees and assist in their formulation of the psychological characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients.

Participate in training committee and related training functions.

Administrative/Program Evaluation/Outcome Measurement/Research (5-10% time)

Staff psychologists may be involved in research activities including conducting research, writing scholarly articles, serving on research committees (e.g., IRB), or other research and development-related activities.

Complies with national and local performance measures, including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients.

Complies with all CPRS documentation procedures, including timeliness standards for documentation and proper patient check out procedures (e.g., entering diagnostic and procedure codes).

Continue program monitors and outcome measurements within programs assigned using a data-driven quality assurance processes.

Other Significant Responsibilities (5% time)

Serves on local VA, VISN, or National VA committees as assigned.

Assists in preparing RFPs and grant proposals as assigned.

Attends team, service, facility, or other meetings as required.

Completes all training as assigned.

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm (Subject to change based upon the needs of the agency.)

Compressed/Flexible :Not Applicable

Telework : Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 0000

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized QUALIFICATIONS: Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

Citizenship. Citizen of the United States.

Licensure. Applicants must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

Exception: Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS-12 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405 [(c)(2)(B)] for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment.

Education. Applicant must have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicants are to be employed. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology; OR Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re-specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions:

The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and

The specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR

Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

AND

Internships. Applicants must have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed OR

New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern OR

VHA facilities that offered full-time , one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement OR

Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed OR

Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.

Preferred Experience:

Qualified applicants should hold a valid license to practice psychology issued by a licensing board of a state or territory of the United States of America.

Grade Determinations:

GS-11 Experience: None beyond the basic requirements listed above.

GS-12 Experience: Applicants must have at least 1 year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.

Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.

Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.

Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).

Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration.

Assignment. Staff psychologists at this level diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities, provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders, and may conduct research. They may be assigned to any program area.

GS-13 Experience: Applicants must have at least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.

Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.

Knowledge of clinical research literature.

Assignment. This is the full performance level for staff psychologists. At this level, psychologists are licensed to practice independently in the provision of psychological services, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate. They may be assigned to any VHA program and setting, such as inpatient or outpatient medicine, primary care, surgery, mental health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, geriatrics, Compensation and Pension, Vet Centers, and the VHA National Center for Organization Development. Psychologists diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities, and provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders. Among the modalities provided are individual, family, and group psychotherapies and other interventions such as behavioral health and community interventions. Psychologists consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues. Staff psychologists may be involved in program evaluation, teaching, training, and research activities.

SALARY: QuantitativeValue EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Other