Staff Psychologist

Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

Major duties include, but are not limited to: - Conducts comprehensive psychological assessments and formulates diagnostic impressions using standardized and clinically appropriate methods. - Delivers evidence-based and evidence-informed psychotherapy for mental health, substance use, behavioral, and psychosocial concerns within granted clinical privileges. - Completes all required clinical documentation and charting in accordance with healthcare system timelines, quality standards, and accreditation requirements. - Provides clinical supervision to unlicensed staff and trainees, guidance and education to assigned staff in psychological service delivery. - Serves as a resource to other professional personnel by offering consultation regarding psychological services and treatment planning. - Offers education to patients, patients' family members, professional staff, and trainees on mental health conditions and treatment approaches. - Performs risk assessments for self-harm or harm to others and implements suicide prevention and crisis management procedures. - Functions as a contributing member of multidisciplinary medical and mental 1276 2 health teams in inpatient, outpatient, or specialty care settings. - Participates in performance improvement and quality assurance activities relevant to psychological services and assigned clinical programs. - Abides by the ethical principles addressed by psychology licensing boards. - Supports and/or participates in scientific activity. - May serve on internal and external committees. - May have administrative responsibilities of limited scope and complexity. Work Schedule: 8:00am to 4:30 pm- Can be changed based on agency needs. Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized to highly qualified candidates Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance):Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact [email protected] the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 99253,99255,99256 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education: You 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 applicant is to be employed. OR Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully completed a re-specialization program meeting both of the following conditions: a) the re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and b) 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 Internship Requirement: You 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. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification). 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. Licensure: Candidates 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. English Language Proficiency - Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations :In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: Staff Psychologist, GS-11 (Entry Level) Experience: None beyond meeting the basic requirements Assignment. Staff psychologists at this level diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of 6 modalities, provide adjunctive