Join the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS) as the Staff Psychologist for Pain at the Health Care Center at Harlingen. You will function across sites to diagnose and treat complex chronic pain disorders and related health and mental health issues. You will conduct psychological and cognitive assessments and provide consultation to other providers (e.g., primary care providers, pain physicians, clinical pharmacists) regarding complex chronic pain disorders. The core of your duties is general service delivery for a wide range of mental and emotional concerns, especially treatment of, and consultation on, complex chronic pain disorders (e.g., somatic symptom disorder, illness anxiety disorder, conversion disorders); whereas, mental disorders of mood, anxiety, and trauma-adjustment of mild to moderate severity, can often be treated within Primary Mental Health Integration (PCMHI). Pain Psychologists are expected to conduct treatment sessions that are generally 30 to 45 minutes in length and can span in number from 12 to 20 visits for most concerns. Overall treatment duration of conversion or personality disorders can span from between 12 to 24 months.
Expect to treat 6-8 patients per day and should coordinate with providers of various disciplines for completion of intakes and treatment plans with patients.
Provide empirically validated treatments for behavioral pain management strategies (such as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP) and relaxation strategies) and at least one Complementary and Alternative Medicine approach to pain (such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction or mindfulness meditation), as well as motivational enhancement interventions, environmental interventions, psycho-educational interventions, and crisis intervention.
May assist in coordinating the work of various clinical programs and their staff, ensuring that work is assigned in a systematic way and meets facility and VA guidelines/standards.
May have limited clinical program coordination responsibilities, which include the operation and management of various psychology or mental health programs.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Alternate schedules may be necessary to meet the needs of the organization.)
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
Functional Statement Title/#: Pain Psychologist

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English

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: (1) 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. 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. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology).
  OR
  (2) Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a respecialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the respecialization program) meeting both of the following conditions: (a) the respecialization 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. NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the respecialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship.
  AND
  (3) Internships. (a) 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 (b) 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 (c) 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 (d) 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.)
  
  Board Certification and Loss of Credential. Persons hired to psychology positions in the VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be 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. The board certificate must be current and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education. Once board certified, psychologist must maintain a full, valid and unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment. A psychologist who fails to maintain the required board certification must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment.
  Licensure. 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.
  (1) 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 (a)(1)(D) 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.
  (2) Loss of Credential. A psychologist who fails to maintain the required licensure must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified and if a placement opportunity exists.
  Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:
  
  GS-11 Staff Psychologist (Entry Level). Experience. None beyond the basic requirements.
  
  GS-12 Staff Psychologist (Developmental Level). (a) Experience. At least 1 year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (b) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  1. Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.
  2. Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.
  3. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
  4. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).
  5. 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.
  
  GS-13 Staff Psychologist (Full Performance Level). (a) Experience. At least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level. (b) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  1. Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.
  2. Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.
  3. Knowledge of clinical research literature.
  
  References: VA Handbook 5005/87, Part II, Appendix G18, PSYCHOLOGIST QUALIFICATION STANDARD, dated June 6, 2016.
  
  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.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

NOTE: The Professional Standards Board (a peer-review group) will review the selected candidate's education and experience and recommend the grade and salary at which the candidate will be placed. For internal selectees eligible for promotion, the board will determine grade and HR will determine step in accordance with policy.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.