Clarification from the agency

This is a PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT and is open to all U.S. Citizens. If you are a current permanent employee of the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System or current permanent VA Nationwide employee, you should apply under the internal announcement number CBSY-11082019-21-HB.

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This full-time psychologist position is located in the Mental Health Service Line at the Omaha VA. The incumbent will be actively involved in providing behavioral health interventions in Primary Care Clinics in the Medical Center and is physically co-located in the Primary Care clinic. This Psychologist may also be assigned occasional additional general clinical duties that involve provision of professional psychological services in multiple areas within the Medical Center.

(A) Primary Care Mental Health Integration Clinic (85%)

• Provides focused clinical interviews and psycho-diagnostic assessments, including symptom report measures and neurocognitive screening instruments, to assist in developing appropriate treatment plans for implementation of evidence-based behavioral health interventions in providing quality care to Veterans with a range of mental health and neurocognitive issues.
• Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions including assessment, individual, and group psychotherapy, psycho­educational groups (i.e., coping skills, anger management), and case management with veterans having a variety of diagnoses, including substance use disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and PTSD.
• Facilitates veterans' timely referral to specialty mental health or substance abuse treatment as appropriate.
• Provides informal consultative services with Primary Care providers to address questions about how to approach Veterans with mental health concerns and how to direct their care to appropriate specialty services as appropriate.
• Involved in program evaluation and quality assurance activities; monitors information from and participates as much as possible in monthly national conference calls on subjects relevant to the integration of mental health into primary care settings.
• Provides training and potentially oversight, with appropriate supervision from a Licensed Psychologist, of predoctoral Psychology interns in the Mental Health in Primary Care training rotation at the Omaha VA.
• Provides administrative duties in support of clinical service provision including:
  • Prompt, professional communication, either directly or through the medical record with primary care providers who refer patients to the primary care Psychologist.
  • Returning veteran's phone calls.
  • Is responsible for timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation required by the medical center or healthcare system, as appropriate.

• Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services for Veterans with a range of mental disorders, including assessment and use of the most appropriate evidence-based psychotherapeutic modalities in providing quality care.
• Provides clinical, psychodiagnostic interviews and neurocognitive screening assessments for Veterans in various settings as requested.
• Serves as a consultant to other medical staff treatment teams and trainees and assists in their formulation of the psychological characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients.
• Conducts and/or facilitates program evaluation and/or research activities as needed for the NWIHCS Mental Health Service Line and Omaha VA Mental Health Clinic.

• When appropriately licensed to do so, may serve on NWI Psychology Internship Faculty and provide rotation specific supervision to Doctoral Interns in Psychology.
• Provides educational presentations on salient mental health topics for trainees and colleagues of various disciplines.
• May, if assigned, plan, oversee, or collaborate in the completion of personal research programs designed to support the mission of NWIHCS.

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
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/30/2021.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
(a) United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

(b) English Language Proficiency: Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English.

(c) Education Requirement - 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 you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are applying for; OR, have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

(d) 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.

(e) 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. 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.

GRADE DETERMINATIONS:

GS-11 Staff Psychologist (Entry Level): None beyond the basic requirements. Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the close supervision of a licensed psychologist.

GS-12 Staff Psychologist (Developmental Level): 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 to the experience above, 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.

• 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.

• Experience providing focused clinical interviews and psycho-diagnostic assessments, including symptom report measures and neurocognitive screening instruments, to assist in developing appropriate treatment plans for implementation of evidence-based behavioral health interventions in providing quality care to Veterans with a range of mental health and neurocognitive issues.
• Experience providing a full range of evidence-based therapeutic interventions including individual and couple interventions for patients with a wide range of behavioral health concerns commonly encountered in the Primary Care setting, including but not limited to: ineffective management of chronic health conditions, chronic pain, bereavement, insomnia, habit control (smoking cessation), substance misuse, sexual dysfunction, anger dysregulation, mild to moderate depression, adjustment reactions and phase of life issues, mild to moderate anxiety disorders or trauma related disorders (e.g., subthreshold PTSD), and cognitive disorders such as early or mild cognitive impairment.

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.

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.