Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (including the facility and CBOCs where this vacancy is located) serving on career/career-conditional appointments; past, current, upcoming VHA Health Professional Trainee eligible (HPT); and current permanent employee of other Federal Agencies.

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The Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) Psychologist will treat Veterans within the outpatient Mental Health clinic, practicing as a generalist of various mental health disorders. BHIP Psychologists are an integral member of an interdisciplinary treatment team, which consists of other social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, nurse case managers, peer support specialists and clinical mental health pharmacists. Our BHIP teams work in close collaboration, with weekly protected team meeting times to develop treatment plans and ensure quality mental health care to our Veterans.

The incumbent will be able to independently diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological and/or cognitive screenings and/or assessments, and to provide psychotherapy. The incumbent should be able to determine which psychotherapy modalities and techniques are appropriate, and to provide various types of empirically supported psychotherapies, including cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure therapy, solution-focused, cognitive-behavioral, gestalt, family/ systems, interpersonal, etc. They consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues. Staff psychologists may be involved in program evaluation and/or research activities.

Major duties and responsibilities include:

• Diagnose mental disorders utilizing DSM-5 criteria, conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities, and provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders
• Provides individual, family, and group psychotherapies and other interventions such as behavioral health and community interventions
• 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.
• Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services including assessment and uses the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care.
• Performs evaluations for wide array of patients representing diverse diagnostic entities.
• Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions, including empirically supported treatments.
• Participates as an active treatment team member.
• Consults with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues.
• Staff psychologists may be involved in program evaluation and/or research activities.
• Participates fully in peer review, assessing the quality of professional psychology standards provided in the organization.
• Responsible for identification of patient problems requiring consultation with other multi-disciplinary medical center staff and making appropriate referrals.
• Assures that appropriate referrals to specialty programs, including community resources, are accomplished. This may include ordering the following consults: Mental Health Service Programs, (e.g., Substance Abuse, PTSD, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, Compensated Work Therapy, Homeless, and Residential Treatment) Vocational Rehabilitation, and Long-Term Care.
• Fully accountable for practice, including entering patient visits, appropriate clinical documentation, measuring outcomes to interventions, and meeting productivity standards.
• Provides clinical supervision to various disciplines and levels of training.
• May be involved in the training of medical students, medical and psychiatric residents, fellows and other graduate or post-graduate trainees, as appropriate.
• Serves as a consultant to other medical center staff and trainees and assist in their formulation of the psychological characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients.
• Oversees the establishment of program monitors and outcome measurements within programs assigned using a data-driven quality assurance process.
• Responsible for the timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation required by the medical center and service line.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Telework: Not available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Title/Functional Statement #:Clinical Psychologist (Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program)/PDF00825
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized for highly qualified applicants. If you are not a current, permanent VA employee, you should apply under Job Announcement # 11348726 which is scheduled to open on January 21, 2022.
EDRP Authorized: Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) Incentive is available for this position. Please see Education section of this announcement for more details.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel

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.

NOTE: This applies to the past, current, and upcoming VA Health Professional Trainees (HPT) only. HPT is an individual appointed to temporary positions in one or more VHA medical facilities performing clinical or research training experiences to satisfy program or degree requirements or receiving VA Health Professional Scholarship Program. HPTs can be either VA-paid or Without Compensation (WOC).

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.
• 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.
• Education Requirement -
  • (1) 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, (2) 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, (3) have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• Internship Requirement -
  • (1) 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, (2) 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, (3) 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, (4)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, (5) 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 your official transcript, you 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. 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.

Grade Determinations:

• GS-11: None beyond the basic requirements above.
• GS-12: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.
• GS-13: Applicants must have at least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. Staff psychologists at the GS-12 grade 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. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of 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.

NOTE: Experience is only creditable if it is post-doctoral degree experience as a professional psychologist directly related to the duties performed. Postdoctoral fellowships or residencies are training programs in an advanced area of clinical practice. Training as a fellow or resident is considered to be creditable experience on a year-for-year basis.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is at the GS-11,GS-12, or GS-13 grade level.

Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve primarily walking, sitting, and talking. There is ongoing exposure to individuals having psychiatric and physical illness and disabilities include violent or aggressive behavior and chronic psychiatric and medical problems. Light lifting and carrying under 15 pounds and hearing (aid permitted).

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.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.