Clarification from the agency

Open to the Public. Note: 38 U.S.C. 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans preference to external applicants for appointments made from this announcement. VA and Federal Employees should apply to CAZM-11842103-23-JG.

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*** Bargaining Position ***

• Provides general service delivery for a wide range of mental and emotional concerns, with particular emphasis on the treatment of Substance Use Disorder (SUD), either alone or in the context of other mental health disorders typically treated within the Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) setting. The BHIP team provides services to Veterans with concerns considered to be serious mental illnesses (e.g., mood disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders); whereas mental disorders of mood, anxiety, and trauma-adjustment of mild to moderate severity, can often be treated within Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI).
• Serves as a subject matter expert (SME) for the treatment of SUD within BHIP throughout the system.
• Conducts telehealth treatment sessions that are generally 45-50 minutes in length and can span in number from 12 to 20 visits for most concerns. Overall treatment duration when personality disorders or multiple comorbidities are present can span from between 12 to 24 months. The BHIP-SUD Psychologist can expect to treat 6-8 patients per day and will coordinate with providers of various disciplines for completion of intakes and treatment plans with patients.
• May assist in coordinating programming within the various mental health programs with psychology Program Managers as well as with discipline supervisors of affected staff assigned to these programs.
• May serve as the representative for Psychology Section on various Psychology Section, Mental Health Service Line, System, or VISN administrative committees or work groups.
• Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services including the use of psychological testing for major and secondary psychological disorders for patients within VATVCBHCS in areas of special interest/expertise.
• Performs psychological evaluations for individuals with mental health and medical disorders for purposes of diagnostic clarification and treatment planning recommendations. These evaluations employ a comprehensive diagnostic interview, review of available records, collateral contact when available, as well as personality and cognitive tests when indicated.
• Provides a range of psychotherapeutic interventions with individuals with SUD and other mental health or medical disorders, with an emphasis on the application of time-limited, evidence-based treatments for common disorders.
• Consults with and serves as a SUD subject matter expert for other professional personnel concerning the need for, evaluation of, and development of psychological services in VATVCBHCS.
• May be asked to serve as a clinical supervisor for psychology pre-doctoral interns, postdoctoral fellows, and doctoral level graduate practicum students in psychology and other related disciplines.
• May be asked to assist in the selection, training, and clinical supervision of staff at lower grade within assigned program area, Psychology Section, or VATVCBHCS.
• May be asked to prepare and teach seminars/workshops for VATVCBHCS trainees/staff on topics within interest/competency areas.
• May be asked to serve as a member of various Mental Health, VATVCBHCS, and/or VISN committees.
• May choose to conduct approved psychological research that supports the mission of VATVCBHCS alone or in collaboration with other professional in VATVCBHCS or affiliated academic institutions.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time. (Alternate schedules may be necessary to meet the needs of the organization.)
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

Preferred Experience:

• VA or DOD experience
• Experience utilizing evidence-based practices and clinical practice guidelines for SUD, including CBT-SUD, MI/MET, and BCT-SUD
• Experience treating dually diagnosed patients in a parsimonious, comprehensive manner
• Experience incorporating assessment data, particularly routine outcome measures like the BAM-R, into treatment planning to determine appropriate level of care
• Experience serving as a subject matter expert to assist other team members increase comfort level in assessing and treating SUD
• Experience seeing patients via VA Video Care (or other video conferencing platforms), both individually and in group format

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.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Must reside within 50 miles of any VA Facility if virtual is offered.
• 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 Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

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
  • 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 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:
    • (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
• Internships
  • 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. 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.
• Physical Requirements. See physical requirements listed above.
• 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:

GS-11 Staff Psychologist (Entry Level)
Experience. None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-12 Staff Psychologist (Developmental Level)
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.

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.

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 Staff Psychologist (Full Performance Level)
Experience. At least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level.

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.

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.

Reference: VA Handbook 5005 Part II Appendix G18 Psychologist Qualification Standard dated February 7, 2018.

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.

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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

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.