Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Videos

VA Careers - Mental Health Professionals: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOMintJXa3Y

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov for questions/assistance.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provides a full range of psychological services to Veterans enrolled in the PRRC, including diagnostic assessment, clinical interviewing, psychological evaluation, risk assessment, recovery-oriented treatment planning, and evidence-based intervention.
• Conducts psychosocial and recovery-focused assessments to identify Veterans' strengths, needs, preferences, barriers, and goals related to mental health recovery, community integration, independent living, social functioning, education, employment, wellness, and quality of life.
• Develops and updates individualized recovery plans in collaboration with Veterans, family members or supports when appropriate, and the interdisciplinary treatment team.
• Provides individual and group psychotherapy, psychoeducation, skills training, and psychosocial rehabilitation interventions consistent with VA policy, professional standards, and the needs of Veterans with serious mental illness.
• Facilitates PRRC groups and classes that may address coping skills, symptom management, emotional regulation, illness management and recovery, relapse prevention, interpersonal effectiveness, social skills, community integration, health and wellness, motivation, and recovery maintenance.
• Uses evidence-based and recovery-oriented approaches such as cognitive behavioral strategies, motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care, acceptance- and mindfulness-based strategies, behavioral activation, problem-solving approaches, and other clinically appropriate interventions.
• Provides clinical services through face-to-face care, VA-approved telehealth modalities, and other authorized care delivery formats as appropriate for the Veteran's needs and program operations.
• Participates as an active member of the interdisciplinary PRRC team, including team meetings, treatment planning conferences, case consultation, huddles, discharge planning, and coordination of transitions in care.
• Coordinates care with psychiatry, social work, nursing, peer support, vocational rehabilitation, substance use treatment, primary care, inpatient mental health, residential programs, homeless programs, specialty mental health clinics, and community resources as clinically indicated.
• Provides consultation to PRRC team members and other Mental Health providers regarding psychological formulation, recovery-oriented care, behavioral interventions, risk management, and treatment engagement strategies.
• Conducts suicide risk assessments, safety planning, crisis intervention, and appropriate clinical follow-up in accordance with VA policy and professional standards.
• Completes timely, accurate, and clinically appropriate documentation in the electronic health record, including assessments, treatment plans, progress notes, risk assessments, consult responses, and discharge or transition documentation.
• Supports measurement-based care, program evaluation, quality improvement, and performance improvement activities by tracking relevant clinical outcomes and using data to inform care.
• Participates in PRRC and Mental Health initiatives related to access, continuity of care, recovery-oriented practice, patient safety, evidence-based treatment, and Veteran experience.
• May provide clinical supervision, training, or consultation to psychology trainees, postdoctoral fellows, interns, practicum students, or other trainees when appropriately credentialed and assigned.
• Maintains professional competence through continuing education, licensure, ethical practice, and adherence to VA, VHA, facility, and Psychology Service standards.
• Performs other duties as assigned that are consistent with the role of a staff psychologist within the PRRC and Mental Health Healthcare Group.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00a-4:30p
Compressed/Flexible:May be authorized at Supervisory discretion.
Telework: Not authorized.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
EDRP Authorized: Yes

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.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

Citizenship.
Citizen of the United States.

Education.
The individual must meet at least one of the requirements below:

• 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. 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.
• 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.
  • NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship.
• 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.
  • NOTE: Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the requirements of this qualification standard.

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.

Board Certification.
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.

Grandfathering Provision. All persons employed in VHA as a psychologist on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held.

GRADE DETERMINATIONS:

GS-12 Staff Psychologist

• Experience. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must possess at least one year of creditable experience as a professional (postdoctoral) psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11) AND can demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
  • 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 Staff Psychologist

• Experience. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must possess at least two years of experience as a professional (postdoctoral) psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level AND can demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
  • 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.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit Psychologist Qualification Standard.

The full performance level of this position is 13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of 12 to 13.

Physical Requirements: Light lifting (under 15 pounds); light carrying (under 15 pounds); reaching above shoulder; hearing (aid permitted); emotional stability. The Staff Psychologist should be capable of prolonged movement and be physically capable of reading patient records/reports, documenting all clinical encounters in the patient computerized record system (CPRS); and to speak/communicate clearly and efficiently in English.

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, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

For each relevant work experience, make sure you include:

• Employer name
• Job title
• Start and end dates (include the month and year).
• The number of hours you worked per week.
• Brief descriptions that show you can perform the tasks at the required level listed in the job announcement.
• Series and grade for federal jobs only.

Make sure applicable education, license, and/or certification information is included in the resume.

Please visit What To Include for resume writing tips (not to include the two-page limitation).

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.