Clarification from the agency

These position(s) are only open to current permanent employees of the Durham Healthcare System, Durham, NC, These position(s) are being filled using a multidisciplinary approach and may be filled with a Social Worker, Psychologist, or Psychiatrist. Please apply to the correct announcement. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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VA Careers - Psychologist: https://youtube.com/embed/77qHlLw9Xck

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

This Staff Psychologist position is a full-time position with primary duties in Outpatient General Mental Health - Durham (GMH-D). GMH-D is part of the Outpatient Mental Health Division in Mental and Behavioral Health Services (MBHS) within the Durham VA Health Care System (VAHCS). The incumbent has clinical responsibilities, in addition to administration and oversight of the clinic. The psychologist is responsible for the management of referrals to the clinic, oversees workload needs, fosters teamwork, and collaboration among the team. The psychologist also may provide supervision to Psychology practicum students, interns, and/or postdoctoral fellows who are completing training rotations in GMH-D. In terms of discipline-specific and other clinical practice issues, the psychologist directly reports to a designated supervisory psychologist within the Outpatient Mental Health Division for MBHS and ultimately, the Chief of Psychology (Durham VAHCS).

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to the full range of patient populations.
• Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.
• Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
• Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.
• Knowledge of clinical research literature.

• Provides a full range of specialized services at all levels of complexity in GMH-D.
• Service delivery to include screenings, intake evaluations, psychological diagnostic assessments, and psychotherapy.
• Provides evidenced-based psychotherapies in both individual and group formats.
• Provides consultation within the treatment team and other professionals staff across the Durham VAHCS.
• As relevant and as requested, may provide clinical supervision to Psychology students, interns or fellows (or unlicensed Psychology staff, as requested).

• Administratively tracks and manages clinic workload needs, overseas triage of consults, fosters teamwork, and identifies and implements methods to improveclinic efficiency.
• Conducts program evaluation to inform program development needs (e.g., specific staffing needs, workload equality, Veterans' clinical needs, etc.)
• Collaborates and serves as a liaison with other MBHS clinics, in addition to clinics across the Durham VAHCS, to coordinate and enhance patient mental health care.
• Responsible for ensuring clinic implementation of any specifically designated new VA policy/procedures (e.g., VOD implementation, same day access); is aware of and responsive to performance indicators such as SAIL.
• Collaborates with leaders within MBHS Outpatient Division as well as other clinic directors throughout MBHS to ensure efficient processes within clinic and high-quality collaboration across clinics.

• May contribute to the didactic training series for Psychology interns, postdoctoral fellows, and staff.
• Professional development mentorship: May provide research &/or professional development mentorship to psychology interns and fellows.

• May engage in non-funded or VA funded research per approval of the
• supervising psychologist and Chief of Psychology.

• With approval, may serve on Medical Center, VISN, and/or National VA??????? committees or task forces.
• May represent Psychology / Mental Health programs in various workgroups and committees at the Medical Center.
• May actively participate in leadership roles on local, state, and national professional organizations.
• As assigned, may represent the Medical Center or Psychology / Mental Health at professional organizations / community group events or committees

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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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.

• 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.

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.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS. The basic requirements for employment as a VHA psychologist are prescribed by Public Law 96-151 codified in 38 U.S.C. § 7402. To qualify for appointment, all applicants for the position of psychologist in VHA must meet the following:
Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States.
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.
OR
(2) 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):(a) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and,
NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting thecompletion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPAinternship.
OR
(3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.]
AND
(4) 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.)
OR
(e) 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.
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. 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.
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.
Board Certification and Loss of CredentialBoard 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
.Loss of Credential. Once board certified, psychologist must maintain a full, valid and unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment.
Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
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
.GRADE REQUIREMENTS
Creditable Experience
Current Professional Psychology Practice. To be creditable, psychological work experience can be obtained through paid or non-paid employment providing psychological work or through participating in a supervised postdoctoral psychology training program (i.e., fellowship or residency).
Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is post-doctoral experience as a professional psychologist directly related to the duties to be performed. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to or exceeding professional psychology experience at the next lower level.
Part-time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full-time workweek.
Post-Doctoral Degree Fellowships. 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.
Grade Determinations. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:
Staff Psychologist, GS-13 (Full Performance, Level)Experience. At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:1. Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.
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.

Preferred Experience: Evidence based psychotherapies

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

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.

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.