Clarification from the agency

First consideration will be given to employees of the Department of VA employees.

Videos

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

Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf

Psychologist: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Psychology-Career-Flyer.pdf

Duties include, but are not limited to:

Clinical Responsibilities (85% of time).

• Provides a range of evidence-based behavioral medicine/health psychology interventions, to include group and individual psychotherapy modalities, as well as assessment and evidenced-based interventions in providing quality care, to Veterans with biomedical and comorbid mental health disorders.
• Performs psychological evaluations for patients with biopsychosocial concerns throughout the facility, to include behavioral and mental health issues related to disease management. Evaluation will include chart reviews, psychological testing/interviewing techniques as determined by the clinician. This will culminate in determining the appropriate level of care for patients and making referrals as appropriate.
• Contributes to Health Psychology, Behavioral Medicine and Behavioral Health programming through the facility.
• Consults and liaisons with Specialty Medicine, Primary Care, and Behavioral Health Staff on a wide variety of patient care issues in the area of Health Psychology. Must develop and maintain excellent working relationships with specialty care and behavioral health staff and supervisors.
• Demonstrates competency in a least one evidence- based psychotherapy such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Acceptance or Commitment Therapy, as appropriate for the treatment of behavioral medicine conditions.

Academic/Teaching/Training (up to 5% of time)

• May hold faculty appointment at affiliated university.
• May provide training opportunities to various disciplines.
• May be involved in Psychology Training Program and Training Committee.
• Provides consultation to staff of units to which assigned.
• 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.

Research/Program Evaluation/Care Coordination (up to 5% time)

• Program Development- May participate in development and improvement of new and existing behavioral health programming in specialty medicine and throughout medical center, May participate in program-wide outcome evaluation studies. Assists Behavioral Health management with the establishment of program monitors and outcome measures within programs using data-driven quality assurance process and presents reports to Director of the Integrated Behavioral Health Division as required.
• Provides administrative duties including: Scheduling of Veterans and related issues, addressing Veterans' phone calls, completing progress notes within one working day.
• Assists in preparation of RFP's and grant proposals, as assigned.
• Timely completion of all program evaluations & documents required by the Medical Center, VISN, and IBH Division and MH/BS.

Other Significant Responsibilities (up to 5% time)

• May serve on Medical Center or Healthcare System, VISN, and/or National VA committees or task forces.
• May represents psychology on decision-making committees at the Medical Center or Healthcare System.
• Attend required meeting in MH/BS and specialty medicine. Attend treatment team meetings as assigned up to 5% of time.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm:
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized
Relocation Incentive: Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact Brandon.Hughes2@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year). Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement
Telework: Available (Ad-hoc)
Functional Statement #: 92197-A/92198-A/92199-A

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

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:

Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)

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

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.

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.

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 4 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.

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:

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.

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.

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

Preferred Experience: Employment or training experience in an interdisciplinary, integrated care setting required. Health psychology experience and/or training preferred.

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

Physical Requirements: The position is primarily sedentary, with some bending, walking and stooping required. This position requires the ability to read printed material and distinguish colors, such as reading computer screens and the ability to accurately perceive depth so as to move around work space safely and to appropriately make contact with patients and staff.

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.