Staff Psychologist (BHIP)

Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

• Duties include, but are not limited to: Works as a part of a multi-disciplinary team within BHIP, providing various assessment, therapy, and rehabilitative services for Veterans with a wide range of mental and behavioral health diagnoses and symptoms. Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services including, but not limited to, comprehensive psychological assessments, psychological testing and interpretation, and use of the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques to provide quality care to a wide range of patient populations, including specific patient populations. Provides assessment and treatment services in a full continuum of clinical settings and modalities to include individual, group, couples/family therapy, video telehealth, telephonic, and face-to-face care formats. Makes use of evidence-based treatments for a full range of patient populations and psychiatric conditions covered in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th Edition (DSM-V). Develops, implements, and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients with the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS). Participates in treatment team meetings with patients and interdisciplinary staff to recommend and review treatment plans. Provides education to patients, family members, and significant others as needed. Provides consultation and advise to professional staff within their BHIP team, the BHIP program, the Mental Health Service, and the SAVAHCS and to community providers, concerning clinical assessment findings, appropriate treatment plans for patients, and patient care issues. Responsible for timely completion of clinical reminders, consults, return to clinic orders, open encounters, documentation, secure messages, patient correspondence, and other clinical-administrative requirements as required by the MHS, Medical Center or healthcare system, and/or VA. Returns patient phone calls and provides guidance to patients on treatment options in a timely manner. Accomplishes suicide risk screenings, risk assessments, safety plans, behavior reports, and other processes relevant to suicide prevention standards. Provides case management for identified populations as indicated. Functions independently as a member of the SAVAHCS Medical Staff, with full clinical privileges as requested and approved during the credentialing process. Assumes complete professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation. Provides psychotherapy and/or psychological assessments to include psychological testing for other programs in the Mental Health Service when necessary. Preferred Experience: Experience providing time-limited evidence-based psychotherapy, diagnosing mental health disorders, and working with Veterans and/or military populations; experience and training in Family Therapy. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m./Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but work schedule may be adjusted to meet the needs of the service. Telework: Yes, as determined by the agency policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) Authorized: This position is eligible for EDRP, a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of your start date. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP Participants are ineligible to apply for the program. Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov for questions/assistance. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

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: 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: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. Education: To be qualified for a GS-0180 Psychologist you must possess 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 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. Internship Requirement - You 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, 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: Candidates 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. 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 (a)(1)(D) 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 o…

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.