Duties

• Provides psychological services to veteran patients admitted to the SOAR program.
• Duties and responsibilities are to practice independently in the provision of psychological services.
• Consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate.
• Diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments.
• Treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities.
• 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.
• Consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues.
• Staff psychologists may be involved in program evaluation, teaching, training, and research activities.
• Provides a full range of diagnostic and assessment services appropriate to the interdisciplinary addiction's treatment setting.
• Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions, including individual, group, and marital therapy, psychoeducation, and care coordination, with special emphasis on evidenced-based interventions found to be effective in treatment of addictions.
• Develops, implements, and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients.
• Facilitates patient and family education appropriate to the setting and the specific presenting issues.
• Provides consultation services to support team decision-making, building on team interventions and improving team-patient working relationships.
• Provides psychological consultation to non-psychologist team members and other health care system staff on a wide variety of patient care issues.
• Provides clinical supervision to Psychology Postdoctoral Fellows, interns and practicum students training in the SOAR program.
• Is involved in the training of medical students, psychiatric residents, and nursing students who train in the SOAR program.
• Participates in the monitoring of performance measures that pertain to Mental Health Service and SOAR.
• Responsible for timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation required by Mental Health Service and the VASLCHCS
• Participates in program-wide outcome evaluation studies.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:00pm May be required to work weeknights or weekends based on program needs.
Compressed/Flexible: Dependent upon needs of program and agency. Tour of Duty to be negotiated with supervisor.
Telework: Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:56043-O, 56044-O, 56045-O
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Contact Liz.Licea@va.gov the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• 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).
• 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

*This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until April 4,2023.The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be place a 2 week out date 1/18/2023. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.*

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 the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System, or the Canadian Psychological Association 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. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body & not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, & school psychology. 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. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology.

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. Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above &who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards.

OR

• Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 &1978 from a regionally accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

AND

• Internships

a. Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by AP A or CPA at the time the program was completed &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 AP A accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology &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 AP A 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 &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 &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, &unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

Grade Determinations:
Staff Psychologist, GS-11

• Experience. None beyond the basic requirements.

Staff Psychologist, GS-12

• Experience. At least one 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, &Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of &ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.
2. Ability to design &implement effective treatment strategies.
3. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
4. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing &implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).
5. Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship &research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, &collaboration.

Staff Psychologist, GS-13

• 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, & Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of, &ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.
2. Ability to provide professional advice &consultation in areas related to professional psychology &behavioral health.
3. Knowledge of clinical research literature.

Preferred Experience: Experience working with persons with substance use disorders &co-occurring mental health disorders is strongly preferred.

References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/103 PART II APPENDIX G18

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: See VA Directive & Handbook 5019.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .