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. 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. Learn more Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship. English Language Proficiency. Psychologists who serve in a direct patient-care capacity must be proficient in written and spoken English. Education. 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. 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 and 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, and 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 possess 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 possess a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. Internship. 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. 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 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 of a psychologist who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment.] Preferred Experience: Familiarity with acute inpatient and residential programing Experience in working with PTSD, Substance Use Disorders, Co-occurring mental health disorders, and Serious Mental Illness. Able to work within an interdisciplinary team (medical providers, psychiatrists, nursing staff, case managers). GS-11: None beyond the basic requirements. GS-12: At least one year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11) AND demonstrate all of the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities [KSAs]: 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: At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level AND demonstrate all of the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities [KSAs]: 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. References: VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G18. Psychologist Qualification Standard, GS-180. 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: This position provides direct services to patients and their families through casework. Incumbents must be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the essential functions of the position without hazard to themselves or others. Normal work of the position requires visual acuity (with the ability to read typewritten characters without strain, corrective lenses permitted), keen hearing (aid permitted), clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially moderate levels of lifting and carrying (15-44 pounds). The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. Must complete annual Employee Health requirements, such as annual TB screening or testing, as a condition of employment. ["***This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 30,2022. Eligible applications received will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.** Duties Include:\n- Is part of a multidisciplinary team providing clinical expertise in developing treatment plans which focus on specific needs of patients who have severe emotional or family relation problems, chronic mentally disable patient's, patients with substance abuse issues or patients with a long history of unsatisfactory vocational adjustments.\n- Promoting the delivery of evidence based psychosocial and environmental interventions for reducing behavioral for reducing behavioral and psychological symptoms, such as agitation, aggression, and wandering associated with dementia and other neuropsychiatric and mental health conditions.\n- Providing screening, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of depressive disorders, anxiety-related disorders, and serious mental illness, as well as other Axis I conditions. Assessing and providing treatments for subclinical symptoms of dysphoria and anxiety, adjustment difficulties, and excessive use or misuse of alcohol or other drugs (for which the veteran may have a lower than n01mal tolerance due to their medical conditions and the\npotential for negative interactions with prescribed medication).\n- Providing psychological prevention services to veterans at significant risk for psychological problems.\n- Providing screening of cognitive deficits to address specific functional questions or to determine if a referral for a complete neuropsychological evaluation or dementia assessment is needed.\n- Performing capacity/competency assessments when there are questions about a resident's ability to make medical decisions, perform other specific functions, or live independently.\n- Assessing veterans' understanding of advanced directives and other forms of consent and assisting staff in determining how to present treatment options and other such material to veterans in a format they can understand.\n- Providing individual and group interventions to support veterans' that are coping with a wide variety of mental illness i.e., Post Traumatic Stress, Substance Abuse or Serious Mental Illness.\n- Providing behavioral medicine interventions to manage pain, disability, address sleep problems, facilitate weight loss, promote smoking cessation, and enhance medical compliance. Psychologist will provide Compensation and Pension (C&P) examinations as outlined in Directive 2006-013 on an as needed basis.\n- Psychologist will provide mental disorder examinations based on competent, critical, objective and unbiased information. Diagnosis of all mental disorders, including personality disorders, using the nomenclature in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (DSM-IV-TR).\n- Provide an assessment of each veteran using the multi-axial system as set forth in DSM-V-TR with a narrative explanation of the Axis V determination.\n- Determine when clinical-administered psychometric testing is necessary and integrate the results of such testing into the examination report.\n- Primary clinical provider to Veterans requiring emergency detention/or commitment.\n- Psychologist will inform Veteran of their rights, obtain signatures, and documental clearly the conversation about rights in the patient record. If Veteran has a court appointed guardian, clear documentation of the guardian having received information about Veterans' rights also is included.\n- Psychologist will accompany Veterans to court providing relevant information about Veteran's conditions and diagnoses.\n- Immediately following court participation, the psychologist, will document in CPRS the Veteran's commitment status.\n- Psychologist will track expiration date on all committed Veterans.\n- Psychologist will notify Veteran's attorney of recommendations for continuation of commitment. If necessary will accompany Veteran back to court.\n- Completion of all clinical charting and documentation, required by the healthcare system, in a timely manner.\n- Promote communication and interactions between multidisciplinary team members, veterans, and their families to facilitate treatment.\n- Provide clinical supervisions to students, interns, and fellows as appropriate or assigned Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm\nTelework: Not Available\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nFunctional Statement #: 55629-O,55630-O,55631-O\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized\nEDRP Authorized: Contact Kim Romanchak, the EDRP Coordinator, at Kim.Romanchak@va.gov for questions/assistance\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]