Staff Psychologist - General Mental Health (CRH)

Summary

You could be part of an important initiative to provide mental health care for our nations Veterans! The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) needs mental health professionals who possess the energy, compassion, and commitment to serve those who serve our Country. Whatever the job title, every position in VA will give you a chance to make a meaningful and personal contribution to the lives of truly special and deserving people - our Veterans. America's Veterans need you!

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Duties

As part of the Mental Health Program within the V9 CRH, the incumbent conducts tele-mental health assessments, treatment plans, and psychotherapy to individuals, families, couples and groups in order to treat a variety of mental health diagnoses and disorders. Incumbents may work virtually within a Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) or Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) team throughout the VISN and within the Health Care Systems. Incumbent provides consultation services, short term interventions, and crisis intervention as needed for Veterans within Behavioral Health.

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

• Independently works with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems within the context of suicide risk.
• Completes a current psychosocial assessment to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans, after thorough review of the medical record. The incumbent must be able to utilize this assessment and the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines for Assessment and Management of Patients at Risk for Suicide (2024) in facilitating the Veteran's maximum use of treatment for attainment of the highest level of recovery that is possible and practicable.
• Participates as a member of a Mental Health treatment team and engages in active collaboration with Veterans and family as well as other interdisciplinary treatment team members.
• Possesses knowledge of current literature and experience in use of mental health and substance abuse diagnoses and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses, as well as in suicide risk assessment and intervention.
• Serves as a liaison between Veterans and their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of Mental Health related services.
• Provides consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits, specialty programs, and advance directives.
• Provides consultation to other treatment team and staff members regarding psychosocial and Mental Health needs of Veterans.
• Provides emergency/crisis intervention services to patients experiencing acute psychological crises by helping to stabilize these individuals, providing suicide prevention interventions, assisting in referral arrangements for transfer to a psychiatric facility for inpatient care, if necessary, and providing follow up care as needed.
• Serves on committees and work groups, as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, and attends all required meetings.
• Provides assistance to less experienced providers and serves as a preceptor or consultant, when appropriate, to colleagues and trainees.
• When needed, acts as a coordinator of care for themselves and for fellow clinicians within their CRH.
  
  

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm

Compressed/Flexible: Available at supervisory discretion

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases

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)

Remote: This is a remote position

Functional Statement #: 10131-F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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Requirements

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.
  
  

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.

Education: Candidates must meet one of the following:

• 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.
  
  

Internship: Candidates must meet one of the following:

• 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.

Grade Determinations: GS-13 Experience. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.

In addition to the experience above, candidates must 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.
  
  

Preferred Experience: Demonstrated experience in suicide prevention preferred. Experience treating special population of Veterans with high risk of chronic suicidality and with a wide range of mental health problems, including serious mental illness. Experience with comprehensive, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions. Experience collaboratively working with assigned interdisciplinary treatment team, concerning clinical assessment findings and appropriate treatment plans for patients.



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.



Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

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.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

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VHA VISN 9 Human Resources

1801 WEST END AVENUE

SUITE 600

NASHVILLE, TN 37023-2570

US