Director of Psychology/Forensic Coordinator
Hiring Range: $132,534 - $182,897 (Pay Band 6)
Agency: Dept Behavioral Health/Develop | Location: Southern Va Mental Health Inst
About the Role
This position serves as chief psychologist for the hospital, ensuring that all personnel under his/her supervision provide quality psychological services in compliance with Joint Commission standards. The role is responsible for long-range activities associated with administering and directing the design and delivery of comprehensive psychological services and programs.
The Director provides quality psychological services to hospitalized patients by directing the functions of the Psychology Department, applying clinical, programmatic, and administrative knowledge, knowledge of management practices and principles, and applying knowledge of facility and community services. The position provides clinical services to adult patients and serves on the treatment team as indicated.
This position oversees the forensic aspects of services provided to hospitalized individuals with forensic status and serves as the primary liaison between the hospital and DBHDS Office of Forensic Services, the Forensic Review Panel, courts, law enforcement agencies, and CSB forensic treatment providers regarding individuals being served with forensic status.
Minimum Qualifications
- Doctoral degree in psychology (e.g., Ph.D., Psy.D.) from a program accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) or an equivalent accrediting body recognized by the Virginia licensing board, as required for licensure eligibility.
- Licensure as a Clinical Psychologist in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- Progressive supervisory and/or managerial experience in the practice of clinical psychology.
- Demonstrated experience developing, implementing, and evaluating behavioral intervention programs for individuals with complex behavioral health needs.
- ILPPP Basic Forensic Evaluation Training (or able to complete upon hire).
Skills and Abilities
- Ability to apply complex legal, regulatory, clinical, and programmatic considerations to the development of clinical programming and to the day-to-day operations of inpatient treatment and evaluation services to individuals with serious mental illness and criminal justice involvement.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to effectively facilitate and manage cross-sector collaboration and service delivery to individuals with high risks, criminal justice involvement, and intensive evaluation and treatment needs.
- Knowledge and skills to effectively treat individuals with serious mental disorders, co-occurring substance abuse/addiction disorders, and personality disorders, utilizing evidence-based treatment modalities, including individual, group, family, and couples interventions.
- Effective crisis management skills.
- Knowledge and skills related to practice and principles of psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery models of intervention.
- Excellent skills for verbal and written communication.
- Thorough knowledge of the Commonwealth of Virginia statutes, policies, and procedures related to the management of individuals adjudicated as Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity, of individuals referred for evaluation of sanity at the time of the offense or competency to stand trial, of those requiring restoration of competency to stand trial, and of those individuals transferred from jail for treatment.
- Proficiency to conduct forensic evaluations, organize and write reports to courts of jurisdiction and to the Commonwealth's Forensic Review Panel.
- Proficiency in administering, scoring, and interpreting a variety of psychological tests.
- Strong leadership skills and abilities to work with and through others to accomplish tasks and goals.
- Skills to provide clinical supervision to psychologists and psychology associates.
- Skills to provide supervision to administrative assistant.
- Abilities to organize work according to priorities and to adhere to timelines for completion of tasks.
- Possess essential skills to utilize computer applications.
- Good understanding of principles of Applied Behavior Analysis.
- Working knowledge of inpatient psychiatric hospitals and the functioning of interdisciplinary teams in such settings.
- Working knowledge of principles of continuous quality improvement and their application to clinical psychology and facility practices.
- Knowledge of the Joint Commission and other accrediting body standards.
Additional Considerations
- Completion of a predoctoral internship accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) or an equivalent accrediting body, as required for licensure eligibility as outlined in Code of Virginia Regulation 18VAC125-20-54E.
- Extensive experience providing psychological assessment, treatment, and consultation services to forensic patient populations.
- Strong knowledge of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations, documentation requirements, and accreditation standards applicable to inpatient behavioral health settings.
- Significant experience in systems management, including developing, implementing, and evaluating operational processes that improve service delivery, quality, and organizational effectiveness.
- Veterans and people with National Service experience.